Voter turnout in Nebraska falls short of projection

Based on the initial data, nearly 67 percent of registered Nebraska voters cast their ballot in the November 6 general election, according to Secretary of State John Gale.

“That is short of our initial prediction of 71 percent turnout,” said Gale. “We had hoped to come close, if not exceed what we had in 2008. All the conditions were ripe for that to happen. The weather cooperated, there were highly contested races, early voting appeared to be strong and polling places were busy on Tuesday.”

Counties continue to count provisional ballots, which will bump up the final total. Provisional ballots are utilized if there are questions about a voter’s registration. At this point, 779,285 people voted across the state.

As far as each of the congressional districts are concerned: 67.5 percent voted in District 1, 66.7 percent voted in District 2 and 69.8 percent voted in District 3.

The county with the highest voter turnout was Hitchcock with 86.7 percent.  The next highest turnout was Sioux County with 80.1 percent. The lowest turnout was in Thurston County with 46.8 percent.

“While we did not reach the projection, I am pleased that, by and large, Nebraskans headed to the polls,” said Gale. “I know that since early voting started in October, our county election offices all across the state have been extremely busy. We appreciate their efforts as well.”

Gale also said that there are some races that may warrant an automatic recount, after factoring in provisional ballots. “There are a couple of Legislative races and one race for the Southeast Community College Board that could apply.”

Counties had until this week to tabulate their provisional ballots and report the results. The final statewide results will be certified on December 3.