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(Continued from page 31)
Gant predicts 50 percent turnout for primary
• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- South Dakota Secretary of State Jason Gant predicts a slightly above average turnout at the polls for the June 3 primary election.
• He expects about 40 percent of Republicans and 20 percent of Democrats to vote. He says interest in the candidates is the biggest driver on election days.
• A five-way race among Republicans for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Tim Johnson has garnered state-wide buzz. And a Democratic primary for the governor's race has attracted members of the minority party.
• Gant expects about 50 percent turnout overall.
• He was disappointed after the primary two years ago when about 21 percent voted. He says his office has taken steps to help voters preview their ballots and find their polling places online and through the Vote605 mobile app.
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AP News in Brief
Thousands of Syrians line up to vote in presidential election decried by opposition as sham
• DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- Waving photos of their leader and dancing with flags, thousands of Syrians pledged renewed allegiance to President Bashar Assad as they voted Tuesday in the country's presidential election decried by the opposition as a charade.
• Some stamped their ballots with blood after pricking their fingers with pins supplied by the government in a symbolic act of allegiance and patriotism. Others chose to vote in full sight of other voters and television cameras -- rather than go behind a partition curtain for privacy.
• Men and women wore lapel pins with Assad's picture and said re-electing him would give the Syrian leader more legitimacy to find a solution to the devastating three-year conflict that activists say has killed more than 160,000 people, about a third of whom were civilians.
• The balloting is only taking place in government-controlled areas and Assad's win -- all but a foregone conclusion -- would give him a third seven-year term in office, tighten his hold on power and likely further strengthen his determination to crush the insurgency against his rule.
• The opposition's Western and regional allies, including the U.S., Britain, France, (Continued on page 33)
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