JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri held its presidential primary Frb. 3. According to Secretary of State Matt Blunt, the number of Missourians who turned out to vote was only 23 percent.

Only 543,708 Missourians voted. President George W. Bush received 95.1 percent of the votes in the state. Of the 5,326 people that voted in Jasper County, 1,623 voted for the current president.

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) received 1,827 votes in the county, 26.3 percent of the total state votes.

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean came in second with 292 votes, 8.2 percent of the total.

Missouri native Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo) received 55 votes, accounting for only 1.5 percent of the state vote.

Local politicians blamed the low turnout on the number of Republican voters in Southwest Missouri. Since Bush has the Republican nomination it was not as important to vote in the primary. There were a few who crossed party lines, voting for the biggest threat to the opposition.

“I’m actually surprised that many people voted,” said Rep. Steve Hunter (R-Joplin) . “I voted absentee last week.”

“Wow, that many people voted,” said Rep. Bryan P. Stevenson (R-Webb City). “I only expected about 15 percent.”