Election Notes: Voter turnout high; election challenger ‘threat’ non-existent

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette

Nov. 6, 2012, 10:30 p.m. — Voter turnout Tuesday was high in Nelson County — and that’s always an encouraging sight. Just after lunch, this writer’s precinct reported 45 percent of the voters had been to the polls to cast their votes. There were reports of waiting lines to vote Tuesday morning at a number of precinct polling places. On the way to the radio station at 10:30 a.m., this writer opted to vote later because the parking lot was nearly full at the time.

According to the Secretary of State’s statistics, 18,648 ballots were cast out of 30,531 registered Nelson County voters, for 61.08 percent turnout.

Statewide voter turnout was 57.85 percent. Voter turnout in surrounding counties was mirrored closely the Nelson County: Hardin County, 56.49 percent; Spencer, 67.83 percent; Washington, 63.41 percent; Marion, 58.85 percent; and LaRue, 58.76 percent.

PRESIDENTIAL RACE. Mitt Romney handily carried Nelson County with 57.59 percent of the vote to 41.07 percent of the votes that were cast for the Obama/Biden ticket. Romney carried Kentucky, with just over 60 percent of the vote.

At press time, Obama had carried just four counties in Kentucky: Jefferson, Fayette, Franklin and Elliott.

NO REPORTS OF ‘DISENFRANCHISED DEMOCRATS.’ So far there have been no reports of problems created by the two Republican election challengers — the two local women who caused the local newspaper’s apoplectic rage that was expressed by its editorial board in its Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012 editorial. I did hear a couple of reports from voters who remarked that the poll workers at their precinct were requesting IDs from all voters. Poll workers who personally know a voter can attest to the voter’s identity, and there were anecdotal reports that some precincts had “tightened up” their ID procedures.

In a brief election-night chat with one of the election challengers, I was told they were generally well-received. Behind-the-scenes conversations with local Democrats revealed that they weren’t nearly as worked-up about the challengers as the newspaper’s editorial board was — which explains why there wasn’t much said about it. As this writer noted during his radio show Tuesday morning, the issue was truly a “tempest in a tea pot” (no Tea Party pun intended).

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