Voter Turnout

After seeing voter turnout in what many thought would be a hotly contested Hagerstown election top out at 22.4 percent, it's a good time to think again about what would draw more citizens to the polls. That's what representatives of the Washington County Board of Elections and party officials discussed recently, as they eyed changes other areas have made to boost turnout. In our view, there are a number of things that might work, but the political parties need to do a better job of educating citizens about incumbents' records and challengers' experience.

Lifelong Republican Judy Bauroth thought the race between George W. Bush and John McCain would bring more people out to the polls Tuesday. cont. from front page She was surprised when she found few people voting at Lincolnshire Elementary School on Tuesday morning. "Evidently, they're not interested in voting," said Bauroth, 61, of Halfway, who said she voted for Bush because "he better represents the conservative values. " Primary elections don't usually draw voters in large numbers, though elections with local races seem to attract a few more people, said Dorothy Kaetzel, election director for the Washington County Election Board.

By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Waynesboro CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The words "slow," "trickle," and "very few" came to mind among election officials Tuesday describing turnout at the primary election that had only 21 percent of registered voters in Franklin County voting. "It's been a long day," said Jim Davis, judge of elections for Waynesboro precinct 2-2, on Tuesday afternoon. With just an hour left to go until the polls closed, Davis said only 90 people had voted at the precinct that day, averaging just one an hour for a few hours in the morning.

By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Chambersburg CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - More voters than expected showed up at the polls during Tuesday's general election, though officials still call the 34 percent turnout of registered voters in Franklin County disappointing. "Of course it's bad, but it's more compared to what we were expecting," said Jean Horst, administrative assistant in the county's election office in Chambersburg. At Gordy Elementary School on Miller Street, 273 registered voters for Chambersburg precinct 4-2 cast ballots Tuesday, up from just 97 who voted in the primary election, said Harold Leister, judge of elections.

Less than half of Washington County's registered voters cast ballots Tuesday. Unofficial results show that 37,779 votes were cast, a voter turnout of 47.37 percent, according to Dorothy Kaetzel, Washington County election director. After absentee ballots are counted, the turnout number will go up slightly, Kaetzel said. Kaetzel said she does not expect turnout to reach more than 50 percent. Washington County has 79,760 registered voters. Most of the absentee ballots will be counted Thursday.

o Voter turnout hasn't always been low HAGERSTOWN -- Hagerstown residents headed to the polls Tuesday to cast ballots for mayor, City Council members, and a question on when future elections should be held. Daryl Long said voter turnout in the first 3 1/2 hours at the Washington County Free Library polling place for today's Hagerstown municipal election was already way ahead of the primary numbers. "We had 42 voters by 10:30 a.m.," said Long, a chief judge. "There were only about 70 voters total at the primary -- we're already halfway there.

Voter turnout in county falls short of expectations By ANDREW SCHOTZ / Staff Writer Despite a tightly contested presidential race, voter turnout in Washington County fell below a pre-election projection. Of the 69,422 registered voters in the county, 45,138, or 65 percent, cast ballots Tuesday, according to unofficial results from the Washington County Board of Elections. When absentee ballots are included in the total, the turnout is more than 68 percent, said Jim Mobley, a member of the Board of Elections.

Big voter turnout predicted in Tri-State By BOB PARTLOW / Staff Writer, Martinsburg Election officials are predicting that turnout may be heavy today in the general election as voters in West Virginia and Pennsylvania head to the polls to cast ballots in local, state and national races, including U.S. president. continued "I think turnout could be as high as 68 percent based on the absentee ballots," said Berkeley County Clerk John Small. Monday afternoon, he revised his estimate upwards from a prediction of 55-60 percent earlier in the day. About 1,200 absentee ballots have been turned in. "I don't know what's bringing them in, but something is," Small said.