Officials: Primary turnout disappointing

May 19—Just over 16,000 registered Daviess County voters participated in the primary election, according to the county clerk's office. That puts turnout, overall, at about 20%.

In some ways, that's an improvement. Turnout for primaries in years where there isn't a presidential race is generally lower than when there are candidates for president on the ballot. For example, in 2018, turnout was only 13% in Daviess County.

But in a primary when voters decided who would be the next sheriff, county clerk, property valuation administrator and east and west district county commissioners, officials said they were hoping for better participation.

"I was disappointed; I was hoping we would get more," said Joanne Nelson, chairwoman of the Daviess County Republican Party.

Kelli Shively, election supervisor for the clerk's office, said the office did not have a breakdown of how many Republicans and Democrats voted in the primary.

In the races for sheriff, clerk, PVA and east and west county commission, no Democrats filed to run. So registered Republicans picked who will lead those offices for the next four years in the primary.

County Clerk Leslie McCarty, who won a second four-year term Tuesday night by defeating challenger Tonya Payne in the GOP primary, said there were reports of registered Democrats who thought they could vote in those races, but learned they were only open to registered Republicans.

McCarty said, in some cases, Democrat voters were angry and tore up their ballots. McCarty said she hopes there will be more of a Democratic primary in future elections.

"It's a little disheartening that there wasn't someone from the opposite party running" in several races, McCarty said. "I think there was a lot of confusion (about) what a primary is. A lot of people who were registered Democrat and wanted to vote Republican ... we had to turn away some angry" people.

McCarty said in the future, the clerk's office might "do some public education on what a primary is."

Nelson said the new system of using voting centers instead of precincts caused some confusion.

"Some people said they didn't even know where to vote," she said.

There are still more registered Democrats than Republicans in Daviess County. At one time, a person almost had to be registered Democrat to vote in a primary, with nearly all of the contests on the Democratic side.

Now, that is changing, Nelson said.

"It used to be a very large Democratic primary," she said.

Nelson, who also worked at a voting center, said "there were several (Democrats) who were upset that they couldn't vote in major races."

Jane Lambert, the GOP representative on the county board of elections, said there was enthusiasm among Republican voters for the primary.

"I think they felt, for years, we didn't have much to vote for in the in the Republican Party" in the primary, Lambert said. Voters this year "were excited they had these key decisions in the Republican primary."

Lambert also said some Democrats were angry when they found they couldn't vote in the races being decided in the primary.

"So many states have open primaries where they can vote for anything," she said. "A lot of people don't understand it's a closed primary" in Kentucky.

Larry Miller, chairman of the county Democratic Party, said "a lot of people went to their old precincts to vote." He said he didn't hear any complaints about how the primary was run.

A goal for the future will be to recruit more Democratic candidates, Miller said.

"There is a feeling we are going to work hard to get good Democratic candidates" on the ballot in future elections, Miller said. The goal will be "to get a fuller slate of Democratic candidates."

Registered Democrats had just a handful of races they could vote on. For Democrats, there was a U.S. Senate and U.S. House race, as well as nonpartisan races for Daviess District Court and Daviess Family Court, but nothing else.

"Obviously, they were wondering if they were all the candidates they (could) vote for," Miller said.

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse