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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- A slower night for turnout allowed county election workers and volunteers to efficiently process the 20,041 total ballots cast in the Blair County Primary Election on Tuesday, according to Director of Elections Sarah Seymour.
According to unofficial results published on Wednesday afternoon, 15,369 ballots were cast in person on Election Day with another 4,672 mail-in ballots submitted in the lead up to Primary Election Day.
Seymour said that there are another 75 or so outstanding ballots that need to be reviewed by the county Board of Elections due to damage or other inconsistencies, which will be accounted for in an updated results report that will be released on Friday.
The approximately 75 ballots are drawn from the 93 total precincts in Blair County and are unlikely to change the outcome in any individual race from the already reported unofficial results, she said.
Seymour said that the overall turnout numbers are in line with previous municipal primary elections.
The slow turnout could be attributed to 2025 being an off year without a federal race drawing people to the polls.
Typically, marquee elections like presidential or senatorial contests help boost turnout for down-ballot races.
The slower pace allowed poll workers to get their required paperwork and ballots to the central county election office in Hollidaysburg without notable delay, she said.
All 93 precincts in the county had submitted their official results by about 10 p.m. on Tuesday, two hours after polls closed at 8 p.m.
According to the updated unofficial results, 28.39% of total eligible voters in Blair County cast ballots on Tuesday, which is within the 20-30% turnout range for similar primary elections in previous years, Seymour said.
Republican voters turned out at a higher rate than Democratic or nonpartisan voters, with turnout rates of 29.40%, 25.90% and 10.64%, respectively.
Blair County is among the deepest red counties in the commonwealth, reliably electing Republican candidates for state seats and won overwhelmingly by President Donald Trump in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 general elections.
Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.