The first presidential election reported in the columns of the Vineyard Gazette was that of 1848, two years after the founding of the Gazette by Edgar Marchant. The election took place on Tuesday. On Friday the Gazette printed the result in Dukes County, which was as follows, the figures being those for Taylor, Cass and Van Buren in that order: Edgartown 157, 46, 35; Tisbury 99, 38, 42; Chilmark 34, 49, 4; total 290, 133, 81. Dukes County therefore went Whig by a majority of 76.
Vineyard voters will join their counterparts across the country at the polls Tuesday in a presidential election year expected to go down in history for unprecedented rancor, and an electorate on edge.
Early morning voter turnout for the special state primary and town elections Tuesday was low, but, in at least one town, steady. Oak Bluffs town clerk Deborah Ratcliff said that, as of 10 a.m., she had seen more voters than expected at the public library.
“We’ve had somebody here every moment,” she said. Shortly after, the lone pair of voters in the ballot area left as two more walked into the polls. Still, Ms. Ratcliff said only about 40 voters had shown up to mark their ballots.
Oak Bluffs voted in favor of catch-and-release shark tournaments, West Tisbury approved a new police station and Edgartown approved two spending projects during Thursday’s town elections.
Voter turnout was sparse, between nine and 13 per cent, and few races were contested.
Oak Bluffs voters approved a nonbinding referendum that would make shark tournaments in town catch and release only by a margin of 225 to 186.
The Edgartown selectmen endorsed plans Monday to regulate medicinal marijuana, voting to place articles on the April special town meeting warrant that would regulate public consumption of the drug and establish a temporary moratorium on setting up dispensaries.
What was once a conservative enclave has given way to a reliable liberal stronghold. And the place where Franklin D. Roosevelt reportedly earned the respect of Islanders (if not their votes) by caring more for his boat than he did for electioneering is now known as the summer vacation spot for presidents whose ice cream shop visits and golf games make headlines.
As around the country, the political landscape of Martha’s Vineyard is ever shifting.
