Special primary election sees especially low turnout

By Editor | August 21, 2026 |

District 6: Mercer, Palmer head to general election

By Christa Jennings

Senior Staff Writer

There’s low, and then there’s really low, and the voter turnout for last Tuesday’s special primary election in four districts of the state was dismally low.

As reported previously, because of redistricting, voters had the opportunity to cast their votes once again in a special primary election for U.S. House of Representatives in districts 1, 2, 6, and 7, which included Coosa County in District 6. However, instead, many opted to not vote.

While voter turnout has generally been low, it was especially low for this election. In his “Food for Thought” column last month in reminding readers about the upcoming election, Judge of Probate Richard Dean had said that he would be surprised if the county attained 15% voter turnout for the election, encouraging voters to surprise him and make their voices heard by casting votes.

However, Coosa County did not even attain 10% turnout. Countywide there was only a 9.23% voter turnout.

In keeping with tradition, Coosa still had a better turnout than the state. Statewide the four districts in total only had a 5.24% voter turnout, leaving many poll workers sitting at polling locations for 12 hours with little to do but wait.

Following last Tuesday night’s election returns, this Tuesday afternoon officials met at the courthouse for provisional ballot counting and the certification of the election.

Probate Judge Dean stated that there was only one provisional ballot cast, which was for the Republican ticket. Additionally, it was not certified by the Coosa County Board of Registrars as being eligible.

Dean explained that the individual had updated their address with the Post Office, but not with the Board of Registrars or secretary of state, so the ballot cast at the wrong polling location would not be counted. However, the voter was given information on how to update their voter registration to correct the issue going forward.

With no provisional ballots to count, there was no change to the numbers from last Tuesday’s election results.

Local party representatives then reviewed and verified the count, with Nieshia Whetstone and Agatha Hill representing the Coosa County Democratic Party Executive Committee and Debra Lamberth and Jamey Johnson representing the County Republican Party Executive Committee. They then certified the special primary election results and signed the certification for their respective parties.

The Coosa County Canvassing Board consisting of Judge Dean, Sheriff Michael Howell and Circuit Clerk Jamey Johnson were also to certify the election results, with Chief Deputy Scott Hammond filling in for Howell who was at a conference.

Following the certification, the county’s special primary election results were made official Tuesday afternoon.

The county’s official election results reflect only 754 ballots cast out of the possible 8,173, which resulted in the 9.23% turnout for the special primary. This followed the county having a voter turnout of 29.12% for the primary election and 13.14% for the primary runoff.

For last Tuesday’s special primary there were 256 ballots cast for the Democratic Party, or 33.95% of ballots cast. There were 498 ballots cast for the Republican Party, or 66.05%.

Equality had the highest turnout at 13.95% with 82 ballots cast, with Richville coming in second with 12.23% turnout.

West Coosa Senior Center in Stewartville had the lowest turnout with just 5.54%, reflecting just 72 ballots cast out of the precinct’s possible 1,299. Ray was the second lowest with a 6.02% turnout.

With four Democratic candidates on the ballot for District 6, Coosa County voters favored Ashtyn Kennedy over Maurice Mercer. Countywide Kennedy received 46.46% of the vote with 118 votes, just six more than Mercer’s 112 votes, or 44.09%.

However, districtwide Mercer carried the vote and won the primary with 64.17% of ballots cast for him. Kennedy came in second districtwide with 21.35% of the vote.

With only two Republican candidates on the ballot, county voters strongly favored incumbent Gary Palmer over Case Dixon. Palmer received 408 county votes, or 82.26%, compared to Dixon’s 88 votes, or 17.74%.

This trend carried at the district level, as well, with Palmer receiving 86.98% of the vote and winning the Republican Party nomination.

There is no runoff election for the special primary election, and the candidates receiving the most votes regardless of percentage are the party’s nominees to appear on the November 3 general election ballot.

This means for Coosa County and District 6 as a whole, Mercer and Palmer will go on to appear on the general election ballot in November.

The last day to register to vote for the general election is October 19. For election results, electronic voter registration and other general election information, visit the secretary of state’s website at www.AlabamaVotes.gov.

For questions about registering to vote in Alabama, to obtain a paper voter registration form, or check voter status, call the Coosa County Board of Registrars at 256-377-2418. For absentee voting, contact the Judge of Probate Office at 256-377-4919.