Star-Tribune Staff Reports

Voter turnout for today's primary election has been far less than expected so far, said Natrona County Clerk Renea Vitto.

"It's very slow," she said. "We haven't heard very much from the polling places. There's not much turnout, so they're not having many problems or a reason to call us."

At least a few precincts, she said, have reported only about a 10 percent turnout of registered voters. The absentee ballot count will total about 1,180 by the end of the day, an even worse turnout than the 2006 primary, which saw 1,609 absentee ballots.

Vitto said the overall turnout may be lower than in 2006, when 43 percent of registered voters came to the polls.

"That was poor, and if it doesn't pick up, it could be even worse," Vitto said. "We usually see a spurt between 4:30 and 7 p.m., so we're hoping for that."