Voters in Oxford and Addison mirrored the rest of the state by choosing Republican Mitt Romney and Democrat Hillary Clinton in Tuesday’s presidential primaries.
Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and Michigan native, was the top vote-getter with 921 in Oxford and 471 in Addison.
Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York and former First Lady, won locally with 375 votes in Oxford and 144 in Addison.
However, the number of Democrats who voted ‘uncommitted? in both townships was very high. In Oxford, 265 of 690 Democrats voted uncommitted, while in Addison 120 out of 291 Democrats did so.
Many of those uncommitted voters were most likely supporters of Democratic front-runners Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, both of whom chose not to participate in the election because the state went against the national party’s rules by moving up Michigan’s primary date.
Voter turnout was much smaller than anticipated. ‘It’s been a very light election,? said Oxford Twp. Clerk Clara Sanderson. ‘When I drove around to the precincts to see what the traffic was like on the outside, there was nothing happening.?
Out of the 13,753 registered voters in Oxford, only 2,792 (or 20.3 percent) participated in the primaries. A total of 2,096 Republicans voted versus 690 Democrats.
According to Sanderson, presidential primaries typically don’t yield large voter-turnouts, but she thought this one might be different.
‘There’s been so much conversation and political campaigning and controversies, I thought that might change it, but it didn’t,? she said.
Out of the 4,769 registered voters in Addison, only 1,341 (or 28.12 percent) participated in the primaries. A total of 1,032 Republicans voted versus 291 Democrats.
‘It’s been steady all day,? said Addison Township Clerk Pauline Bennett. ‘The tallies are about where I expected.?
She noted the state was expecting a ‘record-high turnout? and even sent out a notice ‘explaining what to do when we run out of ballots.?
Both Oxford and Addison ended up with a surplus of ballots when the polls closed.
Bennett noted the absentee ballots cast were ‘lower than usual,? but ‘hopefully? by the next election ‘those totals will come back up again.? A court ruling prohibiting the mass mailing of unsolicited absentee ballot applications was cited as the cause.
Both clerks reported a relatively problem-free election despite changes such as requiring voters to show photo ID and declare a political party before receiving a ballot.
‘I did think it was going to be mass confusion today, but it’s going very smoothly,? Bennett said. ‘Everyone’s being very considerate. Residents were very understanding with the many election law changes.?
However, she noted, ‘A lot of the residents, including myself, aren’t fond of having to go and declare a party.?
‘It was very quiet,? Sanderson said. ‘Everything went really well today. It was a good practice run for our workers.?
[See full voter number below]