Low voter turnout in Alabama primary election runoff

[00:00:00]Sydney Spencer joins us live. We've had some rain today, Sydney. What are you hearing about the turnout so far?

[00:00:07]>> Yeah, well Sherry, I reached out to the Alabama Secretary of State to ask that question. I'm told they don't have a way to accurately predict voter turnout at this time, but I also reached out to the Jefferson County Board of Registrars and they tell me it's sitting at 10% as of right now. Now, here's video we took at one of the local polling sites. You can see the rain and one person walking in it to vote. According to the Jefferson County Board of Registrars director, Barry Stevenson, a 10% turnout is very low when it comes to election day, but it's not completely out of the norm, especially for a runoff election.

[00:00:40]Stevenson says there's a number of factors likely contributing to this. One reason being the weather. He says the rain often shies people away from leaving their homes. Another reason is because there's not a lot on the ballot.

[00:00:53]He says especially on the Democrat side here in Jefferson County. And lastly, he says the timing of this runoff is in the middle of June and most people are out on vacation, but he says despite this, there are some who have chosen to vote absentee. Now, Stevenson says they won't have an official number until hours after the polls close as they are still counting the number of voters. We're going to continue to work to learn the official voter turnout percentage for the state throughout the evening. In the newsroom, Sydney Spencer, CBS 42 News.

[00:01:23]>> Sydney, thank you.