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Voter turnout in Mecklenburg County was lower than expected Tuesday despite the high-profile Charlotte mayoral race, according to unofficial early returns.
Twenty-one percent of the county's 590,000 voters cast a ballot. Mecklenburg election officials had predicted turnout of about 27 percent.
More than 24,000 voters voted early or by absentee ballot, about a fifth of the total votes cast. That's slightly more than two years ago, when about 17 percent of all the local election ballots were cast early.
Regular voters accustomed to casting ballots in every municipal race appeared to dominate those who went to the polls Tuesday, under a cloudless fall sky.
"Local elections are just as important as federal," said Delzora Quarles, a cardiac telemetry technician at Presbyterian Hospital. Quarles, who said she votes in every election, was disappointed with the turnout at First Ward Elementary where at 12:30 p.m. she was the 134th voter.
"The poll people said that's good," Quarles said. "To me, that's sad, thinking about the presidential election - there were people everywhere. I hope more people come out to vote."
About 25 percent of voters cast ballots in the 2005 and 2007 municipal elections.
"We've had someone in here at all times," said Georgianne Boone, a poll worker at Myers Park High School for the past 20 years. Boone was pleased with the turnout at her precinct, which she said seemed slightly higher compared to past municipal elections. "We have a steady stream so far."
Michael Dickerson, Mecklenburg's elections director, said no serious problems with voting were reported at the polls, which were open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The only issue was when a few voters from other counties tried to vote in Mecklenburg elections, Dickerson said. That's not uncommon in national elections but is more unusual in local elections, he said.
Susan Hawes brought her 4-year-old son Matthew to vote with her at Myers Park High School. A regular voter, she tried to explain to him what voting is and why it's important.
Matthew seemed more interested in running in and out between the rows of election signs.
"My shoes are fast!" Matthew yelled.
Said Hawes: "I don't think he got it."
