By all indications, Tuesday’s primary election went smoothly in Warren County, according to officials, but less than 4,000 people of the more than 25,000 registered voters bothered to participate in the election.

Some people were concerned issues may arise due to new voting precincts that were created to alleviate overcrowding at some precincts and local schools no longer being used as polling places.

“We did not have problems with the new precincts,” Sara Dionne, with the Warren County Election Commission, said. “We received a few phone calls from voters confirming their precinct locations. At the precincts, we had less calls than usual from poll managers inquiring as to the correct precinct for a voter not found on the poll books.”

There are a number of reasons for the low voter turnout. There was little interest locally in the primary election since there were no local races on the primary ballot — those races will be determined in the November General Election. Voter apathy seems to be the key reason, however.

“In Primary Elections, especially the mid-season Congressional Primaries, we always have a low voter turnout,” Dionne said. “We have the coveted privilege and freedom to be a part of our governmental process, and we choose to not register or not vote.”

Dionne appears to be accurate.

Of the 25,687 active registered voters, just 3,915 – 15.24 percent – bothered to cast a ballot in Tuesday’s election.

Those who did vote, voted heavily Republican. There were 1,652 ballots cast in the Democratic Primary and 2,168 of registered voters went Republican.

The Oakland Precinct had the most participation with 23.72 percent of the registered voters casting a ballot.

By comparison, in the 2014 Primary Election, Brunswick had the most participation with 108, or 32.53 percent of the 332 registered voters casting a ballot in the Republican Primary.