The numbers show the Lowndes County voter turnout for Tuesday’s election trumps the turnout in the August primaries along with the showing in the previous state and local election.
A total of 17,643 vote cards were cast with 40,432 residents registered to vote. That is a 43.64 percent turnout, which surpasses both the primary turnout just three months ago and the 2007 election.
“There’s a big difference from the 2007 election and this year,” Circuit Clerk Haley Salazar said.
The primaries only showed just more than a third of the voters casting ballots, and the 2007 election showed 16,018 ballots cast out of 41,160 registered voters, a 38.92 percent turnout.
But that’s about all this election defeats.
The 2008 presidential election showed 64.08 percent turnout from Lowndes voters, and the 2010 Congressional race showed 47.47 percent turnout. In 2003, 18,997 voters cast ballots in the county, but the number of registered voters and turnout percentage was unavailable for that election.
“In 2003, we had a pretty good turnout, and in 2007 it started to go down. Then it picked back up for the presidential election. In 2010, it still was up,” Salazar said.
People initially thought Tuesday’s turnout would be a record number, but Salazar believes the appearance of large numbers was due to a long ballot and many items to vote on.
“It was a longer ballot than last fall, so people had to wait in line longer. People were in and out faster (last fall). This election was long because any time you have governor all the way down to supervisor and add the three initiatives, it will be longer,” she said. “I think the length of it made the turnout appear better than it was because the ballot was so long that people had to wait.”
Salazar, one of the candidates who was victorious and retained her position, said the turnout for this year’s election was good and wasn’t good at the same time.
“It’s a fairly good turnout but it’s not as good as it was last fall,” she said. “Don’t put me as coming across as negative. I’m proud of everyone who came and voted, but I think there’s room for improvement.”
In 2007, 41,160 voters were registered. In 2008, the number increased to 43,154. In 2010, it decreased to 40,072 due to purging the voter roll, and Tuesday’s election showed around the same number of registered voters.
“The voter roll is changed constantly,” Salazar said.
Precinct turnout numbers
The precinct showing the highest turnout percentage was Steens. There were 347 votes cast out of 634 registered voters, a 54.73 percent turnout.
The precinct is in District 1, where Harry Sanders defeated Joey Pounders and Willie Petty Tuesday to retain his seat on the Board of Supervisors. Sanders said Steens has always shown political awareness.
“I think one thing that had something to do with it is I have community meetings spread out throughout the district. That communication gives a little political awareness,” he said, noting sometimes he invites election candidates and government officials.
“It’s not usually that high. Maybe they just wanted to get out and vote for their supervisor.”
Sanders said he “didn’t do any more campaigning” in Steens than he usually does.
“And I don’t think anyone else did any more. I just think the community is politically conscious,” he said.
“That’s the highest vote count I got too, percentage-wise.”
The next-highest precincts regarding turnout percentages were Immanuel School, with 52.63 percent, and West Lowndes, with 52.61 percent. Those three precincts were the only ones in Lowndes County where a majority of the registered voters cast their ballots.
“They have small numbers but they have faithful voters,” Salazar said. “It seems there are more that come out and participate. The people there come vote.”
The three precincts with the highest number of votes cast were New Hope, Lee Middle and Caledonia.
“New Hope is, and has been for a while, the top precinct for number of voters,” Sheriff-elect Mike Arledge said.
Arledge used strong reportings in New Hope and Caledonia, where he earned a large majority of the votes, to pull away from his opponent, Anthony Nelson.
Caledonia reported 1,603 cards cast from the 3,293 registered voters, a 48.68 percent turnout, and New Hope showed 2,528 ballots cast out of 5,210 registered voters, a 48.52 percent turnout. Lee Middle showed 1,873 ballots out of 3,895 registered voters, which is 48.09 percent.
“From what I’ve noticed, they’ve always had a large turnout,” Arledge said. “I look more for the potential of how many rather than the percentage.”
The three precincts with the smallest turnout percentage were: Coleman with 23.85 percent; Hunt with 27.24 percent; and Propst Park with 27.66 percent.
By the numbers
These numbers reflect the percentage of registered voters who cast ballots.
Top 5 precincts:
n Steens – 347 of 634; 54.73 percent
n Immanuel School – 471 of 895; 52.63 percent
n West Lowndes – 655 of 1245; 52.61 percent
n Artesia – 230 of 463; 49.68 percent
n Caledonia – 1,603 of 3,293; 48.68 percent
Bottom 5 precincts:
n Union – 519 of 1690; 30.71 percent
n Mitchell – 536 of 1914; 28 percent
n Propst Park – 164 of 593; 27.66 percent
n Hunt – 676 of 2482; 27.24 percent
n Coleman – 140 of 587; 23.85 percent
Source: Lowndescountygov.com.
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