Politics & Government

Turnout Still Low, But Voting Opportunities To Increase

Paulding voters can cast ballots Saturday, while more voting locations will open up next week.

Just over 1.5 percent of Paulding’s 82,580 registered voters had cast ballots in nearly two weeks of early voting as of Thursday afternoon.

When the polls closed for the day Thursday, 859 county voters had cast ballots in person for the presidential preference primary, while 440 paper absentee ballots had been submitted out of 731 sent out to voters.

“This is a very low turnout thus far,” said Deidre Holden, supervisor of . “We are hoping that the voters come out next week and on election day. I think the turnout is low due because there is only one candidate on the Democratic ballot.”

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Those wishing to weigh in on the presidential race prior to the actual election day on March 6 will have several chances to do so in the coming days. Early voting at the resumes Monday and will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday through March 2.

In addition to the weekday voting opportunities, the county’s first-ever Saturday voting opportunity will be this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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Advance voting begins Monday at three satellite locations—, 2056 Hiram Douglasville Highway, Hiram; , 1550 East Paulding Drive, Dallas; and the Crossroads Library, 909 Harmony Grove Church Road, Acworth. Voting hours at those three locations are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

Once the final votes are cast on March 6, also known in political circles as “Super Tuesday,” Holden says she expects to see an estimated 25- to 30-percent turnout in Paulding.

“I am terrible at predicting voter turnout, because our voters always surprise me,” she said.

Count on Dallas-Hiram Patch for further coverage of 2012's elections.


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