About 1 in 4 registered voters cast ballots in Berks County
Just over a quarter of registered Berks County voters took part in Tuesdays municipal election, putting it on par with similar contests over the past decade.
According to county officials Wednesday, turnout was just about 28%. That number may still change a bit, as the county still has some mail and provisional ballots left to count.
The 28% turnout is fairly similar to the past few municipal elections. Looking at the last five, turnout numbers were:
2019 30%
2017 27%
2015 26%
2013 21%
2011 23%
County Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt, who serves as chairman of the countys election board, said Tuesdays turnout was about what he expected it would be. He added that the city saw particularly low numbers turnout was about 9.5% in Reading which dragged down the countys overall number.
Whats most disheartening to me is that turnout in Reading was just around 9%, which skews the numbers, he said. The city doesnt come out.
A countywide race for coroner and a single city council race were the only contested races on the ballot in the city.
Barnhardt said that low turnout in the city meant Republicans cast ballots at a much higher rate than Democrats.
From a political standpoint that doesnt bode well for Democratic office holders, he said, adding that he thinks thats likely why Republican John Fielding was able to win the race for coroner.
As for what method voters used to cast ballots, county officials say that based on the votes that were counted by the end of the day Wednesday, 58,796 voted in-person while 14,924 voted by mail.
Link:https://www.readingeagle.com/2021/11/03/election-2021-voter-turnout/
As expected, Dems show no passion for voting (unless they're angry or scared).