Just over a third of Oakland County's registered voters cast ballots in the Tuesday, Aug. 4 primary election, a turnout rate that decided the fate of a school funding measure worth $781 per student annually to Farmington Public Schools.

County-wide turnout reached 35.16%, with 370,168 of 1,052,752 registered voters participating across all 405 precincts, according to Oakland County Clerk's Office data reported by Clarkston News. Those figures include in-person, early voting and absentee ballots.

Huntington Woods led all Oakland County communities at 64%, according to data compiled by analyst Kurt Metzger and published by the Oakland County Times on Thursday, Aug. 6.

Pontiac, Royal Oak Township and Hazel Park posted the lowest turnout despite each having additional local proposals on their ballots.

Millage fails by roughly 6,700 votes

The Oakland Schools Regional Enhancement Millage, which appeared on every ballot in the county, failed 51.01% to 48.99%. The margin: roughly 6,700 votes. Of 332,943 votes cast on the measure, 169,823 voted no and 163,120 voted yes.

The defeat means Farmington Public Schools will not receive the projected $781-per-student annual funding boost. The 1.5-mill levy would have cost homeowners $150 per year for every $100,000 of taxable property value over six years, according to CBS Detroit.

Oakland Schools Superintendent Kenneth Gutman said in a statement that the district respects the outcome and remains committed to supporting local schools.

Before the vote, Farmington Public Schools Superintendent Kelly Coffin told C&G Newspapers on July 24 that the funds would have supported after-school tutoring, manageable class sizes and career and technical education programs. "If approved, these funds would help Farmington Public Schools continue investing in people, programs and supports that have the greatest impact on student success," Coffin said at the time.

Local election changes

Farmington Hills City Clerk Carly Lindahl administered the primary across 23 precincts, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The City of Farmington, meanwhile, voted using a new three-precinct map, reduced from five after State Senate redistricting placed the city in Michigan Senate District 8.

Before Election Day, Oakland County had already received 173,463 early and absentee ballots as of Sunday, Aug. 2, representing 18.5% of active registered voters. Absentee ballots accounted for 155,068 of those; early in-person voters numbered 18,395.

Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown told MLive that primary turnout does not predict general election participation. The next major election for Farmington and Farmington Hills voters is the Tuesday, Nov. 3 general election.