Lawrence resident John Pultz and his son Ian Pultz-Earle, 10, look in as the votes are counted by election workers Tuesday, April 7, 2009 at the Douglas County Courthouse.

After the final tally of election results flashed on the projector screen Tuesday in the Douglas County Courthouse, excitement soon died down when candidates and election watchers saw an ugly number.

Voter turnout: 13.9 percent.

“It is across the board with precincts,” Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew said.

Most precincts had turnouts that ranged in the teens or 20s, but Kansas University students didn’t participate.

“For the student population, there’s just not a big push to get them out to vote,” Shew said.

Shew’s office had been pessimistic about turnout as advance voting started slowly.