Midterm voter turnout record for recent years

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A possible record number of a voters for a midterm election turned out during Tuesday’s General Election, according to the Highland County Board of Elections.

The board’s unofficial results showed that 48.63 percent of the county’s 27,978 registered voters cast a ballot.

Steve Witham, elections administrator, and Debbie Craycraft, a longtime board employee and current board director, both said they could not remember a turnout that high for a midterm election.

A year ago, 26.52 percent of the registered voters in Highland County turned out for the General Election.

During the 2016 presidential election, Witham said 67.99 percent of the registered voters in the county cast a ballot.

Witham said he thought the high turnout was due a combination of there being several offices where an incumbent was not running, and the fact that when the board of elections mailed out notices saying seven precincts were being relocated, a note went along with notices reminding residents they could vote early.

“I think a lot of people did that,” Witham said.

He said 2,721 absentee ballots were cast at the board of elections office, and another 2,233 ballots were mailed out by the board.

There are 152 provisional ballots — 110 from the polls and 41 from before the election — plus 220 absentee ballots that could still be counted, according to Witham, but he said they are unlikely to change the outcome of any of the unofficial results.

The remaining ballots will tallied during the official count that will commence at 8 a.m. Monday, Nov. 26. Any absentee ballots the board receives that were postmarked by Nov. 5, 2018 will be counted.

Overall, Witham said he thought Election Day went well.

“At most locations we had a few times when things got pretty busy, but overall it went smooth,” Witham said. “We appreciate all the poll workers and the voters for being patient.”

Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522.

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Official count set for Nov. 26

By Jeff Gilliland

[email protected]

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