Upper St. Clair Voter Turnout Lower Than Expected

Overall, polling place officials said voter turnout was lower than expected on Tuesday.

Poll workers at the old attributed the low turnout to the fact that there were "no major controversial local issues."

"We were expecting to see a 25 percent turnout and I don't think we're going to get there," said Carole Zini, judge of elections.

As of 5 p.m., the polling place had seen about 16 percent of its registered voters.

Zini, along with poll workers at and , said a number of voters were confused about the not being on the ballot.

The referendum they were referring to is, "Shall a 0.25 mills special tax be imposed by the City of Pittsburgh on all taxable real estate in the city of Pittsburgh effective Jan. 1, 2012 and thereafter, the proceeds of which shall be allocated and used only for the maintenance and operation of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh?" The question is only on ballots in the City of Pittsburgh. If the question is approved by voters, a tax equivalent to $25 a year on each $100,000 of assessed value will be levied on all real estate in the city.

A number of TV commercials urging residents to vote yes was attributed to the cause of the confusion.

At Fort Couch Middle, poll workers said traffic was "unexpectedly light, especially considering the good weather."

"It started light, got kind of busy, tapered off and is picking up again," said Richard Lennox, judge of elections. "Normally you can predict certain voting trends, but not today."

Poll workers at St. Louise de Marillac also reported a "very low" turnout. Judy Carter, judge of elections, said she saw the same voters as she sees during other elections and reported a lot of people asking about the library issue.

At , poll workers were more optimistic. They said they had a "nice, steady trickle" and turnout was better than they thought.

According to Nancy Dormish, judge of elections, 153 people came to vote as of 3:45 p.m.

However, Baker Elementary poll workers were disappointed they had only seen one high school boy come in to place his vote, "especially since there was no school today" for the .