Dalton, Other Communities See High, Peaceful Turnout
DALTON, Mass. — The Senior Center parking lot was overflowing around 5:30 p.m. as voters cast their ballots. Town Clerk Heather Hunt said there were people waiting outside of the door at 7:45 a.m. and it had been a constant push since.
Of the town's 5,000 registered voters, about 1,600 voted by mail, about 500 voted early in person, and so far about 1,500 had voted on Tuesday.
Supporters of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump co-existed peacefully while sign holding from the time the polls opened, multiple sources said.
"There was no animosity here today. It was a good crowd of people," said Robert Collins, who was holding a sign for state representative candidate Marybeth Mitts.
Michele Marantz, chair of the Dalton Democratic Town Committee, said Harris is the candidate who is looking to the future and whose dynamic is to join people together, as opposed to drive people apart.
"We have a very, very diverse community in this country and we're not going to function as a community unless we can all learn to work together and I think that that needs to be a priority," she said.
"I also have to mention that I'm supporting her because I think it would be fantastic for us to have a woman president and very exciting moment in our history and long overdue."
Marantz said she is passionate about environmental issues, which also influences her vote. She emphasized that climate change is taking a toll on the earth and peoples' pocketbooks and that "we are not going to be able to afford repairing the destruction that seems to be in our future."
"I know that [Harris'] opponent is interested in expanding fossil fuel production in this country and I'm extremely concerned about the impact of climate change and global warming on our economy as well, obviously, on the earth itself, and people who live on it, and the other creatures that live on it as well," she said.
"So I think that we need to have adopted a kind of net zero existence by 2025. We're obviously not there and we've got a lot of catching up to do and that's that is a can that's been kicked down the road for years."
Kathryn Mickle, Berkshire County's Trump campaign representative, is voting for the former president because of his policies.
"His policies are why I follow him the most and it's peace, reduction of our inflation, close our borders so we have a sovereign nation again, so many things that we need to go backwards to look at," she said.
"We have law and order. They've taken the criminals and they've reduced the severity of how they can arrest them or try them to nothing so certainly crime, support of the police department, support of our military. Obviously, I'm a Christian so I do support him with that, and one of the things that is very impressive is I truly believe he's been protected from the assassination attempts."
Mickle said if we can start using our own gas and oil, it will reduce the cost of delivering groceries to our grocery stores and electricity costs while taking down inflation.
She reported having a positive day while sitting in front of the polling location.
"The people who are positive are crazy positive," she said, saying young men were the most enthusiastic and she has seen significant support from women.
Marantz also reported a peaceful sign display.
"I haven't seen any animosity," she said. "We had a very strong democratic presence on that side, and there was a big Trump Vance presence on this side and we were coexisting quite well."
Collins said there appeared to be heavy Trump support at that location, and that there were large flags for the candidate and people driving by giving a thumbs up.
He said he likes both Mitts and Leigh Davis but chose to endorse Mitts because she may have a stronger federal knowledge and breadth of experience. He acknowledged that they have similar ideals.
"They walk the same street," Collins said.
"Just on the broader horizons, state, local, federal, I just feel maybe that Marybeth's experience in the federal side might help Massachusetts and especially the western end of the state that seems to be forgotten about."
Dalton's high turnout seemed to be reflective across the Berkshires. In North Adams, City Clerk Tina Leonesio described the numbers as "phenomenal" and that the polls at St. Elizabeth's Parish Center had been busy all day. So busy, the poll workers were having trouble finding time to run more than 2,000 early and mail-in ballots through.
Outside, three Harris supporters stood with signs across the street from three Trump supporters with flags. They had been out since early morning waving to voters and getting beeping horns.
Unofficial numbers by the days end were 5,614 or about 56 percent of registered voters.
Pittsfield had a turnout of 63 percent.
Williamstown reported a 61 percent turnout and in Clarksburg, Town Clerk Marylin Gomeau was hoping for a round 1,000 voters. It ended close at 979 votes, or a 79 percent turnout.
Both Williamstown and Clarksburg also had local questions related to the Community Preservation Act; Williamstown was voting on an exemption for seniors and low-income residents and Clarksburg was voting to adopt the state law with the exemptions already in place.
"I'm very excited because it was so busy ... but we were preparing for it," said Gomeau. "Voters were happy, no major lines."
Several times the 12 booths were filled and a small line was created she said, but she had greeters to talk with them so they didn't feel like they were waiting.
"It was a beautiful day. Maybe that's why people seemed happy," Gomeau said.
