It was a peaceful day for poll workers across metropolitan Omaha on Tuesday, with many saying voter interest in the primary was low.
“It was a quiet, quiet place, nobody coming or going,” said Steve Zach, who worked the polls at Harvest Community Church, 39th and Cuming Streets.
Exact turnout figures will not be known until later this week, but Douglas County Election Commissioner Dave Phipps said he thought 15 percent or fewer of the county’s registered voters actually cast ballots. Unofficial results late Tuesday put that number below 12 percent.
Phipps said he had 15 people available to answer phone calls from voters looking for information about the election. He eventually let about half of them go by noon, because the telephones remained silent.
Phipps noted that primaries historically draw fewer voters, typically the most devoted.
That holds true even when there is a spirited race, he said. For example, only about 27 percent of the county’s registered voters turned out in 2006, when Gov. Dave Heineman secured the Republican nomination for governor over Tom Osborne.
“The things that get people excited about politics just aren’t happening in this election,” Phipps said.
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