Voter Turnout Less Than Expected, Some Issues With Voter ID Reported

Polling place volunteers across reported a very low turnout for the primary election on Tuesday.

Of the 1,200 registered voters who vote at the polling place, only 100 had voted as of 1 p.m.

"Very disappointing. We thought it'd be slow, but not this slow. Especially on the Republican side," said Debbie Ullrich, a polling place volunteer.

The turnout was slow, despite a clear sky with the sun shining.

"If it was cold and raining, I could understand it (the low voter turnout)," said Marcia Olds, a judge of elections.

Olds said there are normally 10 to 15 people waiting to vote at 7 a.m. This morning she only saw three.

A similar situation was reported at the . Unlike past elections, there wasn't one person in line to vote when the polls opened, according to Leslie Snyder, judge of elections.

polling place volunteers were also disheartened by the low number of voters.

"It's been the slowest ever. We have far too many poll workers for the turnout," said Preston Shimer, a judge of elections.

Other than the low voter turnout in Upper St. Clair, the only issue some poll workers ran into was the photo identification dry run.

A new state law requires voters to show photo identification when casting ballots. Voters without ID Tuesday were allowed to vote, but they must have their IDs to vote in the November general election.

"A few people found it infringing," said Olds.

"It's sort of like asking grandma for her ID," said Shimer, who knew most of the voters.

However, the judge of elections at the polling place reported a steady stream of voters and she was impressed with the number of people who had their photo IDs.

"Everybody is very prepared for it. We've been emphasizing the need for photo ID in November," said Dr. Willy Ann Holmgren.

A number of candidates spent time in Upper St. Clair campaigning on Tuesday.

Upper St. Clair Patch spotted Evan Feinberg, Republican candidate for the U.S. Congress in the 18th district, campaigning at Wesley Spectrum Academy.

"We have gotten an overwhelmingly positive response," Feinberg said. "We expect victory today."

D. Raja, Republican candidate for the 37th Senate district, was also seen campaigning at Fort Couch Middle School.

Did you vote today? Why or why not? Did you have any issues at the polling place? Tell us in the comments.