Haley Russell
Assistant News Editor
As polls near closing time, officials doubt overall Kentucky turnout.
Though 2,944,603 Kentuckians are registered to vote in today’s election, only 25 percent are expected to attend the polls for November’s General Election, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
This year’s election has only received 26,000 used absentee ballots as of Monday, according to the Associated Press, which is 10,000 fewer than 2007’s gubernatorial race.
In Calloway County, 24,933 voters are registered. Of these voters, 16,168 are Democrats, 6,807 are Republican and 1,958 are registered “other.”
Only one-fourth of the voters in Kentucky are said to make it to the polls, voter registration is up approximately 0.9 percent as of May 2011.
Democratic voter registrations rose 0.3 percent, Republican voters are up 1.4 percent and independents are up 2.5 percent.
Kentucky Secretary of State Elaine Walker’s office is expecting a 25 percent turnout in the polls. This is a 9.8 difference from the 2007 total at 37.8 percent, according to the Murray Ledger & Times.
Amanda Pittman, a Calloway County volunteer at the polling center in the CFSB Center this afternoon, said though the county cannot release exact numbers, she had only seen approximately 100 to 150 people since 6 a.m. when the polls opened.
“As far as the voting turnout, it has been better than in the primary for this particular year. she said.
Exact numbers of voters will be released tonight.
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