Early Bluffs turnout mixed

COUNCIL BLUFFS -- Pottawattamie County Auditor Marilyn Jo Drake, the county's chief election official, predicted a strong turnout for today's Council Bluffs City Election. But early morning sampling of polling places provided mixed signals.

"It's been going well, and we've had 50 at 8:25 a.m.," said Agnes Spera, poll judge at Precinct 10 at Abraham Lincoln High School. "It's been steady."

There were already eight voters waiting at the door there when the polls opened at 7 a.m., she added.

"We've had only three (at 8 a.m.), and that is slow," said Roger Pentico, poll judge for Precinct 14 at Bethany Presbyterian Church.

There are many voters in that precinct who are retired and would probably come in later in the day, he said.

"Hopefully it will pick up, otherwise it is going to be a boring day," Pentico said.

At the Precinct 11 polling site in the basement of the Broadway United Methodist Church, State Rep. Doug Struyk was only the 12th voter to register shortly before 8 a.m. On the other side of the room, 14 residents of the city's sixth precinct had voted before 8 a.m.

Voters are choosing from among four candidates seeking two City Council seats, plus a mayor. The council candidates are incumbent Scott Belt and newcomers Melissa Head, Scott Porter and Jay Kathol. Incumbent Mayor Tom Hanafan is seeking another term and is being challenged by newcomer Matt Hartfield.

"I think we'll go with a 12 percent turnout, and that's a good number," Drake said Monday. "There's so much interest in this election, and we've had more than 300 requests for absentee ballots; and that's a good number."

Council Bluffs has an estimated 39,000 registered voters, Drake said.

At Precinct 3, Walnut Grove School, there were 11 people, one of them a poll worker, who voted by 8 a.m., according to poll judge Ardeth Christie. That's considered an average early turnout for the voters there, she said.

"Hopefully, it will get busier," Christie said. "We would like that."

Meanwhile, Carter Lake voters are choosing a mayor in their city election. Russ Kramer, the current office holder, is seeking another term, while Fritz Dahlheimer is hoping to replace him.

Expect a big turnout there, according to Drake.

"Always, always," she said. "Carter Lake voters are our most devoted in the county. Their percentage always out does everyone else."