Local voters waited in line for hours, both on Election Day and the days leading up to it, but fell short of breaking a record for turnout this year.
A total of 63 percent of voters, or more than 67,000 people, cast their ballots in either early voting or on Election Day, which was similar to the turnout in the last two presidential elections.
Election officials had predicted turnout could reach 70 percent or more when voters were waiting in line for an hour or more during early voting in recent weeks.
But by the time polls closed on Tuesday, the actual turnout fell short of that amount.
Johnson County Clerk Susie Misiniec thought the turnout might end up being lower when it had reached just more than 50 percent by noon on Election Day. But that still meant that more than half of the county’s registered voters came to the polls, she said.
“We are just thrilled, that is just a great turnout,” Misiniec said.
She also believed that turnout was lower than expected on Election Day because so many voters — nearly 35,000 — cast their ballots early, she said. That turnout set a record for early voting. In previous elections, the highest turnout during early voting was 10 percent.
Election officials had long been warning that voters would face lines if they waited to cast their ballot until Election Day.
And they were right.
But the lines were mainly in the morning, with nearly every one of the 24 vote centers around the county having a line before or shortly after the polls opened at 6 a.m., Misiniec said.
The busiest sites were once again in the northern part of the county, but other voting sites that hadn’t been as busy in past years also had lines. Voters rarely have waited in line at GracePoint Church in New Whiteland, but were lined up outside the building on Tuesday, she said.
“So, maybe people are catching on to some of these other spots that we’ve tried to get them to utilize and they just haven’t,” Misiniec said.
Few issues were reported with the process of voting on Election Day, Misiniec said.
Based on early turnout, election officials had already decided to add extra staff to the 10 busiest vote centers in the county, doubling the number of poll workers who could check in voters and set them up at a machine. They also added floaters, who could fill in as needed to help lines move as quickly as possible.
The county also sent out nearly all of its voting machines, with some of the busiest sites having 30 voting machines, Misiniec said.
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Here is a look at turnout in recent general elections:
2016;63 percent
2014;24 percent
2012;61 percent
2010;44 percent
2008;64 percent
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