Low turnout likely for primary rematch
By News-Argus Staff
Published in News on May 30, 2010 1:50 AM
Voter turnout in the single-digit range, possibly lower than the 6 percent for the May primary, is expected for the June 22 second Democratic primary between U.S. Senate hopefuls Elaine Marshall and Cal Cunningham.
Only 4,174 of the county's 69,351 eligible voters cast ballots in the first primary. There are 47,505 voters eligible to vote on June 22 -- 34,894 Democrats and 12,611 Unaffiliated.
The race between Ms. Marshall and Cunningham is the only one on the ballot.
"I hate to be pessimistic, so I am going to say about 5 percent (turnout)," Wayne County Elections Director Vickie Reed said. "I try to have faith in all of the people. We can only inform them and hope they come out and see us."
All of the county's 30 precincts will be open and the polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. on June 22. Also, as was the case for the May 4 primary, one-stop voting will be held at the Wayne County Board of Elections office, 209 S. William St.
Unlike the first primary, however, there will be no in-person registration and no changes in party affiliation allowed at the one-stop location.
One-stop voting will be held June 3-4, 7-11 and 14-18 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 19.
Voters will be asked to state their name, residence address and registered party. After the information is verified, all registered Democrats may vote.
Unaffiliated voters who voted Democrat in the first primary may vote Democrat in the second primary. Unaffiliated voters who did not vote in the first primary may choose to vote Democrat in the second primary. Unaffiliated voters who voted Republican or Unaffiliated in the first primary may not vote in the second primary.
The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot by mail is June 15 at 5 p.m. The deadline for returning those ballots to the Board of Elections office is June 21 at 5 p.m.
The board will meet at 5 p.m. on Election Day to tabulate absentee ballots, but those results will not be released until the polls close. The board is scheduled to tabulate transfer ballots at 7:30 p.m.
Unofficial election results will be available beginning at 7:30 p.m. until all precinct results are in. All election night results are considered unofficial until canvass is complete and the Wayne County Board of Elections certifies them.
June 28 has been tentatively set to review precinct tapes, provisional ballots and conduct any recounts required by law. A public notice will be given upon approval by the election board, confirming the date and time.
The canvass will start at 11 a.m. on June 29, and election results will be certified by the Wayne County Board of Elections.
Voters who have questions concerning their voter registration status, polling site location or any other queries concerning access to voting should contact the Board of Elections.
The telephone number is 731-1411. The e-mail address is wc.boe@waynegov.com.
Voters may obtain registration information, including maps to their polling site on the Web site. In addition, sample ballots and candidate information will be posted as soon as it is made available for download.