Island Politics Cross Party Lines
Sara Brown

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.

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Vineyard Votes for Kerry Bucking National Trend; Democrats Carry the Day
Chris Burrell

The nation may be split down the middle after Tuesday's presidential election, but the Vineyard was anything but divided when it came to casting ballots for Democrats.

Voters on Martha's Vineyard came out in droves Tuesday, and by margins as wide as three to one, they threw their support behind Sen. John Kerry, the unsuccessful presidential contender, and sent incumbent Democrats back to the Massachusetts Legislature in the face of Republican challenges.

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Vineyard Voters Head to Polls Tuesday to Cast Ballots in Presidential Election
Chris Burrell

Sturdy brown envelopes, some of them mailed from as far away as the Netherlands, Italy and Russia, are stacked up tall on the desk of Wanda Williams, the town clerk in Edgartown.

Ask Ms. Williams or any of the Island's other five town clerks how things are going the week before Election Day, and you'll hear a deep sigh. They are swamped, not only with a surge of those brown envelopes containing absentee ballots but also with tallying up new voters.

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Island Strongly Backs County Change Amid National Election Day Tremors
Ian Fein

Vineyard voters in the state election this week overwhelmingly said
yes to a study of their county charter and swept two new members onto
the Dukes County commission, but expressing a measured mandate for
change, also returned two incumbents to the regional governing board.

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Tuesday Election Nears; Record Turnout Expected And Town Clerks Are Busy
Mike Seccombe

Vineyard election officials are expecting a record turnout for Tuesday’s election following a rush of new voter registrations and a huge number of absentee ballots already cast.

The number of absentee ballots as of yesterday was in some cases close to twice that normally seen at a presidential election, a sure sign, Island town clerks said, of an engaged electorate, and a likely indicator of an unprecedented turnout.

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Once a Republican Stronghold, Forest of Democrats Grows Here
Mike Seccombe

Seventy-odd years ago, Everett Poole recalls, the first Democrat appeared in Chilmark. He ran the post office.

“The reason he was a Democrat was that Franklin Roosevelt was President and those jobs were all political appointments. So he had to be a Democrat. He came from Maine,” said Mr. Poole.

“As the post office grew larger, they wanted a clerk, so his wife became a Democrat too.”

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Voter Registration Rush Includes Students Fired Up for First Ballot

The last day to register to vote in Massachusetts was Wednesday, and the deadline saw a flurry of activity in town halls across the Island.

“I’m working fast and furious,” reported Edgartown town clerk Wanda Williams yesterday morning. Ms. Williams said nearly 60 new voters registered in Edgartown on Wednesday. Because she is still entering figures, the town clerk was unable to report the new total number of registered voters in town at press time.

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Islanders Scramble to Register For Super Tuesday Primary
Sam Bungey

In what has become a fiercely contested primary battle, Vineyarders rushed to register last week in time to vote in the Massachusetts Democratic and Republican primary elections, scheduled for “Super Duper,” “Tsunami,” or even “Destiny” Tuesday, Feb. 5.

That day will feature the biggest one-day collection of state primaries and caucuses ever held in the United States.

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Was Your Vote Counted? Film Examines Foul-Ups; Foul Play
Mike Seccombe

After the polling irregularities in Florida in the 2000 Presidential election, which saw George W. Bush come to office, David Earnhart did nothing. But when it was repeated in 2004, he could not let it pass again.

“A lot of people were angry in 2004,” Mr. Earnhart said this week from his office in Nashville. “But where most everybody else moved on, I didn’t.”

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Tisbury Detours Proposed $3 Million Connector Road
Peter Brannen

Tisbury voters rejected the controversial $3 million connector road proposal at their annual town meeting this week, ultimately convinced by critics of the project that it was too expensive for the town.

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