Published: February 04, 2010 08:00 am      

Manager vote ups turnout

EFFINGHAM — The city manager referendum in the City of Effingham caused voter turnout to spike in some areas during Tuesday’s primary election, according to voter turnout figures compiled by the Effingham county clerk’s office.

Effingham city voters were asked to consider a change in the form of government that would have mandated the hiring of a city manager to run day-to-day operations. The measure failed, but the interest sparked by the proposal caused increased voter turnout in Douglas Township, which includes most of the city of Effingham.

While countywide voter turnout was only 25.51 percent, five Douglas Township precincts had turnouts of more than 30 percent, led by Douglas Precinct 8 with 36.49.

Douglas 8, voting at the Lake Land College Kluthe Center, includes much of the Park Hills subdivision, a hotbed for support of the city manager referendum.

Other Douglas precincts with turnouts of more than 30 percent included precincts 1 (30.25 percent), 2 (33.96 percent), 6 (32.14 percent) and 11 (32.9 percent). Precinct 1 also includes the Green Creek area outside the city of Effingham, but the other three precincts are entirely within the city.

Turnout in some Douglas precincts didn’t reflect the city manager referendum. Precincts 9, voting at First Presbyterian Church, and 5, voting at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, both had turnouts below 21 percent, well below the county average.

Voter turnout lagged below 30 percent in nearly every precinct outside Effingham, with the notable exception of Mason 1, which includes Sheriff John Monnet’s hometown of Mason. Not only did Mason 1 support its native son by a wide margin in his Republican primary race, but precinct voter turnout was 30.8 percent.

Lucas Township in the rural southeast corner of the county had the lowest turnout of any precinct in the county at 16.26 percent.

Bill Grimes can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 132 or bill.grimes@effinghamdailynews.com.