GALLIPOLIS — While local voter turnout topped just over 56 percent of the total registered voters in the county on Tuesday, average turnout throughout the state was just more than 68 percent, a number just shy of the 70 percent reported in the last two presidential election years.

According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s website, voter turnout in Gallia County was 56.04 percent. Of the 22,359 individuals registered to vote in the county, a total of 12,529 cast their ballots during Tuesday’s general election.

A total of 161 absentee ballots still remain outstanding, while 366 provisional ballots are also outstanding, according to unofficial results.

Voter turnout on Tuesday in Gallia County was slightly less than during the last presidential election in 2008 when turnout was 56.3 percent.

During the 2011 off-year general election, 39.73 percent of Gallia County’s voters turned out to vote on election day, this was at a rate less than the state average of 46 percent in 2011.

Throughout the state, boards of elections must begin their official canvass of the general election ballots no later than November 21 or 15 days after the election. They must complete their official canvass no later than November 27. Thereafter official elections results will be posted by election boards in each county.

Statewide, voter turnout was at 68.11 percent, according to the secretary of state. Of the over 7.9 million registered voters in the state, approximately 5.4 million voters in Ohio turned out on Tuesday.

Official reports on Wednesday indicated that 119,535 absentee and 205,672 provisional ballots remain outstanding in Ohio.

The county in Ohio that claimed the highest voter turnout on Tuesday was Highland County, located in the southwestern portion of the state. It posted an impressive 96.75 percent voter turnout rate. The next to highest numbers were claimed by Delaware County in the Columbus area at 77.18 percent and Putnam County in the northwest of the state at 77.16 percent.

A total of 61.02 percent of voters in Gallia County’s neighboring county, Meigs, also voted on Tuesday. Of the 16,710 voters registered in that county, a total of 10,197 cast their ballots.

Nationally, preliminary figures indicate that voter turnout rates are significantly less in most states when compared to the turnout records broken during the 2008 general election.

According to the Associated Press, an estimated 126 million Americans voted on Tuesday, for an overall turnout rate of 57.5 percent.

In most states, Tuesday’s voter turnout was lower than in 2004, and every state but Iowa showed a smaller turnout on Tuesday than in the 2008 presidential election.

Experts are citing the recent devastation left as a result of Hurricane Sandy for lower voter showing in the Eastern Seaboard states.

The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that approximately 12 percent fewer ballots were cast in the state of New York than in 2008, and, in New Jersey, that number was more than 10 percent.

Additionally, turnout in the approximately nine states that were considered “competitive” in this year’s presidential election, was, on average, a few points higher than in other states that the candidates largely ignored.