VALENTINE, Neb. -- Statewide voter turnout in this week’s Nebraska primary election hovered around 27%. However, several counties saw significantly higher levels of participation, including Cherry County where 60% of voters participated.

"I believe that it is because of the fact that we vote by mail," said Cherry County Election Commissioner Brittny Longcor.

The county saw the second highest participation in Nebraska. First was Garden County with almost 62%.

"In the top 10 for voter turnout, most of those counties vote by mail," said Longcor. 

Cherry County has historically had fairly high voter participation. This week’s turnout was actually 11% lower than the Presidential primary four years ago but 3% higher than the Gubernatorial primary two years ago.