A record number of voters cast ballots in Warren County for the 2008 general election, according to updated results posted Thursday on the county’s Web site.

Unofficial results show 21,573 people voted either in person or absentee, or nearly 58.4 percent of the 36,957 listed by the Secretary of State’s Office as eligible to cast ballots. Included in the figures are 1,924 absentee ballots counted Wednesday and Thursday.

Turnout could grow further, as more than 200 affidavit ballots are outstanding and continue to be counted by the county election commission. Affidavit ballots filed at various precincts generally involve those who show up at the wrong precinct or have addresses that must be verified.

Official results will be certified by the commission and submitted to the state by Nov. 14. Unofficial results show more than 1.2 million of Mississippi’s 1.89 million registered voters cast votes Tuesday, breaking a previous record set four years ago. Nationally, independent estimates show about 64 percent of the electorate cast a vote, highest since 1960.

Three of the county’s five political districts have been completed, District 1 Commissioner Johnny Brewer said, adding tabulations might last into the weekend. 

This year’s overall turnout record is significant on two levels. A 6 percent bump in registrations seemed to be generated only by the candidacy of President-elect Obama. Also, no other high-profile local race beyond the usual rotation of offices or state referendum appeared on voters’ decision lists this time around.

The percentage of those who voted locally is higher than 2004 by just less than 2 points, but is a statistic that has been exceeded previously.

Highlighting that last cycle, besides a contentious presidential race and the usual rotation of congressional and local races, was that Mississippi was one of 11 states that considered and passed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Eight years earlier, 72 percent of Warren County’s voters showed up to decide not just federal races, but also a sheriff’s race where incumbent Martin Pace won his first full term. A down-ballot measure to impose a state lottery was approved by voters here and elsewhere, but not implemented statewide, in 1992 alongside a three-man presidential race. Votes on enhanced 911 service and the restructuring of county government accompanied the 1988 presidential vote.

Despite changes in the past decade to the state’s voter database and to the machines on which people vote, vote counts have taken longer to complete. The on-site system and all accompanying software is managed by personnel with Premier Election Systems, formerly Diebold Election Systems Inc., taking the practical components of vote-counting out of the hands of circuit clerk’s offices.

In 2005, Warren County supervisors voted unanimously to accept touch-screen voting machines purchased by the state. Intensive training to poll managers and workers ensued, along with a raise in their hourly pay that state lawmakers passed in 2007.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com.