County Clerk urges people to vote Tuesday
County Clerk Mark Hedrick is hoping voters will prove him wrong on his turnout prediction for the election Tuesday. He's predicting a 10 percent turnout, which compared to municipal elections in other years, is actually on the high side. Previous April turnout has been 7 to 9 percent, but a couple of heavily contested races could bring more voters to the polls.
"We have a very large race in North County, there are a number of candidates there, and we have the two ambulance districts, both of which have competition. I do hope voter turnout is at a higher level than what it has been in the past," Hedrick said.
Hedrick doesn't know why the April municipal election is always so low. "It's one of the hardest elections to get people to vote at," Hedrick said. "When I make presentations, I always say the April election is our lowest turnout, and their vote really, really counts because they are electing local people. I have also seen races decided with just one vote. Because of the low turnout you get that a lot."
Hedrick recalled a race in which a candidate had lost by one vote. The county clerk was told by the candidate that his own brother hadn't even gone to the polls to vote.
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