Early voter turnout looking good in Bannock County
Elections are only three weeks away. With talk that this presidential elections, some people will not vote at all, how many people are already hitting the polls?
According to the Bannock County elections office, in the three and half weeks it’s been open for early voting, it’s already received more than 2,000 votes.
The elections office said it expects that number to continue to increase.
Julie Hancock, Bannock County elections administrator, said they are still getting several requests for mail-in ballots.
“We’re currently mailing out anywhere between 60 and 100 ballots a day,” Hancock said.
Hancock said so far, Bannock County has mailed out 1,200 requests for absentee ballots. They’ve gotten 487 back as of Wednesday.
Hancock said between returned ballots and walk-in voters, they’re seeing an average of about 200 votes per day.
“It’s been great,” she said. “It’s been a large turnout, we’re really excited to see that. We’ve seen more people in the last couple of weeks than we have in the last couple elections I think.”
In the 2012 Presidential general election, the county received a total of 7,700 early votes. With 2,100 already in for this election, Hancock said she expects to see higher overall numbers in this election.
“I feel like we’re busier earlier than we were in 2012,” Hancock said. “Which means if we get busier, we’re going to surpass those numbers that we saw in 2012 and I believe that we’ll see that trend.”
Voters have until Oct. 28 to request a mail-in ballot. The elections office will also be open through Nov. 4 for early walk-in voters.
Bannock County elections wants to remind voters that they have a new voting location. The office is no longer inside the courthouse, it’s right behind it in what used to be the old jail. So make sure you’re going to the office, located on 6th Ave, to vote.
For more voting information, or to find out your precinct, you can go to the county’s elections website. Hancock said you can also call the elections office with questions at 208-236-7333 or 208-236-7329.
