Mattituck Has Mixed Bag of Voters at Polling Place

Voters standing in short lines for Election 2012 ballots at Mattituck High School didn’t all agree on who should be the U.S. President for the next four years, but many had one thing in common — they weren’t wishy-washy whatsoever on who they were voting for Tuesday afternoon.

“This is an extremely important election, and Romney is a horrible choice,” said Mattituck resident and lifelong Democrat Candice Vadala before voting. “If he wins, he’s going to put the same old Republican policies in place we had when Bush was in office. And I do not need a man telling me what to do with my body — Obama recognizes the importance for women’s rights.”

Pat Stegner, Board of Elections coordinator in Mattituck, said that the voter turnout was overwhelming all morning and into the afternoon — “I haven’t sat down since 5 a.m.,” she said. “It’s always a big turnout for a presidential election, but this year with the hurricane, we’ve got people from Nassau County and the city voting here because they have second homes here or were stuck here during the storm.”

With so much damage from Hurricane Sandy last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo allowed displaced people to vote in any polling district. Bob Jenulis, who recently moved to Mattituck from Mastic Beach, said that Republican challenger Mitt Romney was his man to lead in Washington.

“We need to get the bum out of office,” he said of incumbent President Barack Obama. “He’s ruined everything in four years. The Democrats gave the house away.”

Jenulis said Republican businessman Randy Altschuler also has his vote over Tim Bishop — “another bum that needs to go,” he said. “All that talk about Altschuler outsourcing jobs isn’t necessarily true — outsourcing has been happening for decades.”

But to Jed Clauss, a businessman and Mattituck resident of 40 years, Obama is the candidate to vote for to revive the U.S. economy.

“Obama kept us from falling into another Great Depression — that’s the name of the game,” he said.

Tom Noormae of Laurel said he would not take another four years of Obama.

“I believe in Romney, I believe in what he is saying about the economy, and cannot have another four years like the last four years,” he said.

One voter, a 23-year-old Mattituck resident who preferred not to give his name, said though he believed Obama would win re-election, he said he would vote for Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson on Tuesday.

“Like Romney, he’s got it together fiscally, but I also agree with his platform on social issues,” he said. “The problem with Republicans is that they are always trying to control everyone’s social life.”

Though she had her mind made up to give Barack Obama a chance at another four years, Candice Vadala said that she thought the voter turnout in Mattituck was wonderful no matter which way the ballots were cast.

“I get choked up every time I go to vote — it’s just so great that we can,” she said.