101.68%?!?
With nearly 99 percent of districts reporting in Passaic County, an unusual phenomenon has appeared.
Look at the number of Democratic voters that turned out Tuesday:
Democratic Registration & Turnout 50,531 Voters
Vote Count Percent Election Day Turnout 51,380 101.68% Civilian Turnout 0 0.00% Military Turnout 0 0.00% Provisional Turnout 0 0.00% Overseas Turnout 0 0.00% Total 51,380 101.68%
If these numbers are to be believed, more people voted in the Democratic primary than there are registered Democrats in the county. Still, the total county turnout was a meager 30 percent. This leaves us with a number of possible scenarios:
- The county's new electronic voting machines didn't work.
- A large number of previously-unaffiliated voters showed up at the polls and switched to the Democratic Party in order to cast a ballot for Clinton or Obama. This could create an artificially large percentage of Democratic voters if they didn't update the total numbers of registered Dems.
- The county's vote counters misplaced a decimal point somewhere.
- Somebody voted twice.
Considering the enthusiasm that both Clinton and Obama have engendered in recent weeks, particularly in New Jersey with its primary's newfound significance, option #2 is very likely. The Herald News will update in the morning to give you a sense of how it shook out.
- Tom Meagher, City Editor
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