Turnout for this year’s state elections was higher than the average for midterm elections, but it was still significantly lower than the presidential elections in 2008, the N.C. State Board of Elections reported Tuesday.
This year’s state election had around 43 percent voter turnout as of 11:45 p.m. Tuesday, compared to about 37 percent in 2006.
According to the Orange County Board of Elections, 45 percent of registered voters in Orange County voted in this year’s elections — a higher turnout than 38 percent in 2006. Despite the higher turnouts, many voters experienced confusion concerning their voting location and runoff ballots.
Donna Lee, the chief election judge at the Friday Center in Chapel Hill, said she talked to many voters who were not registered in the precinct in which they intended to vote.
“It’s a little confusing for the people who have voted at one-stop in the past,” Lee said, in reference to early voting which began at certain locations on Oct. 14.
Johnnie McLean, the deputy director of the N.C. State Board of Elections, said early voting and absentee ballots were higher than the 2006 elections.
“There are many people who, because of the current economic situation, are looking for a change,” she said.
Hunter Levinsohn, a poll worker at the Chapel Hill Library, said the new runoff ballots were another point of confusion, as the new forms provided voters with an unfamiliar ranking system.
“We’ve had more spoiled ballots than I’ve ever seen in five or six years,” she said.
