Redding Voters Flock To Polls

REDDING, Conn. ? By 11 a.m. Tuesday morning, 1,750 Redding voters had cast ballots at the Community Center, and 800 absentee ballots were also turned in. There are 7,057 registered voters in town, according to a registrar.

Redding voters filled out ballots at the Community Center.
Photo Credit: *Ken Liebeskind*

by Ken Liebeskind

11/06/2012 1:00 p.m.

Voters filled out paper ballots and fed them into voting machines to be counted.

Republican State Rep. John Shaban, who is opposed by Democrat Leon Karvelis, was pleased with the turnout and predicted 70 percent of registered voters would cast votes.

The polls are open until 8 p.m.

Michael Rottblatt from West Redding, a former Republican voter, changed his allegiance. "The political process has been unduly infringed by extremest forces in the Republican Party," he said, after casting his vote. "The party has been hijacked by the Tea Party and party leaders didn't have the courage to rebuke them. In the past I voted Republican, but this time I couldn't do that."

Rob Cooke, a Redding resident, said, "Too much was spent on campaigning this year and comments by candidates were unsteady or difficult to cut through."

He said the economy, entitlements and education were the key issues in the races.

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