Fewer Than 1-in-4 Voters Turn Out For Primary Election

RISON - Fewer than one in four registered voters in Cleveland County participated in last week's preferrential primary/ non-partisan judicial elections, according to the final but unofficial numbers released by the Cleveland County Clerk's office last week.Of the 4,706 registered voters in the county, only 1,129 voted in last week's election. That equates to a voter turnout of 23.99 percent.County officials also reported that the turnout for early voting was much lower than in previous recent elections.Local political observers attributed the low turnout to a lack of contested local races as well as both presidential nominations having essentially been decided by the time the March 5 election arrived.According to the information released by the county clerk's office, there are 526 registered Republican voters in the county and 212 registered Democratic voters in the county.Of those casting ballots in either primary election, 995 participated in the Republican primary while 120 participated in the Democratic primary. ...