Primay elections seldom draw big turnouts but this year's hotly-contested race for the Democratic nomination for governor was expected to bring out the voters.

Didn't happen.

In Virginia, just 6.3 percent of the eligible voters turned out: 318,842 out of 5,071,226.

In Floyd County, the turnout was even more dismal: Just 3.5 percent with 353 votes cast out of a possible 10,109,

While our county is considered more Republican than Democrat anyone can vote in a primary and members of one party sometimes vote in the other party's primary to try and affect the outcome. With a 6.3 percent turnout statewide and 3.5 percent here in Floyd County, that didn't happen.

At 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, the Little River precinct polling place at the Floyd County Rescue Squad Station 1 (above) was empty. Just 30 people had cast votes at that point. My wife voted more than hour later and the number was up to 40.

That's not just a low turnout: It's downright embarrassing.