- Eight percent of registered voters have voted in Thomas County's municipal election.
- Election officials are working to raise that number.
- Check out the video above to hear from the Secretary of State about ways to fix low voter turnout.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"It's overwhelming to me when somebody says, 'I didn't know we were having an election," said Frank Scoggins, Thomas County Elections Supervisor.
Tracking voter turnout in Thomas County: eight percent of registered voters have made their way to the polls for the municipal election.
That's double the number of voters I reported just last week totaling over 1,600 people.
"It's stepped up dramatically," said Scoggins. Despite that, there's still a long way to go.
Wednesday, Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, made his way to Thomasville.
Given the numbers we've seen, I asked him, "historically black voters are harder to get out to the polls. Any idea of how that can get turned around?"
"Well, I think what you're seeing is we have virtually the same turnout models no matter what demographic group people are in," said Brad Raffensperger, Georgia Secretary of State.
Experts tell me that municipal elections are known for having low voter turnout numbers.
On average, Thomasville sees a 70 to 80 percent turnout for presidential elections. Whereas municipal elections fall short with only a 12 to 15 percent turnout.
Secretary Raffensperger says he plans to make sure everyone knows election security is top priority.
On Tuesday, a group launched by former U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler called on Raffensperger to return to his office and focus on election integrity. I asked him about that too. "Any thoughts on how you feel about being criticized for your time not spent in office? Any comments towards that?"
"Well the real business of the people in Georgia happens at the local levels. That's why I'm in Thomasville today," said Raffensperger.
Elections Supervisor Frank Scoggins told me he is happy to see the secretary in the community.
"He says we have a wonderful facility here and of course that's what we want. We want to put Thomas County on the map," said Scoggins.
Election Day for the municipal election is November 7th.
