Voter turnout at 40 percent
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
More than 40 percent of voters turned out for the 2011 general election, which are numbers that make the office of the Highland County Board of Elections very happy.
There were a few technical issues throughout the day, but overall the day went smoothly, according to board officials.
"Turnout was at a little over 40 percent," said Steve Witham of the Highland County Board of Elections. "That makes us really happy. It has been a really steady day. We've had a really good turnout. I think the great weather has really helped out a lot. One of our biggest runs today was making sure that the precincts didn't run out of 'I voted today' stickers. We're happy to see a good turnout like that. That's always a frustrating thing, when you have a lot of work put in getting ready for an election, and you have a very low 10 percent or 15 percent turnout. We love to see it worthwhile and really have the voters turn out."
The final results for all of Highland County's 31 precincts were posted by 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. The count would have been completed sooner, but poll workers in a Paint Creek precinct and a Brushcreek precinct left memory cards in voting machines and had to return to the polling place before the votes could be counted.
"Starting out this morning we had a few minor problems with printers getting started," Witham said. "The rovers (poll troubleshooters) and (they were able to get the machines up and running)."
Board of elections member Kay Ayres said that having such a good voter turnout helps to make the hard work the office puts in worthwhile.
"You do all this work and you're really disappointed when people don't care enough to come, and they did today," Ayres said. "That's wonderful. That's what we're for. And, it would be really difficult to have an election if we didn't have the volunteers who just came in because they care and they care about our form of government. They're believers, and it really has been quite good, and we're very pleased with the cooperation that we've gotten from the community."
The absentee ballots for Tuesday's election were added in two separate batches Tuesday night, one for paper ballots and one for touch-screen machines. There are 234 provisional ballots that will be added in during the official count.
The full Highland County Board of Elections will meet 10 days after the election for the official general election count.
More than 40 percent of voters turned out for the 2011 general election, which are numbers that make the office of the Highland County Board of Elections very happy.
There were a few technical issues throughout the day, but overall the day went smoothly, according to board officials.
"Turnout was at a little over 40 percent," said Steve Witham of the Highland County Board of Elections. "That makes us really happy. It has been a really steady day. We've had a really good turnout. I think the great weather has really helped out a lot. One of our biggest runs today was making sure that the precincts didn't run out of 'I voted today' stickers. We're happy to see a good turnout like that. That's always a frustrating thing, when you have a lot of work put in getting ready for an election, and you have a very low 10 percent or 15 percent turnout. We love to see it worthwhile and really have the voters turn out."
The final results for all of Highland County's 31 precincts were posted by 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. The count would have been completed sooner, but poll workers in a Paint Creek precinct and a Brushcreek precinct left memory cards in voting machines and had to return to the polling place before the votes could be counted.
"Starting out this morning we had a few minor problems with printers getting started," Witham said. "The rovers (poll troubleshooters) and (they were able to get the machines up and running)."
Board of elections member Kay Ayres said that having such a good voter turnout helps to make the hard work the office puts in worthwhile.
"You do all this work and you're really disappointed when people don't care enough to come, and they did today," Ayres said. "That's wonderful. That's what we're for. And, it would be really difficult to have an election if we didn't have the volunteers who just came in because they care and they care about our form of government. They're believers, and it really has been quite good, and we're very pleased with the cooperation that we've gotten from the community."
The absentee ballots for Tuesday's election were added in two separate batches Tuesday night, one for paper ballots and one for touch-screen machines. There are 234 provisional ballots that will be added in during the official count.
The full Highland County Board of Elections will meet 10 days after the election for the official general election count.