Turnout for Tuesday's primary in Cape lower than expected

Less than 8% of registered voters in Cape Girardeau participated in the city's primary election Tuesday.

The election's 7.45% voter turnout was a little lower than what Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark Summers anticipated.

"I thought, based on past elections and the number of candidates on the ballot, the turnout would be closer to 9% or 10%," Summer said.

A similar city primary in 2010 for mayor and Ward 2 saw 8.45% voter turnout. On ballots for this primary were Matt Hopkins, Walter White and Harry E. Rediger for mayor. Three candidates ran for Ward 2: Donald Howard Jr., Meg Davis-Proffer and Stafford Moore Sr.

According to unofficial election results, 1,775 out of the city's 23,816 registered voters cast ballots Tuesday.

Despite the large number of candidates for Ward 2, no voting precinct saw a higher turnout than usual for primaries, Summers said. Six Ward 2 candidates were on the ballot.

Polling stations for Ward 2 voters -- Cape Girardeau Precinct 2A and Cape Girardeau Precinct 2B -- had voter turnouts of 7.1% and 5.2%, respectively.

Cape Girardeau Precinct 4B with its polling station at La Croix United Methodist Church had the highest turnout with 9.88% of registered voters participating.

Rundown of unofficial results:

Mayor: 49.32% for Bob Fox, 14.35% for Ramona Bailey, 36.33% for Stacy Kinder

Ward 2: 57.81% for Tameka Randle, 4.64% for Marvin McBride Jr., 8.86% for Sommer McCauley, 12.24% for Steve Watkins, 10.97% for Stafford Moore Jr., 5.49% for Micheal "Crank" Curry.

The results are unofficial until certification. Summers said her office should have certification of the election's official results by end of day Monday.