Voter Apathy Reigns in Commission Races

A week after the Primary Election provides time to examine more than raw numbers and the analysis appears to indicate widespread voter apathy in the county.

In the Commission District 1 race, political newcomer and Pine Mountain businessman Bill Castleberry drew 528 votes while incumbent Scott Lightsey received 464 votes. These incredibly low numbers were directly attributable to registered voters not voting.

The largest voting block in Commission District 1 is Hamilton with 1,723 registered voters, well more than both candidates received – combined. Yet only 139 of those registered voters cast ballots, which is an unbelievable eight percent.

Though Hamilton had the lowest voter participation it was not alone in low voter participation. Waverly Hall has 1,406 registered voters in District 1, but only 159 cast ballots for an abysmal 11.3 percent voter response.

The opposite of the scale was not much better.

Ellerslie had the highest voter turnout, percentage-wise, with 21.7 percent of registered voters casting ballots, but that number was deceptive as Ellerslie has only 129 registered voters in District 1 with 28 of those casting ballots.

Voting in Commission District 3 was underwhelming as well.

Incumbent Greg Gantt retained the seat with 732 votes, surviving the challenge of Cataula businessman Alan Vestal who drew 555 votes.

The Lower 19th Precinct or Piney Grove, has 2,753 people registered to vote in District 5, yet only 463 cast ballots, for 16.8 percent participation. Incredibly, that was the highest voter participation in District 5. By comparison, Mulberry Grove has 2,260 registered voters, but only 261 voted, a participation rate of just 11.6 percent.

In the Harris County Board of Education races, Bridgett Oliver ran unopposed for the District 2 seat and still received 1,381 votes while Monica Sparks ran unopposed for the District 7 seat and still received 3,695 votes.

The only contested seat on the Board of Education was the District 5 seat with Harry Proctor, Jr. receiving 1,010 votes while TJ Higgs, Jr polled 593 votes. While the combined total of 1,603 votes did not indicate overwhelming voter interest, it did not suggest the lack of interest found in the two contested races on the Board of Commissioners.

AFTER the polls closed, unsubstantiated allegations were aired publicly and on social media concerning the voting and tabulation processes in the county, even gaining traction with some area news outlets.

For Elections Superintendent Morgan Bryce, this was his first election in Harris County and he reported only two issues, neither of which interfered with the voting process or results. One involved the setting on a scanner that recorded too light and was adjusted when it was discovered. That scanner was not recording votes, but sending results to the state elections office. The other was a poll person not bringing all the materials to the elections office and having to make a second trip. Bryce indicated that neither instance delayed the reporting of results.

There was a state-level delay when voting at a Sandy Springs precinct had to be temporarily suspended while police searched for a person near the precinct reportedly with a firearm. Two people would be arrested and voting resumed.

As this article was being written, the election results had not been certified so the results were still unofficial.

THERE are no runoff races in Harris County Elections. However there are state-wide runoff races.

Early voting for those run-off elections will take place daily 8 am to 5pm Monday, June 8 to Friday, June 12, with early voting taking place at the Elections Office in Hamilton. There will not be any Saturday voting.

The regular run-off Election Day will be Tuesday, June 16, at local precincts.