Low turnout in Eddy County early voting

Carlsbad Current-Argus - Eddy County election officials say they hope they are wrong, but based on the low early voting and absentee voting turnout, they are predicting a low voter turnout in next Tuesday's primary election. Early voting started last week, and as of noon on Tuesday, 384 people in South Eddy County have participated in early voting. Slightly more than 100 voters in North Eddy County have voted early. Absentee ballot numbers are also low. "We have 160 absentee ballots for the entire county," said Robin Van Natta, Eddy County chief deputy clerk. Van Natta said election officials in counties from around the state are also reporting low voter turnout. "It's low for a presidential election year," Van Natta said. "There's just not a lot of competition in the primary here in Eddy County. The Republican nominee for president has also been decided. We hope the November general election will spark more interest and people come out to vote." Van Natta said compared to the 2010 primary election in Eddy County the numbers in terms of party voters has also shifted slightly. Currently, 13,417 people have registered as Democrats, down from 2010 when there were 13,616 registered Democrats. The Republican Party gained in numbers since the 2010 primary election. Van Natta said there are 11,499 registered Republicans, up from 10,107 in 2010. Read More News New Mexico

Low turnout in Eddy County early voting