Chilton County voters made sure their voices were heard on Election Day.

“Voters need to be proud of themselves, getting out like they did,” Probate Judge Bobby Martin said about the county’s 69.4 percent voter turnout. “That’s what elections are supposed to be about, exercising your right to vote. I think the people of the county need to applaud themselves.

“This election created a lot of interest. It was a great day.”

There were 17,589 ballots cast in the election, including absentees but not including provisional ballots. There are 25,346 registered, active voters in the county.

The statewide voter turnout was 62.6 percent, according to the best figures available Wednesday. Nationally, turnout is projected to be lower than it was for the 2008 General Election, when 131 million people cast ballots for president. More than 118 million cast votes on Tuesday, but that number will go up as more votes are counted.

Martin said the number of registered voters has increased by about 1,500 since the primary election in March.

The election results won’t be certified until Nov. 16. On that day, the canvassing board and the board of registrars will go through each provisional ballot to decide which ones count and which ones don’t.

Write-in votes and votes cast by overseas military personnel will also be tallied at that time.

The canvassing board includes Martin, Circuit Court Clerk Glenn McGriff and Chilton County Sheriff Kevin Davis.

Martin said there were more than 150 write-in votes that will have to be counted.

Chilton County voted along with the rest of the state on these contested races: for Spencer Bachus for U.S. representative, Roy Moore for chief justice of the state supreme court and Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh for president of the Public Service Commission.

Chilton County voted along with the state on all of the constitutional amendments on the ballot except Amendments 9 and 10.

Amendment 9 updates the state constitution’s 1901 article on corporations to reflect the many types of corporations that exist today. A majority of Chilton County voters voted “No” to the amendment, but it passed statewide, which was also the case with Amendment 10.

Amendment 10 rewrites the constitution’s 1901 article on banks to modernize the language, including removing the gold standard.