Low Primary Turnout in Portsmouth

By Roger Wood on Tuesday, September 12, 2006.

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Despite a wide open race for Executive Council in the Seacoast, voter turnout there has been very light.

NHPR Correspondent Roger Wood reports.

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Primary 2006 Coverage

There have been no waiting lines at Portsmouth's five wards, even though a primary battle's been waged for the seat being vacated by District 3 Republican Ruth Griffin.

At Portsmouth's Ward 5, for example, moderator John Grossman pointed out that there are over 3500 registered voters - and by noontime, only 166 people had cast ballots. He attributed the light turnout to a lack of competitive races, and the importance of the Executive Council:

"It's possible people do not recognize the power of the executive councilor within the state and how that works, even though there have been some articles in the newspaper explaining how the Executive Council works, because there's not too many states that have executive councils."

Outgoing Executive Councilor Ruth Griffin has endorsed Republican Sean Mahoney for the elected position. The Portsmouth businessman is running against Salem Senator Chuck Morse and former State Senator Russell Prescott of Kingston.

For NHPR News, I'm Roger Wood.