Results tagged “voting”

What's a guy gotta do to get in the State House these days? Apparently have about as many friends as you have Twitter followers. The official results of today's election to replace DiMasi show that 2190 of Aaron Michlewitz's pals elected him to the third district seat. Just 2747 people out of 28,646 registered voters cast ballots in the special election. If that kind of turnout keeps up, we kind of feel like we might have enough friends to give this politics stuff a go.

Universal Hub has a map of election-day events reported by readers. Most of the updates focus on wait times (and there are some long lines), though one reader has posted a concerning tale of voters being turned away at polling places. Many folks are sharing their votes online, but Sarah Palin, for one, is keeping her vote under wraps. Maybe she is a maverick. Maybe she is secretly pro-hope. Or maybe she just doesn't like to wash her hands. [Other coverage: Brookline TAB, Cambridge Chronicle, Fark, Globe.]

Malden pre-schoolers voted for Miss Froggy's sugary, recess-friendly platform over Mr. Lion's safety-oriented plan of increasing fire and police protection. The Montessori school in Malden has been running mock elections for 17 years, nurturing future voters.

Here's a question: do you think professional athletes vote absentee or at the polls? We're imagining that Jason Varitek, for instance, probably goes absentee. Otherwise, he'd be hanging out at his local voting spot today, waiting for the line to move, fielding question after question about how things are going to go between Scott Boras and Theo Epstein when they finally sit down to start talking about whether our captain will remain a member of our team.

Bostonist wholeheartedly believes in bribing rewarding our readers for participation in the democratic process, so here’s a list of food & drink freebies available to voters today:

Bostonist called it! Once we wondered if Tom Brady was evolving into his panty model girlfriend Gisele Bundchen. Well, he might be. The New York Post has unleashed a bombshell that Brady, who is a Stetson model and a Smart Water model and an everything model, might be donning Calvin Klein underwear for a new series of ads. The Calvin Klein label has a sweet tooth for New England men, as Mark Wahlberg once donned their britches.

Call us crazy, but we're not as excited about the Oscars as we could be. We're happy the writers' strike is over, because we support writers as much as anyone (we're pretty writerly ourselves, y'know). Still, the fact that everyone's excited about ads, parties, and fashion (though we do like the Penelope Cruz pick) rather than films speaks to just how Hollywood our movie industry has become--and just how sad that is for the films themselves. So please excuse us if we seem a little grouchy this weekend.

--If we can't make an event out of a Super Bowl victory, then we'll make one out of Super Tuesday. Get answers to your burning questions, watch McLovin learn to vote, experience the rock-star presence of Barack Obama, and find out where to party. [All links Bostonist]

Today is truly a day to end all days: Super Tuesday and Fat Tuesday unite as one, to reveal America for what it truly is: the Nation of the SuperFat (and the grammatically illicit double-colon sentence as well!). Bostonist encourages all of its readers to vote prior to partying (a couple of drinks might make you think Michael Cera is a great write-in vote--actually, he totally would be), and to party like it's 2009 and we've got a fresh-faced (and perhaps long socks-wearing) new prez. Below, a couple of answers (courtesy of the Elections Division) to the difficult questions that arise on this fattest of super Tuesdays (or superest of Fat Tuesdays?).

Here's something we never thought of: the Patriots' (hopeful) victory parade would have to be on Tuesday, thus conflicting with the Massachusetts primary. The team won't be back on Monday, and most of them have to go to the Pro Bowl in Hawaii on Wednesday. So Tuesday (and not AFTER the Pro Bowl, which would just be crazy talk) it is.

Massachusetts is the hot battlefield for wind energy. What happens here will no doubt impact how seriously wind is taken as an alternative energy source in the rest of the United States. And, last week, a lot happened regarding wind energy that didn't have anything to do with Cape Wind.

• Londonist pondered who might be the next sponsors of the London Eye and whether or not readers would be willing to donate £1,000 each for a Londonist Eye.
• Shanghaiist was shocked to find a cameltoe in the city's only English-language paper.
Continue reading "Week Around the -Ists"

Unofficial leaked lists started hitting the Internet late this morning. Fearful and optimistic at the same time, we started scanning them to see who was allegedly going to be on the MLB Steroid Commission's "Naughty" list.

Former Massachusetts governor and presidential aspirant Mitt Romney delivered a thoughtful, moving speech today at the George Bush Sr. Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas. Romney delivered points that no one could argue with--namely, that religious liberty is "fundamental to America's greatness." No kidding. Isn't that why the pilgrims came here in the first place? Aside from a few "duh" moments, Romney delivered a solid speech with some quotable lines, particularly: "Americans do...

After all the sturm und drang of a recount, Watertown City Councilor Marilyn Devaney has reclaimed her hotly contested seat following a recount. Initially, tallies showed that challenger John Donohue barely beat her. Then came the recount, which was a wild ride documented by the Watertown Wicked Local Blog and H2oTown. Devaney won that, and now the town's local scribes are waiting to find out if Donohue will challenge the initial challenge. Here's Jillian Fennimore...

Taking a cue from New Hampshire and just about every other state, Governor Deval Patrick has signed a bill that sets the Massachusetts presidential primary on Tuesday, February 5. The date change sets the state's primary on "Super Tuesday" so we're not lagging behind all the other cool states who always got to vote first (take that, Connecticut!). Massachusetts residents will no longer feel defeated voting after the know-it-all pundits are already calling the Democrat...

As tempting as it would have been for the Bruins to come out swinging last night, playing back the Flyers for Patrice Bergeron's concussion, that's not how they roll. And they needed the two points even more than they needed the visceral satisfaction of seeing the Flyers laid out like the wounded soldiers in Gone With the Wind. The 6-3 shellacking wasn't exactly a tea party, though. Defenseman Andrew Alberts left the game after a...

Who would have thought former Massachusetts governors Mitt Romney and Michael Dukakis would have anything in common beside the name of the state they once led? Unfortunately for Romney, he is now being dogged by accusations that a decision he made led to the murder of innocent people. In an incident that echoes when Dukakis approved a furlough for prisoner Willie Horton, who assaulted a couple in Maryland while he was out, Romney appointed Kathe...

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney may be trying to tell potential voters to set his Mormon faith aside, but one large chunk of the voting bloc is speaking out about Romney's beliefs. The Osmonds, that legendary Mormon entertainment dynasty, have so many members it's difficult to count them all, but they're welcoming Romney into the fold. In one of the least shocking semi-endorsements of all time, Donny and Marie Osmond delivered a positive evaluation of...

During the recent elections in Cambridge, a Boy Scout troop set up stations at polling places to collect goods for troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The items collected would have been bundled into care packages. Somebody complained that the collections were too political, and Cambridge officials made the Boy Scouts leave. The stage was set for a political ruckus, with the Boy Scouts and the troops as the victims and the hemptastic citizens of...

Josh Beckett got to hoist the championship trophy, ride down Boylston on the duck boats, and will get a huge ring in the spring. He earned the Sports Illustrated commemorative issue cover, the champagne and beer showers, and the reputation for serving as the ace among aces in October. He had a rich season, so we're hoping that such a reminder helps as C.C. Sabathia is toasted as the American League's newest Cy Young winner....

You'd think that a day on which we learned that the Pope would rather celebrate mass at Yankee Stadium than anywhere near Boston would be a grim one. Let's face it, that's kind of like George Steinbrenner holding a press conference to announce that Yankees fans are guaranteed eternal salvation, but Red Sox fans will be hitting the highway to hell when their times come. But hey - let the Pope do what he will....

If you walk through Cambridge, you would think that everyone is running for office based on the number of signs on residential streets. Finally, the day has arrived to vote for the city council and the school committee. There are nine open seats on the council, eight incumbents are running again, and several newbies want their jobs. The Cambridge Chronicle has a well-done list of profiles for each candidate. The big story of the election...

Animator Dave Schlafman, of Boston, is in the finals of Current TV's Current and the Alliance Ecospot Contest to find the best PSA about the environment. The goal of the contest is to get people to look at the climate crisis in new ways. The masses can vote for the winning spot. All it takes is registering on current.com, and you can vote for the best PSA. Schlafman's is titled "The Sky is Falling,"...

As it gets closer to Halloween for LAist, a contributer recollects her tale of staring down the serial killer, Richard Ramirez, otherwise known as the Night Stalker. Must think happy thoughts -- okay, free organic chocolate chip cookies for Los Angeles -- now that's a happy thought. Other happy Los Angeles thoughts include an interview with Jack Kehler of The Big Lebowski (he was the Dude's landlord), a beautiful and magical photographic moment in Venice...