LIVE BLOG: Chelmsford Municipal Election 2011

The only contested race this year was for the Planning Board, in which three people faced off for two seats.

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8:17 p.m.: Everyone is chatting and anxiously awaiting results.

8:15 p.m.: Jon Kurland just arrived along with some others. Our photographer for the evening Claire Petrillo is working hard.

8:06 p.m.: Jim Lane just arrived to applause and, "I wonder who won?"

8:05 p.m.: Charlie Wojtas is at town hall, as well as Tom Christiano and Pam Armstrong. A few town meeting reps are also here.

8:02 p.m.: Everyone at town hall is discussing the crappy voter turnout.

8 p.m.: The polls are now closed. Check back as we fill in the chart above with results as we get them. Lots of people are gathered in the lobby of town hall including other media outlets and Fire Chief Michael Curran. All patiently waiting!

7:48 p.m.: Just about 10 minutes left of voting before the polls close. Then, we'll update you from town hall and update numbers right here as they come in.

7:38 p.m.: Fire Chief Michael Curran has arrived at town hall to find out the results of the fire station vote.

7:27 p.m.: Just about half an hour to go now. Party is in the lobby of town hall. Who wants to make some predictions? Anyone? Anyone?

7:17 p.m.: Parking lot is bare. Just under an hour left now.  I can't believe we've been live blogging for seven hours. Thanks for tuning in. Hopefully the candidates will start to arrive soon and we can get all this election business under way.

7:04 p.m.: Well the Patch helpers are here to help gather numbers. Hopefully they'll trickle in pretty quickly after the polls close.

6:50 p.m.: It's pretty slow still outside at town hall. Oh 8 p.m., where are you?

6:40 p.m.: A few voters are discussing the issues in the stairwell. They seem optimistic the fire station will pass.

6:30 p.m.: Just about an hour and a half to get your vote in. Don't forget to follow us right here after the polls close for the latest results as well as photos and video from town hall.

6:20 p.m.: Dinner for the town clerk's office has arrived. They're all so very excited. Elections that are slow are just awful. Tick tock. In November it was so exciting! Today, the mood is very "blah."

6:15 p.m.: Things are quieting down again a bit here. People around town hall are guessing turnout: 10 percent? 15 percent? What do you think it was?

6 p.m.: Yum! The Town Clerk's office staff is ordering dinner. I already snuck out for some dinner myself. It's only a matter of time before we have our winners.

5:50 p.m.: Just over two hours left to get your vote in. Seems like a few more people are filing in and out now that work is done.

5:40 p.m.: If the ballot question for the fire station is voted down, what do you think the next steps should be? Town Manager Paul Cohen said if it fails he'll have to sit down with the board and perhaps try to figure out why it failed. Then it might just be back to the drawing board next year.

5:30 p.m.: The front door to town hall has officially been locked, but the side entrance can still be used for voters. Two and a half hours left to make your vote count.

5:20 p.m.: Still a little quiet here at town hall. Town Clerk Betty Delaney has been running around all this afternoon to the different voting precincts. She just got back to town hall.

5:10 p.m.: Town Clerk Betty Delaney said she'll expect the first results to start rolling in around 9 p.m. Finance Director John Sousa just said hello and followed it up with "Boy, you're setting up early."

5 p.m.: Now that it's officially quittin' time, hopefully the voters will start coming through the door. A few just did! We've already got our chart set up for tonight when the numbers start rolling in. We also have our favorite snacks -- pretzels and peeps. What do you like to eat when you're working for long periods of time?

4:57 p.m.:  Patch HQ has officially moved from upstairs town hall to the main lobby. Stopping by to vote tonight? Come say hi to us!

4:45 p.m.: Word on the street is the party after the party at town hall tonight will be at . Jim Lane, Ann McGuigan and Mike Raisbeck will all go out for a (celebratory?) drink.  They'll probably be in the upstairs room. Stop by and give them your congrats.

4:35 p.m.: By the way, if you haven't gotten out to vote already and still aren't sure if you're for or against the fire station, check out our

4:23 p.m.: Our sign holders have returned but the parking lot is still very empty. C'mon, voters! Where are you?

4:10 p.m.: According to our Facebook poll, most of you think turnout will be between 10 and 15 percent for today's election. By my estimates (not that I'm an expert) but that seems about right to me. Does anyone think it'll be more or less than that?

3:58 p.m.: Our last sign holder at Town Hall has retreated. Hopefully things should pick up even more within the hour.

3:48 p.m.: From our , we're still really unsure of which way this will go for the fire station. We had a lot of people speak in favor of the station, but a few also spoke out against it but didn't want their photo taken. Which way do you think it will go?

3:39 p.m.: We just posted some today. What a rainy day. Only one sign holder is left here at town hall though it looks like more voters are trickling in.

3:27 p.m.: Seems as though voting at the Westlands School was slow as well in precincts 4 and 6.

3:15 p.m.: A few more voters are trickling in. Less than 5 hours until the polls close -- have you made it out to vote yet?

3:02 p.m.: A few more sign holders have showed up, but they're holding umbrellas. Do you think the rain had anything to do with keeping voters away? Or was it not a very interesting election anyway?

2:48 p.m.: Ann McGuigan is back out at town hall holding signs. She and the other candidates seem to have been rotating from polling place to polling place throughout the day today.

2:38 p.m.:  Precinct 9 has had 303 people vote so far, and precinct 1 has 312.

2:32 p.m.: The parking lot here is significantly more empty now than it was even an hour ago. It's so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

2:20 p.m.: Reporter Ivory Farren said voting at is even slower than at McCarthy. I'm curious - I know Chelmsford has nine voting precincts, but why are there so many polling places? Wouldn't it be possible to double up on a few more places and maybe save some money? Just thinking out loud here...

2:15 p.m.: Over at Harrington, precinct 2 has 145 votes as of right now, and precinct 3 has 254. Yikes.

2:11 p.m.: Ivory Farren is reporting things at are just as slow as they are here are town hall. Check out our Facebook page and answer our poll: how many people do you think will turn out for this election?

2:02 p.m.: Precinct 7 has 325 votes so far, and precinct 8 has 310. Is that already disappointing, or is it too early to tell?

1:53 p.m.: Looked like the sun was trying to break through, and the voters have started to pick up once again. The temps have left, though, and without temps or sign-holders, the parking lot still looks pretty empty.

1:42 p.m.: Reporter Ivory Farren just checked in. She said it's so quiet downstairs. She's going to head out to a few more locations and send updates from there.

1:34 p.m.: A few voters are shuffling in and out of the parking lot. A good sign -- hopefully it will pick up even more around 5 p.m., after work lets out.

1:24 p.m.: The temps are back with their signs. This morning sign holders said about 25 percent of voters they saw coming in and out actually signed the recall petitions. Sign holder Tom Gilroy said the petitioners may not understand signing the petition will force a recall election, which will cost the town money - money the town doesn't have to be spending.

1:19 p.m.: A few voters just showed up in some rain gear. We've been hearing throughout the afternoon and morning things have been slow at the other polling locations as well. Were there others around when you voted today?

1:09 p.m.: A car has pulled in front of one of the temp worker's cars, blocking the "no" signs from view. Also, the temp workers are nowhere to be found. Is it their lunch break?

12:59 p.m.: The poll workers look pretty bored. Not many voters coming through the doors, that's for sure.

12:48 p.m.: Police officer drove away and those temps look bored as ever. The parking lot has just about cleared out here at town hall. Why isn't anyone voting?!

12:38 p.m.: A Chelmsford police officer is talking to the temporary workers holding signs. Wish I could hear that conversation.

12:25 p.m.: Just posted an election image gallery from this morning.  Looks like many of the sign holders outside the town offices have taken a lunch break. The are still out there though, leaning against a car and holding their signs for the recall petition.

12:15 p.m.: Lunchtime rush? Not so much. The parking lot here at the town offices seems to be clearing out instead of people driving in.

12 p.m.  -- Hi there, I'm Krista Perry, editor of Chelmsford Patch. Welcome to our first election live blog.  I will be updating this live blog throughout the afternoon and into the evening. The polls close at 8 p.m. tonight and we'll bring you the latest numbers and what's happening as soon as it happens.

Our headquarters (for now) is located in the second floor meeting room of the town offices. Once things get going, we'll be moving downstairs to catch all the numbers for you as soon as they come in. Feel free to stop by and say hello, chat politics or voice any concerns.

You can also make comments and ask questions throughout the day and I'll do my best to answer as best I can. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well for the latest in election updates.

The weather weather is muggy and voters are few and far between. Sign holders are keeping entertained, and even the are chatting with voters and sign holders.

We'll also be updating shortly with an image gallery from this morning.