Mega primary respite for Revere poll workers

REVERE – After hosting five local elections last year, Diane Colella and her fellow city election workers are looking forward to the slightly less strenuous task of holding Tuesday’s presidential primary and the fall elections.Voters throughout the city except North Revere cast ballots in two elections last summer to fill retired state Senate President Robert Travaglini’s seat.North Revere residents voted in two fall elections to choose a successor to state Sen. Jarrett Barrios. Colella and her staff also organized the Nov. 6 municipal election.Voters can go to the polls next Tuesday beginning at 7 a.m. to pick their favorite presidential candidate and elect Democrat and Republican ward committee members. The polls close at 8 p.m.Voter turnout for the March 2004 presidential primary topped 19 percent, but voter registration numbers suggest significantly more voters could come to the polls on Tuesday.Nearly 300 residents added their names to voting rolls in the two months prior to the 2004 primary compared to 500 who registered in the past two months.Voters enrolled as Democrats and Republicans are required to take their party’s ballot when they go to the polls Tuesday, but unenrolled voters can take either major party ballot or the ballots of lesser-known parties like the Libertarians on Tuesday.Interest in unenrolled registration status jumped between 2004 and 2008 with three times as many Democrats changing their status to unenrolled in the last two months compared to the number who made the party affiliation change prior to the 2004 primary.Twice the number of Republicans switched to unenrolled prior to Tuesday’s primary compared to the months preceding the 2004 primary.Voters in over 20 other states cast ballots next Tuesday. Local voters will help elect candidates to county, court and legislative seats on Sept. 16 and the final election is scheduled for Nov. 4.