So far during the 2018 primary election, Circuit Clerk Jamie Scarbrough said she has seen about the expected turnout for a primary election.

There’s still time to get out to the polls and boost turnout though, with all polling places closing at 7 p.m.

“I’ve seen nothing out of the ordinary for a primary election,” Scarbrough said. “We want to encourage everyone to go out and vote … it sounds cliché, but it’s true ­– if you don’t vote, you can’t complain. We have some very important races and we need turnout from everybody.”

Scarbrough said she would ideally hope for 100 percent voter turnout, but said anything over 20 percent is a more reasonable optimistic outlook. Scarbrough previously said about 3,000 to 4,000 people typically vote in a primary election like this.

After the polls close, Scarbrough said results should begin coming in around 7:30 p.m. with final unofficial results closer to 8:30 or 9 p.m.

“There are so many polling places out in the far reaches of the county, it takes them a little bit longer to get into town,” Scarborugh said.

There are 34 voting precints in the county plus a precinct counted for absentee votes and another precinct for provisional ballots. Absentee votes are often the first to be counted and provisional votes will not be counted until next Tuesday, when the election can be officially certified.

In the races with more than two candidates, there could potentially be runoff if nobody receives more than half of the vote. In that case, the top two would move on for the runoff.

Editor’s note: The Messenger will have a continuously updating story on the front page of our website to keep track as precincts are reported. Stay tuned for further updates once the polls have closed.