When all the ballots were cast and counted, almost 48 percent of Natchez voters had turned out to vote in Tuesday’s Democratic primary — and to Paul O’Malley, that’s a victory in itself.

&uot;I’m happy we had the turnout we had,&uot;&160;said O’Malley, who organized a grassroots citizens’ group that has been working since January to turn out the vote in Natchez.

In all, 5,784 ballots were cast in Tuesday’s election, or 47.71 percent of all voters, according to figures from the City Clerk’s Office.

That is down from four years ago, when 7,382 people, or 66.52 percent of all registered voters, cast their ballots.

&uot;I was surprised,&uot; City Clerk Frances Trosclair said of Tuesday’s turnout.

&uot;I would have predicted (that) because of the interest in the race, there would be more people voting,&uot;&160;she said. &uot;There are more registered voters now than there were four years ago.&uot;

There are now 12,124 registered voters in Natchez, compared with 11,098 four years ago.

Regardless, O’Malley’s group of more than 150 citizens worked to get people to the polls by encouraging more people to vote absentee and reaching voters by telephone and in person.

&uot;A great deal of praise should go to the grassroots group that worked for many months to get people to exercise their right to vote,&uot; O’Malley said.

The group also communicated with groups such as the City Clerk’s Office and local media to get the word out about the importance of voting.

&uot;And The Democrat did a superb job in giving in-depth information on each candidate to help people make their (voting) decision,&uot;&160;O’Malley said.

This election, he added, is not the end of the road for his get-out-the-vote organization.

With contests like the upcoming mayoral runoff and national elections on the horizon, he said, &uot;we just plan to keep working.&uot;

Getting out the vote is important because it helps insure representative government, Trosclair said.

&uot;Then you have more people deciding who they want to lead them,&uot; she said.