Voter Turnout Slow so far in Primary Elections

Polls have been open since 7 a.m. in Centre County, but as is typical in many primary elections, voter turnout has been low.

“It’s going very smooth and it’s very quiet,” said Centre County Elections Director Joyce McKinley. “Turnout has been very light so far, from what I’ve seen.”

McKinley said that she expects turnout will increase as the day goes on and people get out of work.

“We haven’t received any reports or anything from the precincts, but we expect it to pick up a bit around 4 p.m.”

StateCollege.com’s unofficial poll asks readers whether they plan to vote. So far, 83 percent say yes. Seventeen percent say no. Be sure to cast your vote!

Numerous elected positions are up for grabs in State College, including races for borough council, school board and district judge, as well as unopposed elections for district attorney and mayor. You can check out StateCollege.com’s voter guide HERE.

There have been no major voting problems reported so far in the region, according to McKinley. “When you’re working with equipment, there are always a couple glitches, but everything is going very smoothly.”

Centre County Commissioner Michael Pipe, who serves on the election board, also called the turnout “very mild” but confirmed that everything was running smoothly.

“We haven’t had any calls from anybody saying there are any issues,” said Pipe. “Our office is responsible for troubleshooting in case a machine goes down or something. It has been a very good day so far.”

Pipe says that he expects turnout to increase throughout the day, especially in Bellefonte where there is a contested mayoral election.

“We’re ready to jump in when a problem arises,” said Pipe. “But it certainly is amazing to see the mechanization of everything going smoothly so far.”

Poll workers confirmed the slow turnout but expect interest to peak when the returns start coming in after 8 p.m.

“We’ve had 110 voters so far so it has been pretty slow,” said Bill Klucher, a poll worker at the State College West Precinct 32 at Our Lady of Victory church. “We’ve got a long way to way. We’re about halfway through.”

Polls will remain open until 8 p.m. today. Click HERE to find your polling place. Only residents registered with a political party are able to vote in the primary elections in Pennsylvania.