During primary elections, such as the one coming up this Tuesday, Aug. 7, Warren County Clerk Barb Daly says races are decided by less than one-third of voters on average.The upcoming elections will decide party nominations for offices such as U.S. senator, presiding commissioner of Warren County, and the Missouri House representative for the Warrenton and Marthasville area and all of Montgomery County.The ballot items that have garnered much broader interest, though, are a statewide referendum on so-called “Right-to-Work,” along with two local tax propositions for the Warrenton and Wright City fire protection districts.Daly predicts the turnout deciding these issues in Warren County will be around 30 percent of registered voters. She said the average for the last six primary elections was around 28 percent.And that’s impressive compared to the municipal elections held in April each year, when the voter turnout averages closer to 10 percent.“But this time we have races,” Daly said, referring to the county commissioner and state representative elections, which both have two people running for the Republican nomination. The races for circuit court judge and county recorder of deeds also have competitive ballots.Daly said having multiple local competitive elections can tend to draw more voters. She also acknowledged that the number of high-interest ballot propositions coming all at once could have an upward effect on voter turnout.Hawk Point Fire Protection District and the village of Pendleton also have tax measures on the ballot, but those will affect fewer than 150 voters in Warren County, Daly said.The county clerk’s office oversees elections in Warren County. Daly commented that the current number of propositions and elections that overlap and mix in different voting precincts have increased the time and financial cost of preparing for the election.Ballots have to specifically match a voter’s fire district, Missouri House district, municipality, and so on. Then different versions of that ballot have to be printed for each political party, or for no party at all.And even though fewer than a third of registered voters typically turn up, Daly said election organizers need to be ready for far more.“You need to plan like everybody is going to vote, but it doesn’t always work out that way,” she commented.I VOTED