Turnout spotty in Bluffs primary

COUNCIL BLUFFS -- Early morning turnout for the Council Bluffs city primary is busy is some areas, not so much in others.

Voters are going to the polls today to reduce the number of mayoral and City Council candidates for the November general election. Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will close at 8 p.m.

At Precinct 20, Heartland Christian School, 400 Wright Road, there were seven people who voted by 8:15 a.m,, according to poll worker Shirley Bible.

"It's been slow," she said. "We had one person waiting at the door at 7 a.m. and the others have been trickling in. This precinct is slow in the mornings, and we'll hoping it will pick up later."

"We've had five so far (at 7:45 a.m.) and one of those voters is one of our clerks, so we've had four that have come in," said Ardeth Christie, poll worker at Precinct 3, Walnut Grove School, 2920 Ave. J.

Turnout for the remainder of the day there seems uncertain, according to Christie. One of her fellow workers predicted a dozen would vote, while another thought 45 would show up, she said.

The situation was different at Precinct 9, St Paul's Lutheran Church, 239 Frank St., where 21 had voted by 8:15 a.m.

"They are very busy," said Dr. J Christensen, director of music. "The number of voters is higher than expected, and there's a waiting line to sign in. This is where I voted and, from my observation, it could be a busy day for this site."

Seven people, including two incumbents, are running for the City Council. They are incumbents Scott Belt and Darren Bates, and challengers Jay Kathol, Melissa Head, Jim Nelson, Scott Porter and Ed Clark.

The top four vote getters will move on to the November general election to seek two council seats. Three are running for mayor, Helen Sullivan and Matt Hartfield are challenging incumbent Tom Hanafan. One of them will be eliminated in today's voting.

There is also a primary going on in Carter Lake where voters will eliminate one of three people running for mayor. The candidates there are incumbent Russ Kramer and challengers Gerald Waltrip and Fritz Dahlheimer.

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