DARKE COUNTY — Tuesday’s special election had remarkably low voter turnout, according to the unofficial results released by the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office Wednesday.
In the race for the 8th Congressional District seat, the unofficial results show 28,117 ballots were cast in the election, representing a 5.97 percent turnout among registered voters.
Former U.S. Army Ranger and businessman Warren Davidson, a Republican, won the election to finish the unexpired term of former Speaker of the House John Boehner, defeating Democratic candidate Corey Foister and Green Party candidate James Condit Jr.
The three nominees will again appear on the November 8 ballot vying for a full two-year term in Congress.
According to Ohio Secretary of State Office Press Secretary Josh Eck, county boards of elections are reporting there are 532 outstanding absentee ballots. These ballots may be included in the official results if they were postmarked by June 6, 2016, and arrive within 10 days of the election.
Eck says that 110 provisional ballots were cast. Under state law, these ballots cannot be opened or counted until the 11th day after the election.
The 8th Congressional District is composed of Butler, Clark, Darke, Mercer, Miami and Preble Counties. Of these, the highest voter turnout was in Miami County, where 8.11 percent of registered voters cast a ballot. The lowest turnout was in Butler County, with only 4.87 percent turnout.
Perhaps not coincidentally, Davidson is a Miami County native, from Troy, Ohio. Butler County is the home of one of Davidson’s Republican primary opponents, State Representative Tim Derickson.
In Darke County, 2,541 votes were cast, representing a 7.59 percent voter turnout, second-highest among counties within the 8th District. Of the votes cast, Davidson received 83.23 percent of the vote, Foister received 14.40 percent with Condit at 2.36 percent.
Not too surprisingly, voter participation was much higher during this year’s March 15 primary election, with 47 percent of registered voters casting a ballot.
