Why Did You Vote Tuesday? Or Why Didn't You?

What was it that kept voters from the polls Tuesday?

The number of registered voters who came out to cast their ballots yesterday hovered at around 20 percent for both Allegheny and Washington counties.

The dry and typically spring weather can't be blamed for the light voter turnout.

So was it apathy? Being disenfranchised with the slate of candidates? Convinced it wasn't worth effort since Romney and Obama were 'going to win' the party nomination anyhow? Not worried about federal and state legislative offices? Unhappy with the tone of politics?

In Allegheny County, which has 888,686 registered voters, a mere 19.34 percent turned out to cast their ballots, according to the county's Division of Elections website. Of those 171,916 voters, 37.26 percent were Republicans, 62.69 were Democrats and .05 percent were nonpartisan voters.

But a higher percentage of registered Republicans turned out to vote compared to registered Democrats. According to unofficial results, 26.37 percent of registered Republicans voted, but only 19.9 percent of Democrats cast their ballots Tuesday.

In 2008, when the last presidential primary was held, voter turnout was 41.51 percent, more than double the percentage voting Tuesday.

Results for Washington County were similar. Only 20.72 percent of the 139,738 registered voters went to the polls yesterday—a mere 28,959 residents, according to the county election office staff.

But the office's website archives show in the last presidential primary, 56,389 of 134,152 registered voters turned out, roughly double the number at 42.03 percent.

Did you vote yesterday? Tell us why you went to the polls in the comments section below.

If you didn't vote, tell us that, too. We're interested in finding out your reasons. And do you plan to vote in November?