- A member of the Decatur County board of elections says only 700 people voted in Decatur County back in 2020.
- But now 2,397 people have cast their vote during the primary elections.
- Watch the story to hear why people made their way to the polls.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
The results are in and I'm letting Decatur County neighbors know which candidates will be on the November ballot.
These are the candidates who made the cut.
Joe Campbell's name will be listed for the republican state House of Representatives district 171 after earning 968 votes while Crosby Steen earned 636 votes.
It's clear John Kirkus will be on the November ballot against longtime Decatur County sheriff Wiley Griffin.
Steve Brock will represent republicans for district 2 county commissioner while Bobby Barber will represent republicans for district 5 county commissioner.
Brandon Conley will maintain his spot on the ballot after earning 256 votes while County Chavers received 179 votes for district 5 Board of Education.
Earlier I stopped a few voters to learn what issues brought them to the polls Tuesday.
"Change some of the laws.. decision making [and] hopefully not a tax increase,” said Germaine Dudley, Decatur county neighbor.
Dudley is one of the thousands of Decatur County neighbors who cast their vote.
Dudley says he wanted to make sure he helped decide who community leaders are to because —
"We need our officials to be more open with the residents in the county,” said Dudley.
Other neighbors told me they voted because...
"This [is] a good way to "voice" your opinion without [having] to talk about it in public,” said Griffin Long, a Decatur county neighbor.
I spoke to Joyce Coddington from the Decatur County Board of elections who says this year's voter turnout quickly surpassed the last primary elections held back in 2020.
"There were less than 700 voters in 2020,” said Coddington.
This year 2,396 out of the 16,107 Decatur county registered voters cast their vote.
Ahead of the upcoming presidential election Coddington wants people to know that local votes matter.
"Your local officials affect you more than your state officials and your federal officials,” according to Coddington.
Coddington said the county board of elections expects voter turnout to increase by 75% during the November election.
