Only 13-percent of registered Indiana voters went to the polls for May’s primary election.
The 2014 primary election was atypical for Indiana – there were no statewide races on the ballot, the first time that’s happened since 2002. Only three statewide officers are up for election in November – Secretary of State, Treasurer and Auditor – and those candidates are chosen at the state party conventions.
So voter turnout wasn’t expected to be high this year…but only about 617,000 Hoosier voters cast a ballot. That’s more than 100,000 fewer voters than the lowest turnout in the last 20 years and more than 300,000 thousand less than the average turnout over the last two decades.
Secretary of State Connie Lawson says the turnout mark of 13-percent is likely lower than reality because many people who have died or moved out of state are still counted as eligible voters– she says ongoing efforts to clean up the voter rolls will produce more accurate turnout statistics in the future.
