Record number of early voters in Bonneville County

Election day is tomorrow and there are some pretty big issues on ballots around the region. Bonneville County has already seen a record number of early and absentee voters.

“We’ve had a really high number for this type of election,” Brenda Prudent, Bonneville County Elections Supervisor, said. “Usually in an off year we don’t see this many people. We’ve had 1,480 walk-in voters. And we’ve mailed out 490 absentee ballots. As of now we’ve gotten 409 of those back, which is a very high percentage.”

Many of the issues on the ballot require a two-thirds majority vote to pass. One former state legislator believes there’s a big issue with a lack of voting.

“Voting is barely less important than your own heartbeat,” Linden Bateman, former Idaho state legislator, said. “A successful democratic government requires an engaged electorate. Unfortunately, participation in elections have gone down in recent years and that’s a sad thing. That means that fewer people actually control what is done with the actions taken by government.”

If you aren’t registered to vote, but wish to, you can still register at your polling location. You must have lived in your city or school district boundaries for 30 days prior to the election. The county elections office has one message for voters.

“It’s very, very important that people get out and vote,” Prudent said. “Every vote counts this elections.”

Polling locations open at 8 a.m. tomorrow.