May 21, 2014 5 min read

After a measly 16.5 percent of Washington County registered voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s primary election – and 23.5 percent in Greene County – many are still trying to pinpoint what contributed to the lowest voter turnout in the county’s recent history.

“There’s no question it’s lower than usual,” said Larry Spahr, Washington County elections director.

In fact, it was the lowest countywide voter turnout Spahr has seen since 1981, when he assumed his current title.

Spahr said he believes gerrymandering and a lack of competition on the ballots contributed to the low turnout, but even that couldn’t completely explain the poor showing.

“I’ve seen it before, too. Even though you had uncontested races in the past, the turnout was higher than what we saw (Tuesday),” Spahr said. “I’m seeing a trend in certain elections of a lower turnout.”

Washington County Commission and Election Board Chairman Larry Maggi said, “I’d like to see the Legislature change to make it easier for people to do an absentee ballot. We’re going to come to that. We’re not there yet.”

Oregon, for example, uses exclusively a vote-by-mail system, and anyone may vote by absentee ballot.

“There seems to be an apathy out there,” Maggi said. Of the roughly 139,500 registered voters in the county, “only 23,000 voted, but there are still thousands that aren’t even registered. It takes you about eight seconds to do a ballot and people don’t take the time to do it.”

Similarly, George Vitteck Jr., chairman of the Washington County Democratic Committee, said he thinks voters have become apathetic because they are turned off by the “media circus” of constant campaigns and political advertisements.

What voters really need, he said, is something to care about.

“People move because they’re hungry,” Vitteck said, adding he thinks there will be a good turnout in the general election, as long as the candidates “define the issues.”

Of the total voters Tuesday, 73 percent were Democrats and 27 percent were Republicans. About 22.5 percent of registered Democrats in Washington County voted Tuesday, compared with nearly 13 percent of Republicans.

Voter turnout in Greene County was slightly better. Nearly 19 percent of registered Republicans turned out to vote, compared to nearly 26 percent of Democrats.

Although Pam Snyder ran unopposed Tuesday for her second term as state representative in the 50th Legislative District, the Greene County Democrat has had her share of political battles, from county commissioners to a previously unsuccessful race against her predecessor, H. Bill DeWeese.

“Am I disappointed with the voter turnout? Yes, but I am more concerned,” she said. “The highest office in the state was on the ballot and the turnout, while pathetic in Washington and Greene counties, was just as bad statewide. People may say, ‘Well, there was a lack of local races and no one really cares who the governor is’,” Snyder said. “But that doesn’t explain why the turnout is high in a presidential year.”

Snyder said she has been concerned by low voter turnout for years but she understands why people get turned off by politicians. “All the commercials, mailings and phone calls drive people crazy, but how else is a candidate to get his or her message out there? It’s a Catch 22.”

Snyder said she wished she knew the answer as to why turnout is becoming lower and lower. “We might have to take a long look at improving the system in Pennsylvania, such as instituting early voting and tweaking the absentee ballot procedure. We just have to make it easier to cast a ballot in Pennsylvania,” she said.

Jeff Foutz, Washington County Republican Party interim chairman, said prior to the election that he thought more Republicans would turn out if Bob Guzzardi had stayed on the ballot as a challenger to Gov. Tom Corbett.

The 46th Legislative District at one point had races on each ticket, but when former Robinson Township supervisor Brian Coppola withdrew, he left Jason Ortitay as the lone Republican to face incumbent State Rep. Jesse White.

White, with 3,107 votes, defeated Cecil Township Supervisor Tom Casciola, who came up short with 2,366, according to unofficial returns from Washington and Allegheny counties on the Department of State website.

Turnout in the 46th Legislative District, at 19.3 percent, was better than in many other parts of Washington County.

The gubernatorial race and the debut of a Washington County politician in a statewide race enticed some Democrats to the polls.

State Rep. Brandon Neuman, D-North Strabane Township, received enough votes for a first-place finish in his home county and neighboring Greene, but he fell short in the rest of the commonwealth’s 65 counties. He finished second in Erie County and third in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Crawford, Fayette and Westmoreland.

With 99 percent of the vote counted statewide, Neuman was dead last.

Of the five men who ran in the lieutenant governor’s race, only former U.S. Rep. Mark Critz and Neuman reside west of Harrisburg. The Democratic nominee to run with Tom Wolf in November is state Sen. Mike Stack of Philadelphia.

State Sen. Tim Solobay, D-Canonsburg, said Neuman “learned how big Pennsylvania is when he was traveling around being the only guy from the true west. Mark is more central-west.”

Neuman was an intern in the office of then-State Rep. Tim Solobay before seeking elected office in 2010.

“If they have single person coming out of the City of Philadelphia, with 30 percent of the overall vote coming from Philadelphia alone, it makes it very difficult for anyone else, let alone four others,” Solobay said.

Jon Stevens contributed to this report.