Lorain County sees lowest primary election turnout in recent history

A dismal turnout marked the May 4 primary election for Lorain County. It was the lowest turnout in recent history. In a county where more than 134,000 people are registered to vote, 8,870 voters turned out. That's 6.6 percent of registered voters in the county. In the recent history of primary elections, the turnout was the lowest recorded in Lorain County. There still are 195 absentee and 40 provisional ballots outstanding. Lorain County Board of Elections Director Paul Adams said the turnout wasn't too surprising. When there's a large number of renewals on the ballot, Adams said there usually isn't a large number of voters. Council primary races also don't draw large crowds. The cycle right after a presidential election is also typically the smallest because large city mayors are not up for re-election, Adams said. Only one city in Lorain County had a mayoral election: Vermilion. That city drew higher turnout numbers in the county. It will be two years before Lorain, Elyria, North Ridgeville and other cities pop back up for mayoral elections. Although there were small margins between each race, Adams said recounts are not determined by the number of votes but by the percentage of difference. If a race only received 100 votes, even a one-vote difference wouldn't be enough to trigger a recount. Precincts remained quiet throughout the day. The Elyria Police Station, home to voters in the 5th Ward-A precinct, didn't see any voters before 3 p.m. Every precinct did have voters show up, however. Overall, Adams said it was a slow and uneventful day for voting. Contact Laina Yost at 329-7121 or lyost@chroniclet.com. Primary election turnout numbers: 2000: 59,409 2001: 35,576 2002: 25,163 2003: 47,043 2004: 57,699 2005: 51,285 2006: 59,399 2007: 35,929 2008: 89,381 2009: 18,698 2010: 47,323 2011: 43,161 2012: 55,265 2013: 28,262 2014: 30,091 2015: 19,314 2016: 86,490 2017: 55,706 2018: 42,107 2019: 13,338 2020: 51,841 2021: 8,870