MichiganRadio

Low Turnout Projected For Detroit Election DETROIT, MI (Michigan Radio) - Detroit election officials say they expect only about 20-25% of the city's registered voters to come out for Tuesday's municipal elections.

Turnout for Detroit municipal elections is typically low. But election officials say this cycle's number will also be kept down by a lackluster Mayor's race, and the fact that this is the fourth Mayoral vote just this year.

Many Detroiters also harbor a longstanding suspicion about the integrity of the city's electoral process. That perception wasn't helped during the 2005 Mayoral race, when a power outage interrupted data transmission and spurred a recount.

Detroit Elections Director Daniel Baxter says that won't happen this time because the city has changed the way it transmits results.

"It was decentralized. Now it's centralized," Baxter says. "Those esults or those memory cards now come directly to the Department of Elections, where the data is uploaded right into the system."

Baxter says the department anticipates a smooth election day, and will report results by 10 o'clock Tuesday night.
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