Somerville preliminary election results

[ron_newman]

The Somerville elections department emailed me a spreadsheet of unofficial results from Tuesday's preliminary election. (I think they consider me to be a news reporter.) Here are the totals for Mayor:

Turnout: 5304 ballots cast (10.2%), of 52228 registered voters.

Joe Curtatone - 3013 (56.8%)
Marianne Walles - 1945 (36.7%)
Kenneth Van Buskirk - 249 (4.7%)
Write-In - 36 (0.7%)
Blank - 61 (1.2%)

In Ward 3 School Committee, Sarah Phillips received 624 votes, Mary Marshall 414 votes, and Michele LIppens (eliminated) got 351 votes.

I do not know why anyone would show up at the polls and then cast a blank ballot for the only race on the ballot, but at least 25 voters did exactly that. (61 minus the 36 mayoral blanks cast in ward 3, whose ballot also had a School Committee race.)