Whiting votes for Obama, Sanders, Welch

Official results of the Nov. 6 elections won't be posted by the secretary of state for another few days, but unofficial tallies show that 133 of Whiting's 188 voters (70.74%) supported the reelection of U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. That is a slightly higher percentage than the 67.21% that supported the Democratic ticket across the State of Vermont. Republican challengers Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan earned only 31% of the popular vote in Vermont and had only 54 supporters in the Town of Whiting.

Nationally, the Democratic Obama-Ryan ticket secured at least 61.2 million votes and 50% of the popular vote, while gathering at least 303 electoral votes. The Republican challengers earned 58.2 million votes, 48% of the popular vote and 206 electoral votes. Florida's official election results and the fate of its 29 electoral votes remain uncertain, but the Democats appear to have won a narrow victory there, raising their electoral margin to 332-206.

Governor Peter Shumlin

Whiting voters supported the reelections of Democrat Peter Welch to the U.S. Congress by more than 81% (Welch won his race with 72.23% of the statewide vote and 150 Whiting votes) and Independent Bernie Sanders to the U.S. Senate by 77.4% (Sanders won with 71.25% of the statewide vote and earned 144 votes in Whiting). Just over 56% of Whiting voters backed the reelection bids of Governor Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, and Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott, a Republican (Shumlin was returned to office with 58.1% of the statewide vote; Scott won with 56.8%).

William H. Sorrell, Democrat, won reelection to the position of Vermont attorney general. He secured just over 67% of the vote in Whiting. Also in the Nov. 6 elections, Democrat/Progressive Doug Hoffer was elected auditor (59% in Whiting, 51.5% statewide), Democrat Jim Condos was reelected secretary of state (89.8% in Whiting, 86.8% statewide) and appointed incumbent Democrat Beth Pearce won election as treasurer (51.6% in Whiting, 52.5% statewide).

Democrats Claire Ayer and Christopher Bray won seats in the State Senate representing Whiting and other Addison County towns. Independent Will Stevens was reelected to the Addison-Rutland seat in the State House of Representatives. He was running unopposed.

Vote on Tuesday, Nov. 6

Election Day is tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 6. Races will be decided for U.S. President, U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress, Vermont Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Treasurer, Secretary of State, Auditor of Accounts, Attorney General, State Senate, State House of Representatives, High Bailiffs and Justices of the Peace.

The polls at the Whiting Town Hall will open at 10 a.m. and will close with all other Vermont polling places at 7 p.m. That is an hour earlier than the other states of the New England region and two hours earlier than adjacent New York State.

Like many of Vermont's smaller towns (including the area towns of Shoreham, Sudbury, Ripton and Orwell) , balloting in Whiting is done by paper ballots counted manually. Larger towns and cities in the state have been moving toward Accu-Vote optical ballot readers in recent years.

A total of 461,070 Vermont residents are registered to vote in the general elections tomorrow. That is believed to be a record total for the state, though official counts have only been kept since 2006. The total is about 8,000 more than the 453,011 eligible to vote in the last Presidential election in 2008. Secretary of State Jim Condos, who is running for reelection, predicted a 70 percent turnout of Vermont's voters on Election Day. Vermont voters are not designated with political party affiliations.

Vermont is considered a solidly Democratic state in the Presidential election. In an Aug. 21 poll conducted by Castleton College, President Barack Obama outpolled Republican challenger Mitt Romney by a 62% to 25% margin. The state's Democratic Governor Peter Shumlin is also favored to win reelection. The Castleton College poll found him leading Republican challenger Randy Brock by a 60% to 26% margin.

According to Electionprojection.com, the State of Vermont is the second least conservative state in the United States, and voted almost 30% less Republican in the 2008 Presidential Elections than the national average. Vermont has been trending Democratic in Presidential Elections since 1992.