Despite the pandemic, nearly a third of registered Dartmouth voters cast their ballots in the Sept. 1 primary election that saw a hotly contested race for a US Senate seat — more than voted in the presidential primary on Super Tuesday in March.

New interim town clerk Sarah Arruda — who started the job the day before the election — said that it went smoothly.

“Everybody helped,” she said. “It was all hands on deck. Everybody was just so kind and patient and helpful with everything...That made a real big difference.”

Arruda added that she was happy with the turnout for the election as well. “We had a good turnout. I was surprised that we had as many people in person as we did,” she said. “We were really really happy.”

A large majority of voters (80.4%) this election opted for a Democratic ballot, on which incumbent senator Ed Markey faced off against challenger Joe Kennedy III in a tight race.

Although Kennedy ended up losing overall — the first from his political family to lose a congressional race in Massachusetts — he took Dartmouth by storm, winning 57% to Markey’s 43%.

This time around, 31.8% of voters turned out for Tuesday’s primary, more than a fifth of the town’s entire population and comfortably higher than the 26.3 percent who voted on March 3 to choose Joe Biden as the Democratic candidate for president.

Meanwhile on the Republican ticket, attorney Kevin O’Connor beat out scientist and entrepreneur Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai 55% to 45%.

O’Connor will run against Markey for his senate seat on November 3.

Resident Leland Queen was among the more than 800 voters who arrived in person to cast their ballots at the Crapo Field polling station. He said he voted for Markey.

“He seems like a very progressive candidate and I know he has the track record to back it up,” Queen said, noting that he came to vote in person because he “forgot doing it through the mail was a possibility.” 

He added that he felt very safe at the precinct, since poll workers made sure to sanitize and wear masks. “I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all,” he said.

According to poll worker Michelle Sparks, voting booths are wiped down every 30 minutes, adding that “no one seemed to be expressing any concerns” about voting in person.

Lauren Chiquito, another Markey voter, said she came in person because she lived close by. “I live like two minutes away,” she said. “I felt like I had to come and get my voice out there.”

Voter Connie Garcia said she came to the precinct because that is how she always votes. “It’s my right and I’ll take it,” she said.

Garcia voted for Dr. Shiva Ayyadurai, saying that he “knows about health” and is “against bad vaccines.” Ayyadurai has previously recommended vitamin supplements as a treatment for coronavirus.

Lacey St. Jean voted for Ayyadurai’s opponent, Kevin O’Connor, but said she thought the GOP ballot was “kind of upsetting.”

“There’s not a lot of representation on there,” she said. “Looking at it, there were a lot of write-ins.”

All of the other candidates on both tickets ran unopposed in the primary, including incumbent Democratic US Representative for Massachusetts’ ninth congressional district Bill Keating and Republican Helen Brady, who will be challenging Keating for the spot in November. 

In the Massachusetts state legislature for Dartmouth’s district, Democratic incumbents Christopher Markey and Mark Montigny will be running this November for their seats in the house and the senate, respectively. The Republican primaries were cancelled for these races.

Democratic incumbent Joseph Ferreira will also be running to keep his seat on the Massachusetts Governor’s Council, and Thomas Hoye for the Register of Probate in Bristol County.

Other Bristol County positions up for grabs include two County Commissioner spots, for which Democrats John Mitchell and Paul Kitchen will run against Republican Nancy Stanton-Cross, while Democrat Christopher Saunders will run for Bristol County Treasurer.