Update:
As of 4:09 p.m., 4,022 residents had voted in the referendum on the future of Sandy Hook Elementary School. The pace -- and campaigning -- slowed slightly in the afternoon, compared to earlier in the day when advocates for a "yes" vote had taken to the streets and to the area around Newtown Middle School.
Polls close at 8:00 p.m.
Update:
As of 2:25 p.m., 3,356 have voted.
Original Story:
As of 11:20 a.m., about 1,800 residents have voted in today's referendum on the future of Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Compare that to this year's first budget referendum, in which 1,379 had voted by noon.
Sandy Hook parents are taking turns working shifts standing outside the polling place at Newtown Middle School, holding up signs in support. Katherine Galda and her two young daughters were among them (her daughters even made their own signs.) Another was Pam Fehrs, who showed up about 10:30.
"And I'll be here as long as it takes," she said. "I have two kids who go there, and I want to bring them back to Sandy Hook."
Father Pete Barresi, a Sandy Hook firefighter, says he sees why some could oppose the vote (a single sign, posted in the ground, advocated voting "no") but he expects the measure will pass.
"Absolutely, there's gotta be some opposition," he said. "And I can see their point -- the state doesn't have a lot of money. But at this point, we've gotta figure out a way, and we don't have much option. In our timeframe, we need the best way forward. Our children are at a school that doesn't make sense for them, and that's a big problem."
Even in the early hours of Saturday morning, residents turned out. About 100 had voted by 7:15, up to 315 an hour later.
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