Runoff Election Just Days Away, Voter Turnout Expected to be Low
We’re just days away from the runoff election, which is next Tuesday.
About 20 percent of Alabamians turned out for the primary election last month, now even fewer voters are expected to come out for the runoff.
So, how will the low turnout affect the races?
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 We spoke with our political analyst Steve Flowers to get a breakdown of each race.
Candidates continue to campaign and hope their hard work bring more voters out to the polls.
Secretary of State Jim Bennett says because the runoff election contains no hotly contested races, voter turnout will be around 5 percent.
“We’d like for it to be higher,” he says. “Voters ought to realize that frequently just a handful of votes make a difference and a handful of votes in this particular election will make a lot of difference.”
There are three state-wide races in the runoff election. Political Analyst Steve Flowers says one of the closer races will be for Secretary of State, where Former Montgomery County Probate Judge Reese McKinney faces State Representative John Merrill of Tuscaloosa.
“They both finished the first primary at about 40 percent each,” he says. “They were almost neck and neck so it’ll be a close, interesting race.”
Mobile attorney Jim Zeigler will face Dale Peterson to secure the republican nomination for State Auditor. Peterson was arrested on shoplifting charges in 2012 and again in 2013 but Flowers says it may not hurt him in the runoff.
“Most people don’t know who Dale Peterson is, believe it or not. He may think that he’s known because of the crazy video…”
Flowers is reffering to Peterson’s 2010 campaign video for Agriculture Commissioner, which went viral. Public Service Commission Place Two Incumbent Terry Dunn is being challenged by Chip Beeker, who received more votes in the primary election. And Harris Garner faces Clyde Chambliss to fill the Senate District 30 Seat. Flowers says there’s been an increase in negative campaign ads from both of those candidates.
“Reluctantly I think both of those guys had to go a little negative,” he says. “And what happens is their campaign managers tell them to. But the bottom line, if they didn’t work, they wouldn’t use it. “
Flowers says in most cases, the candidate with the most votes in the primary will win the runoff but of course, we’ll just have to wait and see.
Secretary of State Jim Bennett tells us the highest voter turnout will be in the Birmingham area for the 6th congressional district race.
