Although voter turnout in Tuesday’s elections was slim, the small numbers were expected, said DeKalb County Clerk Sharon Holmes.

Only 23.92 percent of the county’s 33,935 registered voters came out, casting a total of 8118 ballots. However, the number was higher than the 20 percent turnout Holmes expected.

“It’s more than I predicted. I’m happy with that, (but) I’d always like to see a big turnout,” Holmes said. “Our office goes through the same amount of work if 500 people vote or 30,000.”

In the same type of election four years ago, the county only produced a 17 percent turnout, Holmes said.

Still, the election and its steep number of no-shows was typical, especially in student-dominated wards.

In the 7th Ward, which contains Grant and Stevenson Towers and some apartment complexes, only 126 people turned out from a pool of 1,594 registered voters. In Precinct 9, a dismal 3.29 percent of voters cast ballots.

However, in the student-heavy Greek Row precinct, No. 14 in the 1st Ward, only six of 567 voters went to the polls, a feeble 1.06 percent.

But low student turnout is normal, Holmes said. “You can tell the students did some campaigning or turnout would have been lower,” she said. Also, most students keep ties to home and have little interest in local government, she said.

The election went “smoothly” for Holmes, the first since the departure of longtime County Clerk Terry Desmond in November.

Included in Holmes’ reform was an easier procedure for poll workers to drop off their vote boxes without having to wait for counts to be taken.