If the number of absentee ballots issued is any indication of how many Lawrence Countians will be headed to the polls for tomorrow’s General Election – and it usually is – Board of Elections director Mary Wipert says voter turnout will be light.

Monday, November 05, 2001

If the number of absentee ballots issued is any indication of how many Lawrence Countians will be headed to the polls for tomorrow’s General Election – and it usually is – Board of Elections director Mary Wipert says voter turnout will be light.

Wipert said the board has issued around 2,500 absentee ballots for the election, about 500 less than the norm. She said voters in the city of Ironton could be up because of the City Council and Board of Education races as well as the proposed .45-percent income tax increase, but it looks like ballots cast countywide will be down.

"It’s so slow here…we’ve got too much time on our hands. That’s not a good sign," she said.

Another issue the Board of Elections is dealing with this year is precinct changes. Due to redistricting, the county had to change the precincts. Voters affected by the precinct changes were notified by mail, but Wipert said the board plans to have a list of precincts posted at the polling places as well as volunteers directing voters "in case they go to their old precincts."

"They did receive a yellow card in the mail notifying them (of precinct changes) and we encouraged everybody to keep it for future reference," she said. However, she said some people may have misplaced the cards or discarded them, thinking they were junk mail.

Wipert said there could be problems in the seven Labelle precincts, where people will vote at Fairland East (Labelle 2, 5 and 6), Fairland Middle School (Labelle 1 and 7) and Fairland High School (Labelle 3 and 4).

An 11th-hour change has also had to be implemented. Due to the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan and the Ironton Armory being on lockdown, voters in the Upper #1 precinct will now vote at St. Lawrence School rather than the Armory.