Turnout in Tuesday’s general election was higher than it has been for a midterm in Jackson County in two dozen years.
Fifty-two percent of voters cast ballots this election cycle, the highest level since 1994 when 55.8 percent of voters participated. Jackson County last had a turnout greater than 50 percent for a midterm election in 2010.
This year, 14,827 of 27,990 registered voters in the county cast ballots as Republicans won every countywide seat on the ballot and will retain power in county government.
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By precinct, Washington had the highest turnout, with 68.98 percent of 851 voters. Driftwood precinct has the second highest turnout at 64.56 percent.
Brownstown 4, Brownstown East 1, Grassy Fork, Hamilton, Jackson 4 North, Jackson 5 North, Jackson 7 and Redding West all reported turnout greater than 60 percent.
The lowest turnout was Jackson 2 West in Seymour, which reported a 29.02 percent turnout of 634 voters. That was the only precinct to report turnout lower than 30 percent.
No issues were reported with voting throughout the day, and there was only one provisional ballot, according to the Jackson County Clerk’s Office. Provisional ballots have to be evaluated by election officials to determine their validity before they can be counted.
The turnout was 16 percentage points higher than the 2014 midterm election, the last election for comparable data, which also was the lowest turnout in the last eight midterms.
Midterm elections typically attract fewer voters than presidential elections.
By 2 p.m. Tuesday, voters had already surpassed the 2014 totals in the county’s 30 precincts.
More than a third of the voters cast a straight ticket (one party only) 5,657 — or 38.15 percent. That’s a significant increase from the 24.76 percent of straight ticket voters in 2014.
This year, voters selected 4,127 (72.95 percent) straight tickets for Republicans, while 1,406 (24.85 percent) went to Democrats and 124 (2.19 percent) went to Libertarians.
Turnout was elevated by a historic level of early voting, where 16 percent of those voting did so early either by visiting polling stations at Brownstown and Seymour, by absentee or the military or through a travel board.
Turnout was likely pushed by a hotly contested race for U.S. Senate, as Republican businessman and former state Rep. Mike Braun defeated incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly.
Senator-elect Braun’s victory was part of a night where national Republicans gained at least two seats in the U.S. Senate.
Locally, Braun won 65.43 percent of the vote with 9,430 votes to Donnelly’s 4,198 or 29.13 percent. Libertarian Lucy Brenton garnered 785 votes or 3.49 percent.
Republican Trey Hollingsworth was easily re-elected to the Ninth District in the U.S. House of Representatives, defeating Democratic challenger Liz Watson. Hollingsworth won with 68.91 percent of the vote in Jackson County.
While Hollingsworth cruised to re-election and no seats were flipped in the Indiana delegation, national Democrats will have a House majority for the first time in eight years.
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Turnout in Jackson County for midterm elections by percentage
2018;52
2014;36
2010;50
2006;47
2002;41
1998;49
1994;55.8
1990;69.3
Turnout by precinct for 2018 general election
Precinct; Registered voters;ballots;percentage
Brownstown 1;780;378;48.46
Brownstown 2;889;524;58.94
Brownstown 4;152;92;60.53
Brownstown East;1,286;810;62.99
Brownstown West;576;330;57.29
Carr;996;481;48.29
Driftwood;666;430;64.56
Grassy Fork;486;303;62.35
Hamilton;1,194;726;60.80
Jackson 1 East;1,337;492;36.80
Jackson 2 East;1,112;383;34.44
Jackson 2 West;634;184;29.02
Jackson 3 North;840;324;38.57
Jackson 3 South;1,045;449;42.97
Jackson 4 North;1,454;932;64.10
Jackson 4 South;930;518;55.70
Jackson 5 East;1,216;586;48.19
Jackson 5 North;1,270;809;63.70
Jackson 6;1,231;594;48.25
Jackson 7;1,088;694;63.79
Owen;1,119;583;52.10
Pershing;950;531;55.89
Redding East;1,304;722;55.37
Redding Seymour City;905;434;47.96
Redding West;1,110;686;61.80
Salt Creek;228;131;57.46
Vernon Crothersville;991;527;53.18
Vernon North;607;316;52.06
Vernon South;743;271;36.47
Washington;851;587;68.98
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