The Associated Press
11/20/02 6:06PM
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama voters set a record in the Nov. 5
election with the best turnout ever for an election for governor.
Secretary of State Jim Bennett, the state's top election official,
said 58 percent of Alabama's 2.3 million voters went to the polls,
breaking the old record of 57 percent set in the 1998 election for
governor. Alabama was far ahead of the national average, which was
38 percent, Bennett said. Bennett had predicted 53 percent turnout,
but he said the tight race for governor and a strong get-out-the-vote
effort by both sides sparked the bigger turnout.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, a Republican, was the top vote-getter
among candidates with 792,561 votes out of 1.36 million cast, but
the most votes in the election went to Amendment One with 882,066
affirmative votes. The constitutional amendment requires that a new
state constitution be approved by Alabama voters. During the election,
voters approved 29 of the 33 constitutional amendments that appeared
on ballots across the state. That means Alabama's constitution, which
already had more amendments than any other state, has now grown to
include 742 amendments, Bennett said.
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