Voter turnout in Tuesday's Republican primary was so low that one Albemarle County supervisor says the whole thing wasted taxpayers' money.
With low voter turnouts in Albemarle and Charlottesville, supervisor Chris Dumler says there is no need for taxpayers to have to shell out cash for primaries.
About 1.5 percent of active voters, which is a little more than 400 people in Charlottesville, participated in the primary. Albemarle saw a 5 percent turnout.
It cost Albemarle taxpayers $55,000 to host the Republican primary. It cost $25,000 in Charlottesville, which means each vote in the city cost taxpayers about $56.
"Taxpayers spend a lot of money to get results that we pretty much expected were going to happen anyway," said Dumler. "It's just a little disappointing I think that, you know, we have to shell out that much money for that stuff."
Dumler added it would be far superior for primaries to be put on as caucuses or conventions because they don't cost taxpayers a dime. He says it is fiscally irresponsible to hold a primary if there is already a clear leader in the race.
Across the state 5 percent of voters came out to Republican primaries, so it's not just Charlottesville and Albemarle that saw weak turnouts.
