Voter turnout--less than projected

Voter turnout numbers in Georgia were not quite as robust as what elections officials projected. Guesses of 80% or more were not seen in the state Tuesday. Numbers from the Secretary of State’s office indicate just under 67% of registered voters turned-out--that’s a slight increase from the mark of 66.3% for 2004’s presidential election. There was the big boost in voter registration this year, which added about half-a-million new voters to the rolls.

Primary voter turnout expected near 30-percent

State elections officials expect voter turnout to be around 30-percent for tomorrow’s primary. But that projection could vary depending where the hotly-contested races are in Georgia.

The 30-percent turnout projection would come-in lower than the over 40-percent of registered voters that cast ballots in February’s presidential primary.

But Deputy Secretary of State Rob Simms says high profile races should get a higher bump in turnout--such as perhaps primary voting in the 12th and 10th districts, and statewide interest in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary race:

"I think what you'll see is you'll see in some areas where you've got some real contentious and competitive races you may see some spikes in turnout in those areas. And other areas of the state where you may not have anything going on, you may see a little bit lower".

Simms says the advance and absentee voting has come-in at a "pretty good number"--so far 150,000 through Friday.