Precinct reports released by the Coles County Clerk and Recorder office report about 22 percent of students who registered to vote actually did in the Feb. 5 primary election.

In the Bridge Lounge of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union, 196 of the registered 883 voters voted at precincts 16 and 17.

At the Newman Catholic Center, 500 Roosevelt Ave., 48 percent of voters showed up to the polls.

Voters in Lincoln, Stevenson and Douglas halls voted at Precinct 15, where votes were cast at the center as well as residential areas in the center.

The majority of voters in the three precincts voted in the Democratic primary, and Sen. Barack Obama overwhelmingly won in each of the precincts.

In the Bridge Lounge precincts, Obama won more than 80 percent of the vote in each of the precincts.

Sen. Hillary Clinton took second place in each of the precincts.

About 40 voters chose a Republican ballot in the union precincts, with Sen. John McCain winning the precincts, followed by Rep. Ron Paul.

At the Newman Catholic Center, McCain took about 48 percent of the vote followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Romney and Huckabee took about 30 percent and 19 percent of the vote, respectively.

About 135 people voted in the Republican primary at Precinct 15.

Coles County Clerk Sue Rennels said in the 2004 Presidential Primary Election, more than 1,000 students were registered to vote, but only 10 ballots were cast.

The 2004 primary was held March 16.

The primary was moved up to the first Tuesday of the month last year.

In regards to 30 voter registrations received the day before the election, Rennels said there were no reports from the precincts of someone voting without being registered.

The voter registration deadline was Jan. 8, with a grace period until Jan. 22.

The registrations were sent through the mail. Even though all the registrations were signed in November, they could not be processed because they were received after the deadline.

Overall turnout in Coles County was 35.29 percent of the 28,826 registered voters.

This is up from 13.6 percent in 2004 and 17.9 percent in 2000.

In Illinois, overall turnout in 2004 was 29 percent; in 2000, it was 25.9 percent.

Matt Hopf can be reached at 581-7945 or at mthopf@eiu.edu.