Elections attract only 5.7% turnout

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In a local election plagued by low voter turnout, incumbents retained their seats in several races on Tuesday.

Overall voter turnout was just 5.7 percent. A total of 4,323 voters cast a ballot out of 76,096 registered voters, the Kootenai County Elections Office reported.

Two years ago, a May election drew 8 percent voter turnout.

“The overall turnout tonight was very, very low,” said Kootenai County Clerk Jim Brannon, just before the final results were tallied. “It was disappointing, but not surprising.”

Brannon said some precincts hadn’t had a voter drop by their polls during the first two hours of voting on Tuesday.

He said that while boards representing taxing agencies such as the highway, hospital and library districts are critical to the community, they generally are not as hotly contested as municipal and other races.

“They tend to be more laid back,” he said/ Brian Walker , Coeur d’Alene Press. More here.