(Spirit Lake)– There’s been a heavy turnout so far in Dickinson county when it comes to in-person absentee voting. County Auditor Lori Pedersen tells KUOO news that as of about 10:00 this (Fri.) morning, 5,429 people had cast ballots. She compares that to the last Presidential election in 2020…
“2020, everybody was encouraged to vote by mail so we greatly superseded the mailout votes in 2020 just because it was encouraged that way. In 2020 I think we mailed out probably about 5,000, I’m just saying off the top of my head, whereas this year probably 1,600. But in-person has totally superseded 2020 as far as in-person. In fact, in-person in 2020 the last day, this year the first day we had more voters than we did the last day in 2020 and normally that’s our heaviest day. I would say that we’re averaging every day probably between 300 and 325 people.”
Pedersen says the process has been going smoothly…
“I hired some temporary employees that have just been an asset to us and the program and I think all-in-all everybody would say it’s been a success. They’re knowledgeable people. You might have a little time delay and a wait in line but not more than probably 30 seconds to a minute, but like a tell everybody where do you go that you don’t have to wait? So I think it’s gone as smooth as can be.”
Monday at 4:30 pm is the deadline for in-person absentee voting. To help accommodate that, the Dickinson County Auditor’s Office will be open for early voting tomorrow, Saturday, from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm.
Pedersen also reminds those that have yet to return ballots received by mail that they have until the close of the polls on election day in which to do so.
