ST. LOUIS (AP) — Voters in a struggling southern Illinois county have rejected a ballot referendum meant to pressure the county’s governing board to restrict a debated oil drilling practice, leaving open the question of whether the measure failed because of confusion or the prevailing need for jobs.

With nearly half of the county’s registered voters casting ballots during spring primaries traditionally marked by low turnout, the measure involving hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, failed Tuesday by a 600-vote margin, Johnson County Clerk Robin Harper-Whitehead said.