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Low turnout in Camden County ahead of Super Tuesday

ST. MARYS, Ga. -- Super Tuesday is only eight days away, but early voters in Georgia are already heading to the polls.

ST. MARYS, Ga. -- Super Tuesday is only eight days away, but early voters in Georgia are already heading to the polls.

As voters enter and exit early voting locations across Camden County, county employees have been busy for weeks. But primary voter turnout has been exceptionally low.

From cities on the First Coast like Woodbine and St. Marys, election officials say registered voters in Camden county are split among Democrats and Republicans.

Almost 32,000 of the county's 50,000-plus residents are registered.

Camden County officials say they like to see voter turnout between 9-13 percent. So far this year, it's only about 1 percent. Officials say it's because there are still too many candidates in the race.

"They're not wanting to waste a vote, and they're wanting to see who has the stronger numbers so that when they place their vote, the person with more numbers will win the nominee," said Brigid White, Camden County Deputy Registrar.

Tim Pew of St. Marys is one of those still undecided. He has it narrowed down to two candidates: Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump.

"At first I was all for Trump, and then researched and I was like well Bernie Sanders might be that crazy guy we need to believe in," said Pew.

While St. Marys independent Jan Meriwhether wishes some other candidates stayed in the race, she says she's no longer undecided; she's voting for Hillary Clinton.

"I'm a strong feminist, I believe in a woman's right to choose and there's nobody on that side of the aisle that would represent my perspective," said Meriwhether.

County officials hope the upcoming GOP debate will help narrow down candidates and, in turn, increase numbers coming in to vote.

"They're waiting until the next debate in order to make their decision, so hopefully by the end of this week we'll have more voters turnout," said White.

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