Buchanan County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey says the polling places have been “slam, busy.”

So far that hasn’t translated to larger turnout numbers. Her mid-morning count so far showed just 9% of voters had cast ballots by about 11am. But Baack-Garvey is standing by her earlier prediction of 40% turnout, largely because of the controversy surrounding the proposed smoking ban.

Voters are also selecting City Council and School Board members in Tuesday’s election.

The polls close at 7pm. Baack-Garvey says, barring complications, the counting should go fairly quickly Tuesday night.