Howard County Elections Administrator Saundra Bloom, left, discusses voter turnout with county commissioners during a special meeting Friday morning to canvass the Nov. 4 contest. Voter turnout was down in Howard County compared to the 2004 presidential election. (HERALD Photo/Thomas Jenkins)
 

According to Saundra Bloom, county elections administrator, an additional 16 ballots have been counted and added to the final vote tally since election day, but failed to effect the outcome of any races.

“We had 16 ballots counted since election night. Several of them were from provisional ballots and several were from military mail in ballots postmarked prior to the deadline but received after the election was over,” said Bloom. “With a provisional ballot, we have to determine why the person wanting to vote isn't on the rolls. If it turns out it's a clerical error, we count the ballot. If they simply didn't register, then the ballot isn't counted. These 16 ballots didn't alter the outcome of any of the races, however.”

Bloom said the Howard County election received an initial thumbs-up from a state inspector, but the final bill-of-health for local polling places is yet to come.

“We had a state inspector visit all of our polling places except two,” said Bloom. “The initial response was positive, but we won't receive the final report for a while.”

Bloom said the election went smoothly for her and her clerks, although the turnout was slightly disappointing.

“With all things considered, everything went very smooth,” said Bloom. “We had a lighter turnout than we had expected. We came up about 2,000 ballots shorter than we had anticipated. The crew at the Dorothy Garrett Coliseum felt like they were all dressed up for a party and no one showed up.”

According to Bloom, 54.87 percent of the registered voters in Howard County took the time to cast a ballot in this year's contest, down approximately 2,000 votes from the 2004 presidential election.

Howard County's downturn in voter turnout bucked the national trend, which saw percentages either stay the same or rise slightly.

A new report from American University’s Center for the Study of the American Electorate showed voter turnout in the Nov. 4 contest was the same in percentage terms as it was four years ago — or at most has risen by less than 1 percent.

The report estimates that between 126.5 million and 128.5 million Americans cast ballots in the presidential contest, representing 60.7 percent or, at most, 61.7 percent of those eligible to vote in the nation. The stagnant nature of voter turnout came as a stark contrast to the number of new voters registered to vote in the U.S., which tipped the scales at 10 million this year.

“In the end, it seems like Howard County bucked the trend in just about every way this election,” said County Judge Mark Barr as he looked over the final vote tallies.

Also during Friday's meeting, commissioners met briefly with Ann Farley, the newly appointed project director for the proposed County Health Center, offering their support.

“You've definitely got your hands full right now,” said Barr with a smile.

Commissioners had been expected to discuss several budget amendments during the meeting, but the agenda item was tabled to give County Auditor Jackie Olson more time to prepare the necessary documents.

Contact Staff Writer Thomas Jenkins at 263-7331 ext. 232 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it