Published: November 06, 2009 11:09 am      

Voter turnout higher than expected in Johnson County, officials say

Voter turnout in Johnson County for Tuesday’s constitutional amendment election was higher than expected, said Patty Bourgeois, Johnson County Elections administrator.

“The state prediction was a 2 to 3 percent turnout,” Bourgeois said. “I haven’t looked at the final numbers, but we had closer to 7 percent in some areas of the county.”

Johnson County voters joined fellow Texans to vote on 11 proposed amendments to the state constitution. The amendments addressed property tax appraisal, research university funding, veterans issues and other matters.

With no candidates on the ballot, turnout was expected to be fairly low.

But voting locations at the Burleson Sub Courthouse, Cana Baptist Church in Burleson and Joshua High School ran out of ballots toward the end of voting hours, Bourgeois said.

“We go by a formula the state uses to determine the number of ballots to order for an election,” Bourgeois said. “I used that and rounded up so we’d have some extra ballots. Voting was slow in the morning but picked up and got busy the last few hours in those and a few other locations. I know TEA Party activity was heavy in Burleson, which might have had something to do with it, or it could be just heavier turnout than expected.”

The elections office had to recreate ballots, which had to be stamped, numbered and hand counted, Bourgeois said.

Officials ran out of ballots twice at the Joshua location, said Wynne Loveless, an election judge working the site.

They ran out at 4:15 p.m. and received more just as they were passing the last two out, Loveless said.

That shipment lasted until about 5:15 p.m., Loveless said, causing voters to wait almost an hour for a new shipment.

Loveless commended the voters for their patience. She said the voters were understanding, did not complain, and did not leave. Election officials provided chairs for voters who were unable to stand for long periods, Loveless said.

Bourgeois said she only received a complaint from one woman who called and was upset. That woman, Bourgeois said, wasn’t angry so much as she wanted to know why the delay occurred and seemed to be satisfied with the explanation.