With the national outcome decided and many voters staying away,Lincoln County poll workers used Tuesday’s Democratic presidentialprimary to catch up on some reading or old times with friends.

“It was slow, very, very slow,” said Bogue Chitto Poll ManagerChris King Tuesday night after turning in the precinct’s ballot boxat the government complex.

U.S. Sen. John Kerry, who has already claimed the Democraticparty’s presidential nomination, lead Lincoln County balloting with630 votes, or 74 percent. U.S. Sen. John Edwards, who dropped outof the race last week, was second with 77 votes.

With 58,927 votes, Kerry claimed 78 percent of the statewidetotal.

In Lincoln County, only 868 of almost 25,000 registered voterswent to the polls Tuesday. That represented a turnout ofapproximately 3 percent.

“I was very disappointed, especially with the amount of moneythe county has spent on this election,” said Lincoln County CircuitClerk Terry Lynn Watkins about turnout.

Watkins did not have an estimate Tuesday night on how the muchthe election cost.

With such a light turnout, poll workers were left to somehowfill the hours between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. when polls were open.

“I brought a good book with me,” King said.

Twenty-eight people voted Tuesday at Bogue Chitto.

“We definitely could handle it,” King said.

The situation was similar at Johnson Grove, where 27 peoplevoted Tuesday.

“We just visited,” said poll worker Marlene Rushing. “I broughtsome books, but I never opened them.”

According to precincts’ voter participation totals, Old Red Starhad the lowest turnout Tuesday with three voters. Fair River wasnext with only four voters.

“Three of those were probably poll workers,” Watkins quippedTuesday night as she ran the ballots through the vote-scanningmachine.

Heuck’s Retreat, with eight, and Zetus, with nine, also hadsingle-digit voter turnout Tuesday.

Brignall, traditionally a heavy Democratic precinct, had thehighest voter total Tuesday with 70. Vote-counting was completedTuesday by around 7:45 p.m.

With the party nomination secure, Kerry is preparing for theNovember general election where he will face incumbent PresidentGeorge W. Bush. Election officials predicted much more voterinterest in the November.

“I’m sure it’ll be a lot different in November,” King said.

Watkins agreed.

“Presidential elections normally bring people out,” she said. “Ithink we’ll see a big difference in November.”