MAHONING VALLEY Low primary turnout expected

There are no interesting races to attract voters, election officials say.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning Valley election officials are expecting voter turnout for Tuesday's primary to be abysmal.
Local election officials say that voter apathy and a lack of exciting races and issues on the primary ballot are the reasons for the expected low turnout.
"I don't think I've ever seen an election this slow," said Norma Williams, Trumbull County Board of Elections director. "No one's coming in to vote [absentee] or to ask about the election. There's no activity at all."
John Payne, director of Columbiana County's elections board, said he'll be surprised if turnout there exceeds 20 percent. Fifty-one of the county's 103 precincts will be open for voters Tuesday.
Turnout in Trumbull County should be in the low 20-percent range, said Williams. A countywide Fairhaven initiative means every voter in the county can cast ballots in the election. But in 159 of the county's 274 precincts, that referendum is the only item on the ballot. Williams said the Fairhaven levy hasn't generated much interest from Trumbull residents.
In Mahoning County
Turnout in Mahoning County is expected to be in the mid-20-percent range, said Michael Sciortino, its elections board director. Those residing in 133 of the county's 312 precincts will be able to vote Tuesday.
"If there was a hotly contested race for Youngstown [council] president, the turnout figure would be higher," Sciortino said. "But the race isn't generating much interest, and I don't see much interest in anything else."
A Youngstown citywide initiative to allow the city to buy electricity in bulk rates for its residents is generating no interest among voters, Sciortino said.
"I think people don't even know what that is," he said of the electricity referendum.
Election officials agree that absentee ballots are the best indicator as to how many people will vote during an election.
Fewer than 200 people voted by absentee ballot in Columbiana County, an unusually low figure, Payne said.
There are ballots from about 1,500 absentee voters in Mahoning County, and about 1,300 absentee voters in Trumbull County, very low figures for those counties, election officials say.
Local voters don't understand the importance of primaries, and that in a number of Valley races, the primary winners will run unopposed in the November general election, election officials say.
"Primaries aren't pulling people out anymore, and, in a lot of cases, it's the election," Williams said.
skolnick@vindy.com