'Steady' turnout at the polls

By the time the polls closed, 6,230 voters had cast ballots.

“Most of the polls seemed pretty steady,” Ferm said. “Turnout seemed to be pretty good.”

In addition to those who voted on election day, 1,435 of Barrow’s registered voters took advantage of early voting and 201 cast absentee ballots. Less than 20 provisional ballots were cast according to Ferm. However, those votes have not yet been counted and the exact number is not known.

The combined total votes of 7,866 – or 24 percent - exceeded the turnout in the last midterm primary. In the 2006 primary election, only 18 percent of registered Barrow voters cast ballots. That year, a total of 4,565 ballots were cast including 798 absentee and provisional ballots.

This year’s primary total matched the participation rate in the 2008 presidential election year primary.

With the exception of one minor technical issue related to exporting vote totals to the Secretary of State’s Office early in the evening, Ferm said the election went smoothly.

No problems were reported at any of Barrow County’s 16 polling locations, Ferm said.