Putnam, White Counties Expect Second Voter Rush Tonight

Putnam and White County voting turnout has remained steady for the day, but numbers are expected to rise as polls close.

Putnam County Administrator Michelle Honeycutt said all precincts saw long lines this morning but have since died down. Honeycutt said she expects a second rush as the afternoon continues.

“I know early voting was a little more than the one four years ago,” Honeycutt said. “Four years ago on election day it was kind of slow. I do not think we had this kind of rush like this. I do believe this (election) is probably more.”

Honeycutt said election workers have been counting absentee ballots all day with no issues. One issue the county has seen is some purged voters coming to Putnam County that have changed addresses outside the county.

“The thing I think you always see happen every time it is a presidential is people come to vote that our purged,” Honeycutt said. “They move to another county and register. When they do that, we are notified from the other county, so we purge their registration, but they show back up here to vote.”

White County Administrator Dorcus Marcum said she expects about 1,000 more voters before polling closes tonight.

“The last time I spoke with all my precincts, we probably have had a total of 2,500 as of now,” Marcum said. “Which, maybe is a little bit less than I had anticipated, but our busy time is probably around 4:00 until 7:00.”

Marcum said the high percentage of early voters plays a part in the lower than expected numbers. Marcum said White County is still waiting for 15 absentee ballots to be delivered. Marcum said Doyle was one of unexpected leading precincts today with about 400 voters.

“It has gone real good,” Marcum said. “We have not had any machine problems. Everything has worked out real well today.”