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East Haven (WTNH) – It’s all about local impact in today’s elections in Connecticut. Voters in 162 cities and towns are making some important decisions in their neighborhoods. At East Haven’s Deer Run Elementary School, there really were lines to vote.

“I couldn’t believe it when I walked inside,” Joe Mauro of East Haven said. “There’s quite a few people.”
“Do you think that’s maybe because of…”
“Definitely. Because of the controversy back and forth.”

An historic presidential election in 2008 sent people flocking to the polls, but in years when there are no national or statewide offices at stake, the numbers tend to drop.

Two years ago for municipal elections, statewide voter turnout was 37.3%. Last year for the presidential election, it more than doubled to 80.5%. This year, election officials would be happy to get even 40%.

They probably will in East Haven. Two years ago, April Capone Almon won by just 25 votes in an off-year election that brought 64% of voters to the polls. This year, republican John Finkle has kept the pressure on. The result is another tight race where neither side is pulling any punches.

“I see a lot more Finkle signs than I do April signs,” voter Joanne Panzo said. She thinks there will be a lot more voters in East Haven compared to other towns because of all the controversy.

“Yes, they way things are and the way the economy is, so we’ll see what happens,” she said.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty. You don’t know what to believe,” voter Bob Nastri said. “You hear all these kinds of things going around. You search for the truth and you do your best on election day.”

The polls close at 8:00 p.m.

WTNH.com and News Channel 8 will have updates throughout the night on the election returns and reactions from the winners and losers. Check back on the web or tune in tonight at 11:00 p.m.