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Voters turn out as predicted

Erica Weisburn, Jenna Gerling
March 5, 2008

Voters turned out as expected yesterday, braving the icy rain to take part in a highly anticipated primary election.

Monday, Lois Enlow, deputy director of Portage County Board of Elections, predicted a 40 percent turnout. As of press time last night, the county reported 38,722 votes in the presidential primary.

That’s about 38 percent of the county’s registered voters, with 10 precincts left to be counted. When those precincts are counted, voter turnout will likely match Enlow’s prediction.

Portage County poll workers described the day as “steady,” with a few brisk moments.

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At the Board of Elections last night, Adreina Murphy, presiding judge at a Brimfield polling location, said the election went smoothly until she and other polling location judges arrived at the election’s headquarters with ballots.

“It seemed to be bottle-necked, but they realized there was a problem, and shortly after, it began to speed up,” she said.

Poll results started coming in at 9 p.m. and winners in the local races were decided by 10:15 p.m. Chris Smeiles won the Democratic primary for county commissioner. David Doak won the Democratic primary for sheriff.

Progress wasn’t as steady in other counties, however.

The Associated Press reported that a judge ordered Sandusky County polls to remain open late because of a shortage of ballots. Barack Obama’s campaign sought an extension in Franklin and Cuyahoga counties through a federal court, also alleging a shortage of ballots. The extension was granted in Cuyahoga but not Franklin.

Several local issues were on the ballot, including an Aurora school levy that failed and a Kent Sunday liquor license issue that passed.

The local winners of today’s primary will go on to represent their party in the November general election.

Contact public affairs reporters Erica Weisburn at [email protected] and Jenna Gerling at [email protected].