Slow but Steady at Windham Polls

Tom Missert has lived in Windham for 12 years and not once has he driven to the polls on primary day and been torn between candidates.

"I pushed my vote to Ron Paul but I was truly undecided even driving up here," said Missert.

Missert, a registered Republican, rushed up to a group of Paul supporters before walking into the polls asking them why he should cast his ballot for the Texas congressman.

He grilled them on Paul's economic strategy, looking for answers that would decide his dilemma.

"I don't know if he's got the legs underneath him to run a full campaign, maybe he does," said Missert. "But the key for me was the message that there needs to be very strong fiscal responsibility and I didn't get that message from (Mitt) Romney."

That said, Missert did say that he thinks Romney will get the GOP nod, a sentiment that town moderator Peter Griffin said could be causing a lower voter turnout than expected.

"I don't know if people feel if Romney is just that far ahead they don't have to vote, which is unfortunate." said Griffin. "This is only one election. You still have South Carolina and other states."

Griffin said that based on the media coverage and robocalls, he thought it would be more crowded.

He also said that the voting location has been packed with signs in the previous primaries, but it's "just not the case" this year.

One local resident did set up shop to support Romney close to the WHS doors.

Matt Rosenberg, a 19-year-old Londonderry resident and student at American University, said that he's already been around campaigning for the former Massachusetts governor in Derry and will be going to his own polling location at Londonderry High School a bit later today.

Rosenberg said that Romney is the electable candidate who can fix the economy.

"I like that he's had experience in the private sector, being a leader, fixing the programs," said Rosenberg.

Aligning with Rosenberg's support of Romney was Huseyin Cavusoglu, a registered independent who voted for Barack Obama in 2008.

Cavusoglu said that he wants a "good competition," and may still vote for Obama in November.

"I want to hear both sides," said Cavusoglu.

Bill McNally, who didn't voice an allegiance to one particular candidate, was at the polls representing the John Birch Society.

Mcnally said that his goal is goal is for citizens to be educated, saying that if he were to quiz 10 random voters leaving the polls, they "wouldn't pass his test."

That test involved having a knowledge of the nation's economy among other items.

Also making their presence known were members of the Windham Democratic Committee, each with an Obama sign directly across from the Romney supporters.

WinDem chair Kristi St. Laurent said that it's been a mild morning, and there hasn't been much negativity from Republican residents passing their table, save for a sigh or an eye roll.

Fellow Democrat Tara Picciano joked that nobody has thrown anything at her, but did say that she had to push her fellow Democrats to get out and vote.

"I did have to remind a lot of my Democratic friends that there is a Democratic ballot," said Picciano.

Picciano also gave her comments on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has recently been on the campaign trail with Romney and had a controversial exchange .

She said that there has been a lot of comments about Christie's physical appearance, but what people should really be focusing on is what came out of his mouth, which she said wasn't appropriate.

"It doesnt matter what he look like, it matters what he said," said Picciano. "We're always talking about kids not bullying other people."

Inside the polling location, which was set up in the gymnasium, crowds of students were busy going to their classes, as today is still a school day in the district.

The crowds were thinner inside, wth the longest line being at the "change political party" table.

Charlie Russo, who was working the voter registration area, said that as of around noon he had signed up about 60 new residents.

Griffin also explained the issue experienced last primary with the voting machines which backed up the entire process after the polls closed.

"We had an issue with the way one of the machines was calibrated so we had to put the ballots through again," said Griffin.

This time around though, there have been no problems.

"It's been boring in a good way," said Griffin.

Despite a disrupting many of the campaign appearances over the past weeks, he said that they didn't anticipate any activity in Windham, although he is hoping for bigger crowds of voters around 4:30 p.m.