While the overall turnout was low, voting for Tuesday's municipal elections was pretty smooth, according to Caldwell County board of elections officials.

Sandy Rich, director of the Caldwell Board of Elections, indicated that there were no major issues to deal with at any of the polling precincts.

"Everything at the polls was smooth," she said. "It was pretty much smooth sailing throughout the day."

Rich did say that the Board of Elections office fielded phone calls and questions throughout the day regarding the sheriff's race and why it was not listed on the ballot.

"There was a lot of confusion about the sheriff's race," she said. "A lot of people called about that race because they've been seeing signs for it for quite a while now."

The problem with that is the sheriff's race will not be on the ballot until 2010. In fact, the primary will not take place until May to determine the Republican candidate for the November 2010 general election.

Rich said the overall turnout for Tuesday's election was disappointing. Of 25,523 registered voters in the county only 3,457, or 13.54 percent, cast their ballots. And nearly 1,100 of those voted during the early voting period that lasted Oct. 15-31.

"I've always stressed that this election is just as important as the big elections," Rich said. "This is an opportunity to pick the people who run local governments. I just wish more people would come out and take an interest."

Rich said the election canvass will take place Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 11 a.m. The three-person elections board will count any provisional votes and certify the election results.

There were a number of close races Tuesday, and those provisionals could make the results even closer, opening the door for some possible recounts if candidates choose to have that done. Once the canvass is completed, any candidate who is within the necessary number of votes to request a recount will be contacted. Once contacted, they have until 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11 to ask for a recount in the race.