Floyd County Board of Elections chairman Pete McDonald thinks the county will be fortunate if 30 percent of the approximately 43,000 registered voters participate in the July primary elections.

Fellow Board of Elections member Mardi Haynes-Jackson and Elections Supervisor Evon Billups joined McDonald for a presentation to the Rome Kiwanis Club Monday.

Billups was at a loss to explain why such a small percentage of registered voters actually turn out for elections.

“The trend for us with the younger population is not good,” Billups said.

She pointed out most of those who vote consistently are older. The last presidential election was a little different, with the Barack Obama candidacy attracting some younger voters, but Billups is expecting a return to more normal voting patterns this year.

The election officials also discussed provisional ballots, which allow voters to cast their votes even if there is a question about identification or registration.

“We want everybody to vote, then we’ll track down the situation,” McDonald said.

If the issue involved the lack of proper photo ID, the voters have two days to present identification at the Board of Elections office in the county administrative office building on East First Street at Fourth Avenue.

“Most of the time, people are not registered,” McDonald said. “We had a guy from Detroit who tried to vote and we told him he had to go back to Michigan.”

Monday was the last day for people to register to vote in the July 20 primary.

McDonald reminded the Kiwanians that if citizens have not voted in the last two general elections, there is a very good chance they could have been purged from the rolls.

“If you haven’t voted recently, you can come in and be reactivated,” McDonald said. He said that voters can check the Secretary of State’s website, sos.georgia.gov, and click on the My Voter Page to see if they are still on the roll of active voters.

McDonald said Georgia was one of the first states in the country to go to electronic voting on a statewide basis. “The touch screens, they are very dependable even if they are approaching 10 years old,” McDonald said.

McDonald said that on election night, it should take officials about two to two and a half hours after the polls close to get the count completed, “unless we have delays at the precinct level,” McDonald said. “I think we have improved the process over the last several years.”