Voter turnout in the 2025 municipal primaries for Columbus and Starkville showed improvement compared to low participation in 2021, though Columbus fell short of its higher turnout in 2017.

Columbus led with a 24.8% voter turnout Tuesday with 3,671 of 14,832 registered voters casting ballots in mayoral and council races. Starkville saw a 24% turnout with 3,306 of 13,786 registered voters casting ballots.

This year marked a significant jump compared to the 2021 primaries, when neither city had a contested mayoral race on the ballot.

Columbus in 2021 had 6.5% turnout, while 4.2% of registered voters in Starkville cast a ballot in the primaries the same year.

Turnout in 2017 was higher than 2021 for both cities, as there were contested mayoral races.

While 2025 primary turnout in Columbus was 3% less than the 27.8% the city posted in 2017, the percentages don’t tell the whole story. Almost 1,200 more voters cast primary ballots in 2017 than this year, but the pool of registered voters was much greater.

According to the city registrar’s office, the number of registered voters in Columbus dropped by about 2,500 between 2017 and 2021 – from roughly 17,300 to about 14,800. There has been only a nominal increase in registered voters in the city since.

Starkville’s turnout Tuesday surpassed its 2017 turnout of 17.5%.

Turnout totals for the 2025 municipal primaries include in-person and absentee ballots cast. Affidavits are not included.