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Turnout for the May 4 primary in Mahoning and Trumbull counties will be low, but no worse than it's been in previous odd-numbered years, election officials say.
"There's no interest in these kind of elections, unfortunately," Stephanie Penrose, director of the Trumbull County Board of Elections, said. "These elections affect your everyday life through taxes, roads. But there's a major lack of interest in odd-year primaries. It will go up a little in the fall election, but not where it should be."
Added Thomas McCabe, deputy director of the Mahoning County Board of Elections: "There just isn't going to be a large turnout for this primary."
There also isn't a lot on the ballot.
In Trumbull County, 56 of the 158 precincts will be open.
In Warren, Democratic primaries are being held for council seats in the 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th and 7th Wards. All of the precincts in Niles are open because four Democrats are seeking three at-Large council seats. In Girard, there's a Democratic primary for the 4th Ward and in Hubbard, there are Democratic primaries for the 2nd and 4th Wards.
All of the precincts in the Champion and Liberty school districts will be open to vote on tax levies.
In Mahoning County, only 65 of the 212 precincts will be open with 45 in Youngstown, where Democratic primaries are being held for mayor and council president.
The only other race on the ballot in Mahoning County is for Struthers council at-Large in which four Democrats are seeking three positions. Precincts in Struthers will be open for that race and for a school tax issue while precincts in the Sebring school district will be open for a tax issue.
No precincts will open in Columbiana County because no contested primaries are on the ballot.
PREDICTIONS
Penrose is expecting turnout to be between 15 and 16 percent in Trumbull County.
In 2015, it was 16.65 percent. It was 14.68 percent in 2017 and 14.68 percent in 2019.
McCabe is predicting 20 percent turnout in Mahoning County.
It was 18.39 percent in 2015. It was 19.34 percent in 2017 -- the last time there was a Democratic primary for Youngstown mayor -- and 10.7 percent in 2019, when there was a countywide sales tax renewal. The latter number shouldn't be considered when predicting turnout for this primary, McCabe said, because it was the only item on numerous ballots in the 2019 primary and numerous people didn't vote.
Also, when considering turnout, McCabe pointed out that in Youngstown, for example, every voter is eligible to cast a ballot in the Democratic races for mayor and council president.
"It's deceiving because it counts Republicans and undeclared voters and most of them won't vote in the Democratic primary," he said. "But we count all registered voters in the city. That's why those numbers are so low. You're not going to see a large crossover vote in the mayor's race."
HOURS TO KNOW
Meanwhile, county elections boards in Ohio will be open late Monday to allow people to register to vote in this primary. The Trumbull board is open from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and the Mahoning board is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. It's the last day to register for the primary.
But neither Penrose nor McCabe expect more than a handful of people to register that day.
McCabe said: "We'll probably get a handful and some may not even come inside because they can use the drop box outside" the board office at Oakhill Renaissance Place, 345 Oak Hill Ave., Youngstown. "Coming after the presidential election, there's not a lot of people not registered who want to be registered," he added.
The Trumbull office is at 2947 Youngstown Road SE, Warren.
"I'm not expecting much," Penrose said about those coming in Monday to register to vote.
To register in person, you need either your driver's license number of the last four digits of your Social Security number. People can also register online at voteohio.gov -- the Ohio secretary of state's website - by Monday.
Also, early voting starts Tuesday, and election boards can process votes by mail starting that day.
Early in-person voting will be at the board offices.
During the 2020 general election, Trumbull used a former bank building next to the office. But Penrose said the foot traffic will be minimal for this election.
"We're not expecting a big in-person turnout," she said. "If we have to, we'll limit the number of people coming into the building at one time."
Early voting is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, April 12 to 16 and April 19 to 23. The hours are extended to 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the week of April 26 to 30.
The hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 1, the Saturday before the primary, and 1 to 5 p.m. May 2 and 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 3.
Polling locations in Ohio are open 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. May 4.
dskolnick@tribtoday.com