NEWBURYPORT — With barely anyone holding political signs outside polling stations Tuesday, it might have been tough to tell folks were voting on whether to spend $444.6 million to build a new Whittier Tech school.
Inside, however, a steady stream of Newburyport and Amesbury voters were determined to cast their votes, according to poll workers.
A special election to decide whether to build a new high school was held in the district’s 11 municipalities. Newburyport sends 29 students to the Haverhill school and the average homeowner would see a tax increase of roughly $270 per year if the project were approved.
Although the special election was held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Newburyport Ward 6 warden Karen Eaton said there was a line of people waiting to get into the Senior/Community Center a half hour earlier.
“It’s been very, very busy,” she said. “People were packed in, like sardines, trying to get in the door. I had one gentleman who needed to fly off to New York here at 10:30 a.m. and I had to turn him away.”
Ward 6, according to Eaton, saw 209 votes cast by 12:36 p.m.
“Everyone seems to be on a mission to vote and they have already made their decision,” she said. “Everyone has been polite but you can tell some of them are very determined to vote. Voting is a privilege and I think it’s great.”
Eaton also said she thought the turnout was the busiest she had seen in a long time.
“I don’t think it’s ever been this busy, even during a presidential election,” she said.
Ward 3 Warden Sheila Taintor was also seeing plenty of voters at Hope Community Church, where 252 votes were cast in her ward by 1:11 p.m. Ward 4 residents also voted at the Hale Street house of worship.
“It has been very steady,” she said. “We had a few people lined up waiting to come in at 11 and it’s been nonstop ever since.”
Newburyport resident Marilyn Shephard and her husband, Ted, both voted no.
“I think it’s too much money and it will cause major financial problems for the city,” Marilyn Shephard said.
Ted Shephard said he had been doing a lot of research on the issue and couldn’t support a yes vote. Their daughter Lindsay Shephard also voted no.
“It would be too much,” Lindsay Shephard said.
Jennifer Bridges said she voted yes because the school is beneficial to Newburyport, as well as the 10 other municipalities it serves.
“There are a lot of silent supporters for Whittier Tech,” she said. “A lot of people have been afraid to come forward and support Whittier because a lot of the no voters have been so nasty. But I’m not silent and I will always stand up for what I believe in. I think it’s great that Whittier Tech is in the spotlight and, if people took the time to learn about Whittier Tech, they would truly understand how beneficial it is to those 11 communities.”
The polls at the Morgan Avenue fire station in Newbury were also busy. Precinct 1 Warden Jeanine Cunningham said she was seeing a constant conga line of residents, with 83 votes cast by noon.
“We only opened at 11 a.m. so I think that’s pretty good in terms of Newbury,” she said.
Cunningham praised her town’s new electronic voting system, which allows residents to scan their driver’s license barcode for identification and added that the voters she saw during the first hour of polling were keeping to themselves.
“They’re not sharing much,” she said.
The situation at the Newbury fire station became contentious about noon when an unidentified supporter of the Yes for Whittier campaign started holding his sign in the building’s parking lot.
According to state law, no campaigning can be done within 150 feet of a polling place when voting is taking place. Although the man disputed the matter and police were called, he moved across the street before they could arrive.
Turnout was low at the Salisbury Senior Center as of 1:15 p.m., with the parking lot looking like it does any other day.
Inside was a similar story, with fewer than a dozen voters at a time casting ballots.
“We’ve had about 333 voters, which is about 100 per precinct,” Town Clerk Mindy Morrison said.
She said at the time that she did expect an eventual surge.
“I would think probably after school lets out around like 3 p.m. when people are starting to get home from work,” Morrison said. “It’s hard to gauge but comparing it to maybe kind of a slower town election, I’m expecting maybe less than a 10% turnout.”
While there were no people holding signs, Amesbury experienced a consistent flow of voters at Amesbury High School through the first two hours of voting with 667 voters by 1 p.m., according to City Clerk Jennifer Smith.
Central Office Secretary Carol Bartlett said she was impressed with the turnout.
“It looks like the presidential election, people keep coming and going,” Bartlett said.
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.