A combination of intriguing local races and the chance to vote on presidential candidates drew a large amount of Chilton County voters to the polls on March 1 for the Primary Election.

Out of 26,552 registered voters as of Jan. 31, 12,051 ballots were cast in the county for the primaries—about 45 percent.

The last time polls were open, for the November 2014 General Election, the turnout was closer to 40 percent.

The level of interest in the political process shown on March 1 is encouraging, and I hope it continues the rest of the year because there are more important decisions to be made.

Municipal elections will be held on Aug. 23, as residents of Clanton, Jemison, Maplesville and Thorsby will decide on new (or keep the same) mayors and council members.

Then, the General Election will follow on Nov. 8. Though some local offices that were on the Primary Election ballot (district judge and district attorney) won’t appear on the General Election ballot because there won’t be Democratic opposition to the Republican nominees, voters will still have to settle the seven seats on the Chilton County Commission.

The top seven Republican vote-earners from the Primary Election will be joined by two Democratic nominees.

I also hope that residents will again look to The Clanton Advertiser to provide their election coverage.

We published an election guide prior to March 1, providing information about the candidates to appear on the ballot, as well as sample ballots, addresses of polling places and other important information.

On the night of the Primary Election, ClantonAdvertiser.com was the first place residents could find results, as a dedicated team of staff members and friends visited each of the county’s 18 polling places and the numbers were compiled quickly. Full coverage was included in the next day’s newspaper.

We’ll keep the same approach—a dedication to providing important information in a timely manner—for the other elections this year.

See you at the polls!

Stephen Dawkins is managing editor for The Clanton Advertiser. Look for the next installment of his column in a future edition of the newspaper.