The voter turnout for Tuesday’s primary election in Henderson County was 22% of registered voters, according to the Henderson County Clerk’s office.
That’s more than a 9% increase over the primary of 2022, which is the last primary when the offices up for election Tuesday were also on the ballot.
In the 2022 primary, there were 4,277 ballots cast. By contrast, Tuesday’s primary saw 7,342 ballots cast, said Carrie Smith, the deputy clerk in charge of elections at the Henderson County Clerk’s Office.
That’s an increase of 3,058 voters, or a 71% increase.
Smith said she had expected a turnout between 20%-25% and was pleased with the number of voters, especially in light of the turnout of primaries in recent years.
She said in the 2024 primary, the turnout was 9.2%; in 2023, the turnout was 10.9%; and in 2022, the turnout was 11.9%.
With the November general election now on the far horizon, Smith said she thinks that turnout will be close to double what the primary just was. In the general election in 2022, the turnout was 39.4%, Smith said.
“I think we’ll do at least 40 again,” she said.
