Ala. Sec. of State: Voter turnout around 24% for primary election

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Turnout for the primary election is lower than expected, according to Secretary of State John Merrill. He tells us that’s more than likely due to all the negative campaign ads leading up to Election Day.

Merrill says once the provisional and other ballots come in, voter turnout will be around 24%. That’s 4% lower than what he had anticipated before the primary. Merrill felt like the number would be higher because of all the candidates in the various races and the amount of money dumped into the campaigns.

Merrill believes negative campaigning, especially in the Republican primary, may have discouraged some voters from heading to the polls.

“I just think people are very frustrated and very irritated with the direction the campaigns took and because of that, they expressed their concern and their frustration by a lack of participation,” Merrill said.

Merrill says the new election security measures around this primary worked phenomenally well in his opinion. He says some counties started reporting results around 7:30 Tuesday night. He says all the votes were in except for one county by 10:40 p.m.

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