Voter turnout for today’s general election is outpacing September 24th preliminary numbers.

[UPDATE: 318 PM] 77,887 voters have turned out by 3 PM — 20.93 percent

WARDs 18 and 20 continue to set the pace with turnout numbers of 8,494 and 8,430, respectively. Overall, about 16,000 more ballots have been cast today compared to Sept. 24.

Thus far, 20.93 percent of registered voters have cast a ballot. By 3 p.m. on Sept. 24, only 16.8 percent of registered voters had done so. That’s almost a 25 percent increase in voter turnout.

[UPDATE 12:39 P.M.] 54,122 voters have turned out by 12 PM — 14.55 percent

Leading the way are WARDs 18 (Hyde Park) and WARD 20 (West Roxbury), casting 5,877 and 6,111 ballots, respectively. Combined, WARD 18 and WARD 20 have made up 22 percent of today’s overall turnout.

The City’s Election Department reports that 7.02 percent of registered voters cast a ballot by 9 a.m. this morning. About 26,119 of Boston’s 372,064 voters have already voted today — nearly 9,000 more than voted by this time in September.

By 9 a.m., preliminary election results showed only 4.84 percent of 368,207 of registered Bostonians had cast a ballot. It appears that voter turnout today has the potential to exceed expectations and quell worries about a low rate of participation in a monumental election, however.

What makes the greater than two percent increase in 9 a.m. turnout from the preliminary election to today’s general election even more impressive is that nearly 4,000 more voters have registered since Sept. 24; today’s turnout statistics show a higher percentage of registered voters from a higher pool are voting. Good work, you guys.

About 31 percent of registered voters cast a ballot by the time polls closed September 24. If the same 45 percent increase — 4.84 percent to 7.02 percent —  is seen throughout the day (12 p.m., 3 p.m. 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.) turnout projections are as follows: 

  • 12 p.m.: About 57,200
  • 3 p.m.: About 89,630
  • 6 p.m.: About 125, 140
  • 8 p.m.: About 164, 170

If 164,170 ballots are cast, that would be a registered voter turnout of roughly 44 percent. #FlockTheVote

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