Voter turnout in 2023 election low for many South Georgia counties

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Voter turnout for Georgia’s 2023 municipal election, overall, didn’t look too well. Lowndes County saw an increase in voters since the previous municipal election, but Dougherty County did not.

After Tuesday’s 2023 municipal elections, some counties in our area experienced high voter turnout — while others experienced a very low turnout. WALB had the opportunity to speak with the supervisor of elections for Dougherty County and she said Dougherty was one of the counties that didn’t have that high voter turnout.

“I don’t know why voters did not turn out. I always say local races are extremely important because these are the individuals that you can visit. These are the individuals that you can actually pick up the phone and have a conversation with,” Nickerson said. “What you see now is we have a final number, and these individuals have determined who will represent all of the voters that reside in the city.”

In 2019, Lowndes County experienced a 13% turnout rate versus the 2023 election where they saw a bit of a raise bringing them to a 17% turnout. Out of their 33,000 registered voters, a little over 5,000 of them cast their vote on Tuesday.

In 2019, Dougherty County had a 38% turnout of their registered voters getting out to vote. On Tuesday, they saw a significant decrease with only 17% of their registered voters getting out to vote. Out of their 55,000 registered voters — the county only saw a little over 10,000 voters.

Voter turnout in many counties, was down for many, but some counties did see a rise. — Voter turnout in many counties, was down for many, but some counties did see a rise.(Source: WALB)

Now these results are unofficial as both counties still have provisional ballots to count. They say the results will be certified by mid-November.

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