Voter turnout better than expected

Turnout for early voting has been higher than expected, said County Clerk Freddy Burton in an interview on Monday.

Burton said the first day of early voting, Monday, May 5, saw 360 people cast ballots, compared to 89 voters in the 2006 election, an increase of roughly 250 percent.

Totals started going down each day after that, with 301 on Tuesday, 250 on Wednesday, 237 on Thursday, 220 on Friday and 102 on Saturday. He said the trend is usually opposite, with voting numbers increasing each day. "We will have to see if it affects election day," he said.

Burton has predicted a 13-16 percent turnout of the county's 60,000 registered voters for this election.

He said the ballots cast have been roughly evenly distributed between the Democratic and Republican parties.

Early voting continues through May 19 at the Saline County Voting Center on Main Street in Benton. The Voting Center is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. On Monday, the last day of early voting, the polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sample ballots have been posted on the Internet at www.salinecounty.org.