Published: May 20, 2008 03:36 pm            

ELECTION: Kentucky primary with national focus off to smooth start

LOUISVILLE — For some voters, the war in Iraq drove them to the polls Tuesday. Others were compelled by the candidates in the first Kentucky presidential primary in decades to attract close national attention.

Election officials were predicting high turnout for a primary including Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate, a hotly contested western Kentucky congressional seat and a variety of local races.

Les Fugate, a spokesman for the Kentucky Secretary of State's office, described turnout as "steady, but not heavy" and predicted that Democratic primaries would see between 25 and 30 percent of registered voters.

That's up from the 2004 Democratic primary, when 18 percent turned out after Sen. John Kerry had clinched his party's nomination.

Charlie Pinkstaff, an 84-year-old retired state mine inspector, voted at Davies County High School in Owensboro for Sen. Hillary Clinton because his father always encouraged him to vote and he likes former President Bill Clinton.

"I just voted for Hillary because her husband did a real good job, I thought, when he was president," Pinkstaff said.

Peggy Stainback, a 62-year-old homemaker, voted for Clinton at Owensboro High School. She said she decided on Clinton even before Barack Obama entered the race, because of Clinton's positions on the Iraq war.

"She's been experienced and she knows what she's doing," Stainback said.

Bianca Osborne, a 46-year-old registered nurse, said the economy, the Iraq war, the environment and "George Bush's total stupidity" drove her vote for Clinton. She also worried that Obama isn't battle tested enough to make a good president.

"Obama does not have enough experience and his policies are unclear," Osborne said. "He gives a good speech, but as far as having any meat to him, nothing."

Scott Mendel, a 54-year-old Louisville firefighter who voted in downtown Louisville, said it was a hard decision, but she chose Obama.

"It's more about who you can trust and who can do a good job," Mendel said.

Stephanie Riggle, a 28-year-old kitchen designer in Lexington, said she voted for the first time to "vote against Hillary."

"I just didn't want to see Hillary get the nomination. I think she is a crook a little bit," she said.

Fugate said voting appeared to be going smoothly, with a few calls from people who could not vote because they changed their party affiliation after Dec. 31. Fugate said about 14,000 people who did that had been sent letters explaining the statute.

The only significant problem appeared to be in Jefferson County, where one precinct opened 30 minutes late and 30 people were affected.

A few voters also called about exit polling, in which pollsters ask voters after they exit precincts about how they voted. It's legal in Kentucky.

"This is the first time many Kentucky voters have seen exit polling and they're just unfamiliar with it," Fugate said.

Some voters across the state were receiving calls peddling a false rumor saying voters must participate in the primary to be eligible to vote in the general election in November, Fugate said.

The source of the calls couldn't be immediately traced. "It sounded coordinated to us," Fugate said.

        

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