With a turnout of registered voters that shames Americans' lackluster penchant for going to the polls, residents of France on Sunday elected Nicolas Sarkozy as their new president.

Amazingly, from the standpoint of American voters' routinely anemic election interest, even the turnout of nearly 85 percent in Sunday's French presidential balloting wasn't a turnout record.

Actually, it was 2 percentage points shy of the record.

Which leads to the question: How much interest will there be in next Tuesday's primary elections in Butler County — indeed, across Pennsylvania? Hopefully, Butler County's turnout will greatly surpass the 2002 primary balloting's 22 percent turnout. The May 2005 primaries weren't much better, with barely one in four eligible voters going to the polls.

Across the state, since 1960, the year John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States, 50 percent primary election turnouts have been the exception rather than the rule.

For example, in 1998, a gubernatorial election year, only 15.68 percent of registered voters turned out, while two years later, a presidential election year, the turnout was a dismal 19.83 percent.

In some Third World countries, people risk their lives to go to the polls.

In Butler County and across Pennsylvania, free rides are provided to voters who do not have transportation to the polls, yet many refuse them and stay home.

In France on Sunday, Sarkozy captured 53 percent of the vote to beat his Socialist opponent. With such a high voter turnout, the presidential election was seen as a mandate for his bold plans on such matters as free-market reforms.

National and stateswide races won't be on center stage in Tuesday's primary election in Butler County and Pennsylvania. However, there will be contests of interest, such as selection of party nominees for Butler County commissioner.

Meanwhile, ballots will include referendum questions dealing with proposed Act 1 taxation changes in the various school districts, licenses for the sale of malt and brewed beverages in Harrisville Borough, and issuance of licenses to conduct small games of chance in Portersville Borough.

It will be an election that should not be ignored.

Voters should keep in mind that the candidates and issues on next week's ballots are closest to their everyday lives, and their importance should not be trivialized by a low turnout.

The goal in the minds of all registered voters here and across the Keystone State should be to make France's turnout on Sunday look small.