UPDATE: What If They Threw a Primary and Nobody Came?

UPDATE: 4:35 p.m.

316 Republicans sent in absentee ballots for today's primary.  

So did 91 Democrats.

4:00 p.m. vote count: 

1,029 Republicans

397 Democrats

UPDATE: 2:45 p.m.

Town Clerk Claudia Weber told Patch that she received a phone call from an angry resident who had seen an orange truck removing political lawn signs from South Ave. in front of Saxe Middle School.  

The signs were removed by the Department of Transportation's New Canaan branch.  South Ave. is a state road and is maintained by the DOT.

"We removed them," said Danny Degenario, Gerneral Supervisor at DOT New Canaan. "We do it all the time.  If they're on our property, we remove them.  We collect all political signs.  If you want them back, we have them here."

The signs will be available for pickup after 3:30 p.m.

The DOT New Canaan is located on 47 Gerdes Road, just off South Avenue.

Voter tallies as of 2:00 p.m.:

Republicans: 806

Democrats: 306

UPDATE: 12:30 p.m.

Slowly,  but relatively steadily, voters continue to cast their votes.  Poll watchers keep an hourly tally.  Here are the noon numbers:

Republicans: 564

Democrats: 221

ORIGINAL STORY:

Bill Osterndorf and Mike Murray, who are competing against each other to be the Republican candidate for Judge of Probate, agree on two things:  they're both thankful for the cloud cover that's protecting them from a hot summer sun as they greet voters in front of New Canaan High School this morning.  And they both wish more voters would turn out to cast their ballots.

As of 10:00 a.m., 382 New Canaan Republicans and 132 local Democrats had voted in today's primary.  According to George Cody, New Canaan's Registrar of Voters, the numbers aren't encouraging.

"It's an extremely light turnout, as everyone feared," he said.  "Unfortunately, with vacation season, and a primary in August, which is not a familiar occurrence, it's been difficult to get voters focused on the primary."

The numbers don't reflect absentee ballots, which will be counted this afternoon.

Cody said typical New Canaan turnout in a municipal election isbetween 30-40% of registered voters.  That number increases to 40-60% for a statewide election, and jumps to 80-90% for a Presidential election.

"We'd be glad to get 20% today, but we don't think we're going to get that," he said.

Cody said New Canaan has 6,000 registered Republicans, 2,500 registered Democrats and 3,400 unaffiliated voters. 

Polls will remain open until 8:00 p.m. tonight.

Voting Locations are as follows:

District 1: New Canaan High School Gym, (North), 3 Farm Road.

District 2: New Canaan High School Gym, (South), 3 Farm Road.

District 3: Saxe Middle School Gym, 468 South Avenue.