With less than two weeks to go before the June primary, some North Dakotans are taking advantage of early voting options – such as absentee ballots.
The primary will be held June 14th.
Secretary of State Al Jaeger said as of Thursday, June 2nd, 17,454 people have cast absentee ballots.
"The requests for absentee ballots numbered almost 37,000," Jaeger said. "We have a fairly good return."
Jaeger says some counties are conducting “ballot by mail,” and some counties are offering early voting precincts.
"They'll be starting that fairly soon, about a week before primary election day," Jaeger said.
Burleigh County auditor Kevin Glatt says the number of people who so far have voted absentee in his county has been about average.
"In 2014, we received 644 absentee ballots," Glatt said. "So fat this year, we've had 850. In 2012, if you remember, we had Measure 2, the property tax measure, and the 'Fighting Sioux' measure. That was an all-time record turnout for a primary in Burleigh County, with 3,363 absentee ballot requests. In 2010, there were 1,451. So, this is average for a primary."
An early voting precinct will open Tuesday at noon. Glatt says this is the third election cycle where the county has had such a precinct.
As for overall primary turnout – Glatt says we’ll see. He says that’s predicated by what’s on the ballot.
"I go back to 2012, with Measure 2 and the Fighting Sioux.," Glatt said. "We had 24,871 ballots cast in Burleigh County. In 2014, we had 9,239 ballots cast."
Jaeger says while the Republican Governor primary race is getting some attention, as is the measure on corporate farming, there’s another reason for people to get out and vote in the primary.
"It is the general election for cities, and for many school districts," Jaeger said. "Regardless of the statewide contests, it's really important for citizens to participate in the elections for offices closest to them."
More information on early voting can be found on the Secretary of State’s Web site.
