150,000 predicted, but nearly 600,000 voted

The Sun Herald, 3/13/8

After what appears to be an all-time high turnout for a Mississippi Democratic primary, newly elected Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said he likely won’t try to predict voter turnout again.

Hosemann on Monday had projected light to moderate turnout of up to 150,000 voters. But on Tuesday, more than 559,000 turned out to vote for president, Hosemann said. There were more than 417,000 votes in the Democratic primary, compared to only 75,000 in the 2004 primary.

Hosemann said the turnout was the highest in at least 20 years, and that the Democratic vote was likely the highest ever in that party’s primary. In Harrison County, 18,000 people voted in the Democratic primary Tuesday, compared to 3,200 four years ago.