By Gary Lloyd
JEFFERSON COUNTY — Secretary of State Jim Bennett said last week that voter turnout was slightly higher than expected for the July 15 runoff election.
Around 8 percent of Alabama’s 2.9 million voters showed up to the polls to decide on races like secretary of state and a place on the Public Service Commission.
Voters turned out in higher numbers in areas like the Sixth Congressional District. In that race, Gary Palmer totaled 47,491 votes to Paul DeMarco’s 27,295 votes. The district includes Bibb, Shelby, Chilton and Coosa counties, and portions of Blount and Jefferson counties.
In the Alabama State Senate District 17 runoff, Trussville’s Shay Shelnutt totaled 8,591 votes to 8,051 votes for Locust Fork’s Brett King. District 17 includes parts of Blount, Jefferson, St. Clair and Talladega counties.
“While we would have preferred turnout to be higher, it was about as predicted,” Bennett said. “We look forward to a higher voter turnout in November.”
There were no issues reported with photo voter identification for last week’s election. Bennett said there were a few issues at the polls and those were handled by local officials and the office is addressing those complaints.
The general election will be held Nov. 4.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.