Baldwin County Primary Sees 24 Percent Turnout and Thousands of Undervotes in Commission Races

BAY MINETTE, Ala. — Only 36,073 of Baldwin County’s 150,104 registered voters cast ballots in the primary election, a turnout of about 24 percent, according to unofficial results. The average age of voters was 61.

County Commission Results

The single-page ballot listed the four Baldwin County Commission races on the back. In District 1, Ball defeated Burt. In District 2, Davis defeated Lake by 1,314 votes, and in District 4, Gruber defeated Johnson by 675 votes.

Undervotes

Of 27,511 Republican ballots cast, 22,907 included a vote in the District 1 commission race, 21,648 in the District 2 race, 23,936 in the District 3 race and 22,308 in the District 4 race. That means at least 3,575 Republican voters skipped each of the commission races, a number large enough to have changed the outcome of any of the four races.

Billie Jo Underwood received about 2,000 more votes than any other commission candidate. Before election day, she reminded voters that the commission races were on the back of the ballot.

Runoffs

A runoff election is scheduled for July 17. In the probate judge race, Harry D’Olive finished first and will face Alan Lipscomb in the runoff.

Other races headed to the runoff include:

• State Senate District 32: Chris Elliott and David Northcutt
• Baldwin County Commission District 3: Tucker Dorsey and Billie Jo Underwood
• Court of Civil Appeals: Michelle Thomason and Christy Olinger Edwards

All figures are unofficial.