Needham Election Results 2012 [UPDATE 1:31 a.m.]

Stay with Needham Patch all day as we update this article with news and information from the polls—and live election results after 8 p.m.

See quotes and updates from today's election in Needham below, underneath the results tables.

2012 Needham Election Results

Polls closed at 8 p.m. Check back later tonight for results in all 10 Needham precincts. Results will be posted as soon as the town clerk makes them available.

[UPDATE 11:42 p.m.]

So what does the alcohol sales question approval mean for Needham? 

Needham selectmen can now issue up to six licenses for the retail sale of beer, wine and liquor in town, with two additional wine and beer licenses available after 2018, for a total of eight.

Needham has been “dry” since before Prohibition. After the federal repeal of Prohibition, Town Meeting members voted throughout the 1930s and ‘40s not to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages in town. Later, the town voted to allow alcohol to be served in Needham restaurants with more than 100 seats, and for wine and beer to be sold in smaller restaurants.

The Sheraton Hotel currently offers the only true bar in town, which is authorized under a hotel exception approved in the 1960s. 

[UPDATE 11:20 p.m.]

The alcohol sales question on Needham's special town election has passed, with 12,181 yes votes to 4,636 no votes, according to the unofficial results just released by the town clerk.

[UPDATE 10:22 p.m.]

With six precincts reporting, the unofficial results in Needham show Barack Obama winning the presidential race, Elizabeth Warren winning the senate race and Joe Kennedy winning the Fourth Congressional District—echoing statewide results so far.

In the special town election, the package licensing question so far is passing with 7,195 yes votes to 2,770 no votes. 

Results from precincts B, C, F and J still to come.

[UPDATE 9:10 P.M.]

With one precinct (Precinct G) reported, unofficial results in Needham stand as follows:

President

• Obama-Biden, 888
• Romney-Ryan, 560

Senator

• Brown, 699
• Warren, 760

Congress

• Bielat, 515
• Kennedy, 886

Needham Package Licensing Question

• Yes, 1,075
• No, 373

[UPDATE 8:40 p.m.]

Officials are saying Barack Obama has won Massachusetts in the presidential race against Mitt Romney.

RACES

ISSUES & QUESTIONS

Needham Special Election Results

Check back after 8 p.m. tonight for Special Election results from all 10 Needham precincts.

--Key for party abbreviations:

• D, Democratic Party
• GR, Green-Rainbow Party
• I, Independent
• L, Libertarian
• R, Republican Party

Updates From The Polls

Editor's note: We will have ongoing updates all day today! Stay tuned to Needham Patch.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. in all 10 precincts in Needham. For a list of polling locations, check out the Needham Election Guide 2012.

[UPDATE 6:43 p.m.]

And on the other end of the street outside Hillside, holding signs for Elizabeth Warren and Joe Kennedy III at just before 5 p.m., were Needham residents Clint Hayden, Patricia Falcao and Bruce Novak.

Hayden was there from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and returned at around 3:30 p.m.

"It’s been very busy," he said. "This morning it was a madhouse. There were cars parked along the street here."

Even at 11:30 a.m. when Hayden went to vote at Precinct B, "The line was longer than I’d ever seen it. It was all the way out the front door of the school," he said.

Across the street, Falcao talked about the importance of this election and why she was volunteering to hold Warren and Kennedy signs, distribute coffee, give rides to voters and do whatever else was needed for the Democratic Party in Needham.

Falcao got choked up when she talked about having a woman senator and said she worried that Republican candidates would set back women's rights if elected.

"I can see huge rights of women being totally washed away [...] and gains that have been made back to the '70s just being washed away, if we have the polarity in this country tipping in that direction," Falcao said. "I feel like I would be ready to go down and camp on the Washington Mall and be at a demonstration the way things were during the Vietnam War when we would be demonstrating on the mall every month till the dynamic changed."

Novak also felt strongly about electing Democrats this election.

"My first two presidential votes were for Nixon, but I haven’t voted for a Republican for president since," he said. "I feel their party just went so far, not just to the right but beyond right. I think of them as the Christian jihad, basically.

Scott Brown, I was hoping he would be the one who would kind of bring it more toward moderate, but he certainly isn’t acting like that in this election.”

[UPDATE 5:52 p.m.]

Despite the dropping temperatures as the sun set on Election Day, several sign-holders were still outside Needham precincts supporting their candidates.

At about 4:30 p.m., Diane Tormey and Al Jaszek were holding signs for Scott Brown outside Hillside Elementary School, which houses precincts A and B.

Tormey said she had been there for about half an hour.

“It’s that important for Scott to win,” she said of why she decided to hold signs. “I just think that he is the independent voice. He’s going to vote the issue and he’s his own person, as opposed to other people in the race who are not.”

Tormey voted first thing in the morning at Precinct G at Newman.

“We stood outside in line for 45 minutes,” she said.

But the wait didn’t seem to bother most voters.

They were psyched; they were pumped. They didn’t mind waiting in line,” Tormey said.

Jaszek said he had been at Hillside since about 2 p.m.

“I’ve been a Scott Brown supporter since he was running for the state,” Jaszek said of why he chose to hold Brown’s signs. “I think he does the right thing.”

[UPDATE 5:15 p.m.]

At 4:30 p.m. today, there were a total of 2,063 ballots cast at Precinct A at Hillside Elementary School and 2,085 at Precinct B. That includes both the special town election ballot and the state ballot, which means about 2,074 people had voted between the two precincts.

Got some ballot box numbers? Tweet @NeedhamPatch or email tobecca.manning@patch.com.

[UPDATE 5:13 p.m.]

Needham resident and 13th Norfolk District Representative Denise Garlick came to vote at Newman Elementary School at around 1 p.m. She said she would be bringing coffee and hot chocolate to sign-holders at precincts around Needham, Dover and Medfield throughout the day.

"The energy is tremendous," she said. "There are lines everywhere. And people are serious about their vote—very, very serious about their vote."

Garlick is running unopposed for her seat but said she still felt she had worked to earn her constituents' votes.

"I think the most important thing you can do is hold yourself accountable to the people you represent and to ask for their vote, and I’m doing both those things. I’m hoping that people feel like I’ve earned their support," she said.

She added: "People keep saying 'every vote counts,' and I believe that every voter counts—and what they’re thinking and our ability to talk to each other and our ability to find solutions for our state and our country. It’s not just the action that matters; it’s the person who’s deciding what they want the future to be."

[UPDATE 3:38 p.m.]

Needham High School senior Jennifer Spink voted for the first time ever this afternoon at Newman Elementary School (which houses precincts C and D). She just turned 18 in September.

Of the experience, Spink said: It was very powerful. I loved voting for the first time. I felt like it was very important for me to go out and vote."

[UPDATE 3 p.m.]

Needham Patch checked in with Town Clerk Tedi Eaton at her office at Town Hallat around 2 p.m. to see how Election Day was going in Needham.

Eaton said so far in the day at least three ballot machines had malfunctioned.

“We’ve had a lot of problems. Precinct H was down—we got that up and running. A had a problem—we got that up and running. G, I’m waiting for them to come from my vendor with another machine, so that one’s down,” she said. “I think part of the problem is the double ballots.”

A complete count wasn’t available at 2 p.m. because of the machine breakdowns, but voter turnout was well over 500 at most of the precincts by noon.

Eaton said her office had processed a total of 5,144 absentee ballots for the 2012 election in Needham—including both special town and state elections. That amounts to roughly 2,572 residents voting absentee this year.

Read more of what Eaton had to say here.

[UPDATE 12:30 p.m.]

Needham Patch is taking a lunch break after visiting several precincts in Needham this morning. Here are the numbers we have from between 10 a.m. and noon: 560 at Precinct I (Mitchell), 635 at Precinct D (Newman), 670 at Precinct C (Newman).

Got a number from the ballot box at your precinct? Tweet @NeedhamPatch!

There were lines at Mitchell, Newman and Broadmeadow, although they appeared to be moving quickly, and no one seemed too perturbed by the wait.

We'll have some quotes from the polls and more photos in our image gallery very soon. Be sure to check back throughout the day! 

[UPDATE 10:30 a.m.]

A ballot machine at Broadmeadow Elementary School Precinct G is reportedly broken. Word has it the town clerk is working to get a new memory card for it; ballots being collected manually for now. The line is currently out the door.

There are also reports of a broken machine at Pollard.

Needham Patch reader Laura shared this in an email this morning from Newman (Precinct C and D):

"Currently takes about 25 minutes to vote at Newman Elem for precinct D, a few minutes shorter for precinct C at the same site. Upon exit you can see the new playground structure and support the 5th grade bake sale with a sweet and a cup of hot coffee."

[UPDATE 9:04 a.m.]

Needham resident Thomas J. Wheadock Jr. reports on Facebook that there is a 30-minute wait at Precinct E (Pollard).

And Selectman @Matt_Borrelli tweeted: 

Long line at precinct F #Needham! [Senior Center]

[UPDATE 8:57 a.m.]

Tweet from @TomMelville:

Broken voting machine at Pollard School in #Needham. Voters leaving ballots with very nice Needham Police officer.

Needham Patch Local Editor Becca Manning has voted—have you? 

[UPDATE 7:35 a.m.]

Polls are open around Needham! Looks like we had a few lines of eager voters waiting to cast their ballots. Here's a tweet from @investboston:

Wow - over 100 people in line at Mitchell - bravo for letting us line up inside!!! Lots kids w parents - awesome 

Are you taking your kids to vote today? Tell us in the comments or tweet @NeedhamPatch.

What's on the Ballot?   

Check out the Needham Election Guide 2012 for a complete list of races, questions and local issues that Needham residents will help decide this Election Day.

Join in the Coverage

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• Comment below and let us know: How long did you wait to vote today? Which candidate has the most visible presence among signholders? Join the conversation!