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Voter Turnout Around 62% in Prince George's County

Fewer residents cast ballots this year than did four years ago, according to unofficial totals.

 


Voter turnout in Prince George's County broke 60 percent in Tuesday's general election but was down significantly from four years ago, according to unofficial figures released by the county's board of elections.

With 231 of 234 precincts reporting, returns show that 354,663 votes were cast in Prince George's—equal to just over 62 percent of the county's 568,600 registered voters. That tally does not include absentee or provisional ballots, which are set be tabulated by mid-November.

In the 2008 general election, a total of 378,103 votes were cast by a pool of 497,421 registered voters in the county—good for 76 pecent turnout, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections.

The decline echoes state and national participation figures, which were down broadly from four years ago.

In Maryland, unofficial totals show a statewide turnout of about 69 percent, excluding absentee and provisional ballots. In 2008, that figure was just over 77 percent.

Curtis Gans, director of American University's Center for the Study of the American Electorate, projects that about 126 million votes were cast nationwide, representing approximately 57.5 percent of eligible voters. That's down from about 62 to 63 percent in 2008, depending on which estimate is used.

Lower turnout didn't always translate to shorter lines, however, with waits climbing as high as five hours at some polling places in the county. Several election officials said that disruptions in early voting due to Hurricane Sandy may have driven up Election Day turnout.

Below, find approximate in-person turnout figures for Bowie-area precincts in Prince George's County. (Note: these tallies are lower than real turnout, as they do not include provisional, absentee, or early voting ballots. For more information, see the county's precinct-by-precinct breakdown.)

07-02 07-03 07-04 07-05 07-06 07-07 07-08
Registered voters 1510 1997 2005 2470 2206 2917 1928
Votes cast 873 1257 1202 1472 1242 1529 1138
Turnout 57.8% 62.9% 59.6% 59.6% 56.3% 52.4% 59%
07-10 07-14 07-15 07-16 07-17 14-01 14-03
Registered voters 3444 1706 2885 1260 1329 2723 2184
Votes cast 1753 1024 1593 757 693 1463 1237
Turnout 50.9% 60% 55.2% 60.1% 52.1% 53.7% 56.6%
14-04 14-05 14-06 14-09 14-10 14-11 Bowie
Registered voters 1821 2868 1485 3032 2066 2568 44,404
Votes cast 1095 1683 928 1697 1049 1318 25,003
Turnout 60.1% 58.7% 62.5% 55.9% 50.8% 51.3% 56.3%

Precinct numbers correspond to the following voting locations:

Related Topics: Voter Turnout and elections 2012

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