Community Corner
Turnout Rates In Oconee County May Primary And July Runoff Elections Mask Low Overall Election Participation
Turnout in the May primary and the July runoff involved a group of people who dropped out after voting in May and a new group in July.
Oconee County’s 23.4 percent turnout in the May 20 primary election and 20.9 percent turnout in the July 22 runoff mask the fact that a smaller percentage of the county’s electorate participated in both elections.
Only 16.1 percent of the electorate voted both in May and again in July, with another 7.2 percent participating in the May primary but not in the July runoff and 4.8 percent voting in the July runoff but not in the May election.
A total of 5,147 voters went to the polls in May, and 4,586 went to the polls in July, for a difference of only 561 voters.
In fact, a total of 6,178 of Oconee County’s 21,985 registered voters–or 28.1 percent--went to the polls on May 20, July 22, or both of those dates, analysis of voting records from those two elections shows.
For more election turnout details, go to Oconee County Observations.