Iowa primary voters set turnout records in 2018

Jason Clayworth , Jason Clayworth | The Des Moines Register

Multiple Iowa voter turnout records were bested Tuesday.

Iowans busted the voter turnout record for a June primary with 279,124 ballots cast across the state, according to the Iowa Secretary of State's website Wednesday morning. That means about 13.1 percent of Iowans voted in the primary.

The previous record was 233,090 votes, set in 2014.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate reported at around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday that 50,610 absentee ballots had been received, surpassing the previous state primary election record of 44,740 in 2014.

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Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert said his county primary turnout bested its overall turnout record, set in 1994, and a Democratic record set in 2006.

We've been too busy to tweet much but we've already passed the overall primary turnout record set in 1994 and the Democratic record set in 2006. — Travis Weipert (@jcauditor) June 6, 2018

Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald said at around the same time that he believed the county was in line to break a primary vote total record set in 2010, when around 42,000 people voted in the primary.

The unofficial turnout on Tuesday in Polk County was 50,503, nearly a 17 percent voter turnout, according to the Polk County auditor website.

“It’s crazier than we ever expected,” said Weipert, who had to send staff to multiple precincts to provide additional voting ballots. “We’re easily going to set an all-time record.”

Results:

Pleasant, summer-like weather Tuesday, a vibrant pack of candidates and citizen engagement sparked by both state and federal government headlines contributed to the voter turnouts, Weipert and Fitzgerald said.

Typically, around 29,000 people vote in Polk County’s primary elections.

“We’re going to pass that pretty easily,” Fitzgerald said in comparing Tuesday's voter turnout to previous primary elections. “The question is, can we break the record of 2010?”

Preliminary turnout reports were mixed in other states Tuesday. Idaho recorded its highest primary voter turnout in 16 years while Montana saw the highest number of absentee voters in a decade. Meanwhile, early reports indicated low turnout in places like New Jersey and parts of Kentucky.

Part of the increases in some areas might be attributed to demographic changes. Dallas County Auditor Julia Helm, for example, noted that her Des Moines metro-area county has seen a surge in residents in recent years. That is likely a factor in why Tuesday's turnout will be higher than in some other recent primaries, she said.

"We have more voters than four years ago," Helm said. "So it makes sense."

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