More number crunching

In his post, Blake also looks at African-American turnout, and I think he's more or less right that the turnout in Athens-Clarke County might be lower than other higher rates in other parts of the state.

However, it is important to note - comparing this year's results to 2004's - that turnout of registered voters was down in every precinct in Athens-Clarke County except in 2A, 2B, 3A and 3B. In those precincts we saw increases of 1 percent, 3.5 percent, 3.4 percent and 2.5 percent respectively. Turnout in the remaining precincts fell by similar numbers across the community.

Since those are four predominantly African-American precincts, it's worth noting that their turnout comprised 12.8 percent of the total Athens-Clarke County electorate in 2008, compared to 11.5 percent in 2004. The turnout may not have been a historical high, but it was considerably higher than in previous years ... particularly when contrasted with lower turnout rates in other precincts.