Norwood Voters Visit Armory for Last Time-November 6, 1968

Ninety Percent Turnout Recorded on Historic Final Day of Town-Wide Voting at Nahatan Street Location

Norwood voters yesterday cast their ballots for the last time in the Norwood Armory on Nahatan Street. Beginning with the town election in January, ballots will be cast in precincts throughout the town. The armory has been Norwood’s sole polling place since it was built. A special town meeting in September approved the switch to precinct voting.

Voter turnout approximated 90 per cent with 14,363 of 15,585 registered voters casting ballots at the Norwood Armory. The armory, the town’s sole polling place, was the scene of balloting yesterday for the last time. Under a plan approved by town meeting this year, six precinct voting places will be located in schools in the future.

Norwood voters yesterday returned state incumbents Alan P. Danovitch and David C. Ahearn to their state representative posts and gave a better than 2-1 victory margin to the Humphrey-Muskie presidential ticket. Norwood voters backed the Humphrey-Muskie ticket, giving the Democratic nominees 9,365 votes. The Republican presidential team of Nixon-Agnew gained 4,046 votes, with third party candidate former Alabama Gov. George C. Wallace garnering 389 votes. The Socialist-Labor ticket of Blomen and Taylor drew 17 votes, with 10 Norwood voters supporting Prohibition party candidates Munn and Fisher. In the Congressional race for the 11th District, unopposed Rep. James A. Burke, D-Mass., received 11,798 votes.

In the 2nd District race for state representative, Republican Danovitch topped a field of four with 9,616 votes. Ahearn, a Norwood attorney, came in second with a voting tally of 7,065. Democrat William F. Butters, a former state representative who was defeated in 1966 in his first re-election bid by Danovitch, finished third in the four-man race yesterday with a vote of 5,953. Walpole optometrist Joseph Bickford, Republican, trailed the field. He received 2,252 votes.

State Sen. John M. Quinlan, R-Dover, gained his third consecutive victory in the town, receiving 10,982 votes in an uncontested election. Robert P. Browning, a Democratic nominee for the state senate in 1964, received 29 write-in votes.

In the race for Norfolk County Commissioner posts, Democratic incumbent James J. Collins topped a field of four with 8,440 votes. George B. McDonald, also a Democrat, finished second in the four-man race for two 4-year commission posts; McDonald amassed 6,112 votes. Commission candidates James M. Lombard and Vincent R. Nobile, both Republicans, received 5,613 and 3,134 votes respectively.

Norwood Atty. Thomas K. McManus drew strong voter support for an unexpired term as county commissioner, receiving 10,527 votes to 2,526 for Oliver B. Volpe. The Democratic candidate for Norfolk County Sheriff, Edward S. Graham, outdistanced incumbent Charles W. Hedges in the Norwood election by a vote of 7,153 to 5,829. Democrat Herbert L. Connolly of Newton easily outdistanced his Republican opponent Volpe by a near 3-1 margin in the race for Governor’s Council. Connolly, an auto dealer, gained 9,175 votes to 3,473 for Volpe.

On referendum balloting, Norwood voters supported extending firearm identification by a vote of 11,614 to 1,090. They also favored a proposed constitutional convention by a vote favoring the referendum of 9,043 to 2,581. Voters in Norwood rejected a proposed graduated income tax by a vote of 8,096 to 3,777. They voted continued participation in the MBTA’s plans for commuter service by a vote of 6,342 to 3,485, and affirmed a proposal establishing a line of succession in the event of a governor’s disability from five to 10 the number of days allowed the governor in which to act upon measures passed by the legislature. On liquor law policies, Norwood continued to support laws allowing the sale of alcoholic and malt beverages in the town.

In local notices, the Norwood Square Dancers will hear caller Frannie Heintz at their session tomorrow night. Open to all area square dancers, the meeting will be from 8 to 11 p.m. at the Prescott School. Refreshments will be served during the dancing. Applications for firearm identification cards will be processed weekly at the Norwood Police Department from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 6 to 8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays. Applicants are requested not to bring firearms, rifles or shotguns to the station for registration. The prescribed fee for the card will be $2.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger