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Turnout Expected To Be Light In Tuesday Primary CINCINNATI -- Ohioans wanting to vote in primaries for governor, Congress and other offices have until 7:30 p.m. to go to the polls. Rain seems to be dampening voter turnout in parts of the state, but one poll judge in the Cincinnati area thinks nasty campaigning in some races also has been a turn-off. Don Zaidel said as many as 40 people would be standing at the door on a good election day when he opens the polling place in suburban West Chester, but today there were just four. He said some...

NOW THAT HE'S BACK IN the elections business, Karl Rove has a huge task on his hands: assuring strong Republican voter turnout. At the moment, Republicans are in a funk. And their dejected mood may presage a low turnout in the midterm election on November 7. Should a large number of Republican voters sit this one out, Republicans could lose control of one or both houses of Congress. It's when Republicans are either inspired or angry that they show up in large numbers and win elections. So Rove, along with Republican national chairman Ken Mehlman, has the job of shaping...

NEW ORLEANS - A steady stream of voters, some from storm-scarred neighborhoods and others by the busload from evacuee havens across the nation, cast their first ballots since Hurricane Katrina in a crucial election Saturday to decide who oversees how their city is rebuilt. Incumbent Mayor Ray Nagin predicted he would lead the field, but he faced 21 challengers, including the state's lieutenant governor. If none gets more than 50 percent, a runoff between the top two vote-getters will be held May 20. Because of the Aug. 29 storm, what ordinarily would be a routine municipal race has become an...

Turnout higher in election advance poll Wed Jan 18, 2006 4:00 PM EST VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Turnout for advance polls for Canada's election on Monday was about 25 percent higher than during the last campaign, according to Elections Canada, the agency charged with administering elections. Officials said a preliminary tally showed more than 1.56 million people voted over the three days in which polling stations were opened in advance of the January 23 federal election, up from just under 1.25 million in the 2004 election. Turnout was higher in all of Canada's provinces and territories, Elections Canada said....

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Final results in Iraq's parliamentary election may not be known for two weeks, but early indications show the Shiite tickets doing well in traditional Shiite strongholds, election officials said Friday. In Mosul, capital of the predominantly Sunni Arab province of Nineveh, indications were that the Sunni coalition came in first, said a representative for the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, Hameed Shabaky. He said the Shiite governing party apparently came in fourth behind the Sunni coalition, the Kurds and a bloc led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite. Turnout in what was a mostly peaceful...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2005 – Sunni voter turnout in today's Iraqi election appeared much greater than it was during the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum, the top U.S. military officer in Iraq said today. News coverage of long lines of Iraqis waiting to cast their ballots across Iraq today already indicated a higher overall turnout than during the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum, Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of Multinational Force Iraq, said during a live satellite broadcast appearance during today's Pentagon "town hall" meeting. "The Iraqi people have had a great day today," Casey said, noting that the level...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 10, 2005 – Iraqi forces have the lead in providing security for national elections Dec. 15, officials said here today. This is a huge job, military and embassy officials said on background. Some 230,000 Iraqi soldiers and police will provide security for more than 6,500 election sites and polling centers in the nation. The election will select members of the first permanent democratic government in Iraq's history. More than 3,800 people are running for office, officials said. They can run as individuals or as members of parties, and parties may be connected to larger coalitions. Iraqi airwaves are...

KALIFORNIA I found this article to be interesting: “Schwartzenegger Takes Blame in Vote.” http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051110/ap_on_re_us/schwarzenegger;_ylt=Aoa2l8UqhNfIz6Kdr0w_UT.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OXIzMDMzBHNlYwM3MDM- Well, obviously, that’s the only thing he can say at this juncture. But, quite frankly, there’s another side of that story. As alluded to yesterday, here are the turnout percentages from several of the largest conservative-Republican strongholds in the Golden State: Orange County = 38%. San Diego = 46%. San Bernardino = 36%. Ventura - 47%. Riverside = 37%. Kern = 41%. San Joaquin = 39%. For Pete’s sake in Iraq they got 60-plus percent turnout. Under direct threat of being killed or maimed. Yet a...

Turnout by province in Iraq's Oct. 15 referendum on a new constitution as reported by the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq. Countrywide, 9,775,000 Iraqis voted, about 63 percent of registered voters. the commission said. Turnout percentages from January's parliament elections, when total turnout was 60 percent, are in parenthesis where available for comparison. Anbar (west, Sunni Arab): 32 Babil (south, mostly Shiite): 72 (71) Baghdad (central, mixed): 56 Basra (south, mostly Shiite): 63 (48) Dahuk (north, Kurdish): 85 (89) Dhi Qar (south, Shiite): 54 (67) Diyala (northeast, slim Sunni Arab majority, large Shiite and Kurdish minorities): 66 (34) Irbil (north,...

BAGHDAD - Sunni Arabs voted in surprisingly high numbers on Iraq's new constitution Saturday, many of them hoping to defeat it in an intense competition with Shiites and Kurds over the shape of the nation's young democracy after decades of dictatorship. With little violence, turnout was more than 66 percent in the three most crucial provinces. The constitution still seemed likely to pass, as expected. But the large Sunni turnout made it possible that the vote would be close or even go the other way, and late Saturday it appeared at least two of a required three provinces might reject...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Sunni Arabs voted in surprisingly high numbers on Iraq's new constitution Saturday, many of them hoping to defeat it in an intense competition with Shiites and Kurds over the shape of the nation's young democracy after decades of dictatorship. With little violence, turnout was more than 66 percent in the three most crucial provinces. The constitution still seemed likely to pass, as expected. But the large Sunni turnout made it possible that the vote would be close or even go the other way, and late Saturday it appeared at least two of a required three provinces...

Today (22 September) the NY Times has a story from the Associated Press entitled “Afghan Count Reveals Kabul Indifference.” This article demonstrates that the AP and the Times are either mind readers, or bigots. The story recounts that turnout in Kabul in the midterm election just conducted was slightly over one-third of eligible voters. The writers and editors of this article then conclude: “The drop in voter participation from the 70 percent recorded in last fall's presidential election has tempered celebrations of Sunday's vote as another big step to democracy. “It sends a message that the government and its Western...

Firefighters May Picket During Hillary Clinton's Visit Clinton Visited Providence Two Years Ago POSTED: 7:50 pm EDT May 3, 2005 UPDATED: 8:01 pm EDT May 3, 2005 PROVIDENCE -- New York Sen. Hillary Clinton may see both dignitaries and protestors when she comes to Providence for a fundraiser Friday. Because Mayor David Cicilline is one of those invited dignitaries, the Providence Firefighter Union plans a showing. The total people turnout could be huge. Organizers hope to put more than $100,000 into the political coffers of Hillary Clinton for her 2006 re-election bid for the Senate. The small fundraiser will be...

Braving bullets and bombs, millions of Iraqis cast their ballots yesterday in Iraq's first free elections in half a century. First reports suggested turnout in excess of 70%. While the Independent Election Commission of Iraq will not announce the official results for another two weeks, the encouragingly high voter turnout undercuts the cynicism of a press corps that questioned the election's legitimacy before the first ballots were even cast. The Associated Press, for example, opined, "If the vast majority of the Sunnis shun the polls--either out of fear or lack of confidence in the process--it would undercut the new government's...

If the Oklahoma City bombers refused to participate in a U.S. election, would the final results be considered “illegitimate?” What if the Nation of Islam, the Black Panthers, the Communist Party USA, or the Southern Indiana Regional Militia refused to vote in American elections? Would it matter and, really, who gives a damn? The Left-Wing, e.g. the New York Times, has been trying to hold the Iraqi elections to this type of ridiculous standard regarding Sunni participation. Granted: Sunnis make up 32-37% of Iraq’s population. While their representation is important, the majority of terrorist attacks aimed at destabilizing Iraq have...

Despite a shortage of machines and a twofold increase in human and mechanical errors at the voting booth, Franklin County still posted one of Ohio’s biggest increases in votes cast Nov. 2. The 23.4 percent rise goes against critics’ complaints that problems at polling places sent large numbers of would-be voters home on Election Day, county elections officials said yesterday. They said it also bolsters their explanation that a voterturnout figure well below Ohio’s average, quoted by the secretary of state, was artificially deflated by inactive voters who had been kept on the rolls. "It sounds to me like people...

In the Democratic stronghold of Palm Beach County, President Bush's 39 percent showing last week was cause for GOP rejoicing, while Democrat John Kerry's 60.4 percent of the vote led some Dems to call for a leadership shake-up in the local party. Bush got 211,894 votes in Palm Beach County — a staggering 38.5 percent improvement over his 2000 total, when he was out-polled by even the losing GOP candidates for clerk of courts and public defender. The increase is all the more impressive considering county GOP voter registrations have barely grown over the last four years. Many of the...

". . . turnout was highest in Milwaukee in Ward 39, where 110% of the estimated voting-age population cast ballots at UWM's Sandburg Hall." * * * "The second-highest turnout - 101% of the voting-age population in Ward 110, where 1,512 people voted at Palmer Street School on N. 1st St." * * * "The most lopsided result was in Ward 176 on the north side, where voting was done in the field house at Auer Avenue Playground, 2221 W. Auer Ave. Kerry won 99% of the vote, with 573 votes; Bush had six votes and Nader had one."

Take a bow, Minnesota voters. You're No. 1 in the nation. Minnesota led the nation in voter turnout in the 2004 presidential election, officials say, with an estimated 77.3 percent of the state's eligible voters casting their ballots Tuesday. "The sun is shining, and we had a great Election Day," Minnesota Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer said Wednesday morning, after a record 2.8 million Minnesotans cast their ballots. "It really went well."

The following email from a anonymous very knowledgeable source seems to summarize yesterday quite effectively:'The people behind the Voter News 2000 disaster and the complete collapse of the VNS in 2002 must be overjoyed with the utterly dreadful performance of the much ballyhooed National Election Pool.'They f***** up the national poll, countless state polls, (Virginia a tossup?) and God knows what elese. The entire mainstream news media goes on a completely misguided goose chase for SEVEN FREAKING HOURS from 2PM to 9PM.Since few of them have no idea how to read a county vote table, many of then kept pumping...