Approximately 5,000 of Lawrence County’s 56,000 registered voters requested mail-in or absentee ballots this year, said elections director Ed Allison. As of Thursday, nearly 65%, or 3,150, had been returned to the elections office.
The number of people who vote in municipal primaries is usually much lower than in federal and general elections, but it’s unclear how the state’s vote-by-mail expansion will influence this year’s turnout. This is the first municipal election with mail-in ballots, so we really have no idea what to expect, Allison said.
Through he anticipates between 25% and 30% of voters will come out for the election, only about 17% of registered Lawrence County voters participated in the last municipal primary. Comparatively, more than 80% voted in last November’s presidential election.