Who decides elections in Terrell County? Data show older voters dominate turnout as turnout declines

DAWSON — As Terrell County prepares for the November general election, turnout data from this year’s primary and primary runoff offer a snapshot of who is most likely to shape the outcome at the ballot box.

An analysis of voter participation from Georgia’s May 19 primary and June 16 runoff shows older residents consistently turned out at the highest rates, while overall participation fell by nearly half between the two elections, and the demographic makeup of the electorate shifted significantly.

According to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, 1,731 of Terrell County’s 6,048 active registered voters cast ballots in the May primary, a turnout rate of 28.6%. Four weeks later, only 922 voters participated in the June 16 primary runoff, reducing turnout to 15.2%.

While lower participation is typical in runoff elections, the county’s voting data reveal notable differences in turnout by age, race and gender that provide insight into who has participated most consistently heading into November.

Across both elections, turnout was concentrated among older residents. The largest voting blocs in both May and June were voters between 55 and 79 years old, with participation peaking among those ages 65 to 69. In the June runoff alone, nearly seven out of every 10 ballots were cast by voters ages 55 through 79.

Younger adults participated at much lower rates.

Only 71 runoff voters were under age 40, despite those age groups accounting for a substantial portion of the county’s registered voters. The figures reflect a long-standing national trend in which older Americans consistently vote at higher rates than younger adults, particularly in primary and runoff elections.

The racial composition of the electorate changed markedly between the two elections.

In the May 19 primary, black voters cast 915 ballots compared with 699 cast by white voters, meaning black voters accounted for approximately 53% of all ballots cast. But four weeks later, the June 16 runoff produced a very different electorate.

White voters cast 542 ballots, while black voters cast 326, making white voters nearly 59% of all runoff participants. The shift was driven not by an increase in white turnout, but by a much steeper decline in black voter participation between the primary and the runoff.

The shift resulted primarily from differences in voter retention between the two elections. Black participation declined by approximately 64%, while white participation declined by about 22%.

Because runoff elections include fewer contested races and often generate less public attention, political scientists generally expect participation to fall. Terrell County’s results illustrate that the decline was not evenly distributed across demographic groups. Despite recent U.S. Census estimates indicating Terrell County’s resident population remains majority black, white voters represented the majority of those participating in the runoff.

Population statistics and election turnout measure different things. Census data include children and non-citizens who cannot vote, while turnout reflects only registered voters who cast ballots.

Even so, comparing the two highlights that the demographic makeup of voters can differ substantially from the county’s overall population, particularly in lower-turnout elections.

Gender participation showed little variation. In the May 19 primary, women accounted for 59.6% of all ballots cast, while men represented 40.4%. The results are consistent with long-standing national voting patterns, which have shown women turning out to vote at higher rates than men in most elections for several decades.

Because May 19 was Georgia’s statewide primary election, voters selected either a Democratic or Republican ballot, while a small number participated in nonpartisan contests. Terrell County recorded 1,004 Democratic ballots, 704 Republican ballots and 23 nonpartisan ballots. Participation declined substantially in the June 16 primary runoff, with 572 Republican voters and 350 Democratic voters casting ballots.

Those totals reflect only voters who had contested races remaining on their chosen primary ballot and should not be interpreted as party registration figures, as Georgia does not register voters by political party.

The June 16 primary runoff drew 922 voters, 809 fewer than the 1,731 who participated in the May 19 primary, which represents a 46.7% decline in turnout, with voter participation falling from 28.6% of Terrell County’s 6,048 active registered voters to 15.2%.

In other words, fewer than one in six registered voters returned to the polls for the runoff.

While the election data identify clear patterns in voter participation, they do not explain why some residents voted while others did not. The results nevertheless point to several areas that merit further examination, including why older voters participate at significantly higher rates than younger adults, what factors contributed to the sharper decline in black voter turnout between the primary and runoff, and how campaign activity, media coverage, voter outreach and the number of contested races may have influenced participation.

The findings also invite questions about whether practical barriers, such as work schedules, transportation or voter engagement efforts, affect turnout among younger voters. Those are questions that extend well beyond a single election cycle and are central to understanding long-term civic participation in Terrell County.

With fewer than one-third of registered voters participating in the May primary and only about one in six returning for the runoff, the data illustrate how quickly the electorate can shrink between successive elections — and how its demographic makeup can change as turnout declines.

As Terrell County voters prepare to return to the polls in November, the primary and runoff results provide a useful benchmark for understanding recent voting patterns.

Whether turnout rebounds to levels more typical of general elections — and whether younger voters and demographic groups that participated at lower rates in the spring return to the polls — will help determine how representative November’s electorate is of the county’s more than 6,000 registered voters.