ASHLAND — Turnout at the polls on Tuesday increased slightly from previous primaries, unofficial tallies from the Ashland County Board of Elections show.
There were 34,574 registered voters for the Ashland County primary. Of those, 10,265 cast ballots, a 29.7% turnout.
And though those numbers are better than previous primaries, Ashland County Board of Elections Director Amanda Jones, expected better turnout.
“With early voting numbers where they were, once that started, we knew it wasn’t going to be as busy as we thought,” she said.
Jones said she thought the contested sheriff race would bring more to the polls.
In fact, the sheriff race was Tuesday’s biggest draw. Of the 10,265 ballots cast, the sheriff race raked in 8,638 votes.
Kurt Schneider, a Republican, earned 446 votes over his opponent, Chad Enderby. As the lone candidate on the ballot in November, he is expected to serve as the county’s next sheriff.
In 2020, turnout in Ashland County hit 24% — even during a pandemic, according to board of elections records. Last year’s primary, a special election with only issues on the ballots, brought 21% of voters to the polls.
The board of elections has until April 1 to certify Tuesday’s results.
The agency will count mail-in ballots that are postmarked March 18 and arrive by Saturday. Jones said she and the staff await 78 such ballots.
All renewal levy requests passed with flying colors. Jones said there were no local issues or races that triggered automatic recounts.
As of Wednesday, she said there are no requests for recounts. Requests for recounts must be filed within five days after official results are certified.
“(All ballots) came in at a good time,” Jones said, referring to the reporting of results from poll sites. “Poll workers did a great job getting results to us fast. Everything went real smooth — I’m proud of the work they put in.”