http://66.225.205.104/JR20081105b.mp3
Voter turnout in Mecklenburg County was lower than officials expected, given the huge popularity of early voting. Sixty-six percent of the county's registered voters cast a ballot in the General Election, which is only slightly higher than the turnout in 2004. Officials had expected closer to 70-percent for this year's turnout. The biggest surprise, says Elections Director Michael Dickerson, is that more people voted early in Mecklenburg County than on Election Day. "Yesterday really just changed the dynamic altogether," says Dickerson. "Does it mean that now we concentrate now on an early voting center concept, early voting sites, thinking that we'll get more people there than on election day?" Dickerson says currently the county spends about sixty-percent of its resources on Election Day. He says that may need to change, now that people have shown they prefer to vote early.