CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Voters headed to the polls across the Charlotte area Tuesday for a run-off primary, but it was expected less that 5 percent of registered voters would actually cast ballots in this second primary.
At a precinct on Clanton Road, workers reported an average of one voter an hour.
"It's definitely a shame. We should all be concerned about what’s going on in our community and our county," said Natosha Jones, the lone voter in the precinct at noon.
On East Boulevard, a precinct was averaging four voters an hour. It's part of the contentious Congressional District 9 race, where Robert Pittenger and Jim Pendergraph were vying for Sue Myrick's seat.
The Congressional District 8 run-off primary became the most expensive U.S. House race in the country, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, which said $1.7 million in donations flowed into campaign coffers. One GOP official estimated that it could mean nearly $1000 was spent on each vote Tuesday.
And often, the few voters that head to the polls don't represent the rest of the constituency.
"You're probably getting that very intense partisan that's going to shift the electorate much more to the right or the left," said Dr. Michael Bitzer, political professor at Catawba College.
Tuesday's election was required by North Carolina law after the May primary didn't produce candidates with a plurality of votes, or 40 percent, in some races. Those races included a few statewide offices, state representatives and congressional seats.
It costs taxpayers an estimated $7 million, and requires all precincts across the state to open.
