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Primary Election Turnout Up

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Voter turnout for last month’s primary elections was up significantly over the last few election cycles that only had municipal, not state races. 

The total number of voters that cast ballots in May is actually down over the last four municipal election cycles.  But, recent voter roll purges spearheaded by the Secretary of State’s office have cleared hundreds of thousands of names from voter registration lists.  And so reported turnout last month was more than 12 percent across the 72 of Indiana’s 92 counties that had primary elections. That’s more than two percent higher than any municipal primary year going back to 2003. 

Starke County in northwest Indiana led the way with reported turnout at more than 33 percent, while Tippecanoe County had the lowest turnout at just four percent.

Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state.
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