Primary turnout expected to be low

Vermont Public Radio reports that Vermonters head to the polls on Tuesday, September 9, 2008, for the state primary. "Voters will decide their party's nominees for statewide offices and the legislature. Secretary of State Deb Markowitz says polling places are not likely to see the same large turnout as the March presidential primary." She explained, "Turnout in a primary is driven by the ballot. The more contested races there are in a ballot, the higher up the ticket they are, the more people that come out. And in fact this is a pretty sleepy primary." She concluded that she "expects a similar turnout to the 2006 statewide primary when 19 percent of registered voters went to the polls. "

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Update on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 09:53AM by VCF Staff

Vermont primary drew only 8.5 percent turnout

Vermont Public Radio reports that "voter turnout in last week's Vermont primary election was only 8.5 percent, which officials say is the lowest in recent memory." Indeed, "36,716 of the state's registered voters cast ballots in the election, almost two-thirds of them in the Democratic primary." The lack of contested races on the ballot may be the reason why many people stayed home.

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