Few expected to turn out for PA primary
Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
By: Tom MacDonald
tmacdonald@whyy.org
While Philadelphia's ballot includes primary races for City Controller and District Attorney, there isn't a contest for a seat in the state or nation's capitol to pull voters to their polling places.
Listen:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
This is called an off-year election, and Philadelphia Voter Registration Administrator Bob Lee, says in 2005 only 16 percent of registered voters came out to cast a ballot. It was a only a few points better four years earlier in 2001.
Lee: so typically this is a low turnout election relatively speaking and from all indications so far it's going to be the same thing.
Lee says only about 25 thousand people registered or changed their registrations compared to over 300 thousand in 2008. Democrats still hold a six to one voter registration margin in the city, with just over a million people eligible to vote.