Voter turnout for the Republican Presidential Preference Primary was the lowest since the current system was established in 1980, according to Secretary of the State Denise Merrill.
Figures reported to Merrill's office show just 14.4 percent of eligible Republicans turned out for the Primary Tuesday. Mitt Romney easily won with 63 percent of the vote. Ron Paul finished a distant second, followed by Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. Santorum suspended his campaign a few weeks ago, but remained on the ballot.
The highest turnout for a Presidential Preference Primary was in 2008, when 51 percent of Democrats voted in a contest that included then-candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
The previous low for voter turnout was in 2004, when only 20 percent of Democrats cast ballots in the Primary. John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, Howard Dean and John Edwards were on the ballot in that contest.
