Ind. Voter Turnout Was 13% In May Primary

By Mike Perleberg (Indianapolis, Ind.) - Indiana’s primary election drew out only 13 percent of the state’s registered voters. Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson said Monday that only 617,156 of the state’s 4.5 million registered voters cast a ballot on Tuesday, May 6. Lawson said the actual percentage may be higher, because the state’s voter registries may be inflated and outdated. “We are currently in the process of updating our voter list, which will give us clear data on Indiana’s real voter turnout numbers in future elections,” Lawson said. Locally, Dearborn County's voter turnout was about nine percent, according to unofficial data from election night. Franklin County's turnout reached 16.5 percent. Switzerland County had the highest at 21.3 percent. Ripley County saw 20.4 of its registered voters cast a ballot. FIND MORE ELECTION NEWS ON EAGLE 99.3'S INDIANA VOTES 2014 PAGE. During the May primary, 16 percent of statewide voters cast their ballot early. That’s up from 12 percent in 2012 and 11 percent in both 2010 and 2008. Lawson said 16 Indiana counties opted to use the cost-saving vote center model for their elections, up from seven in the 2012 election cycle. Switzerland County was among those consolidating multiple precincts into a single location, allowing counties the opportunity to save on costs associated with hiring poll workers and purchasing voting machines and supplies. The vote centers did not drastically affect turnout. Those counties also had 13 percent of voters cast ballots in the May primary.