Early voters are lining up around Wyoming, outpacing primary turnout – WyoFile

Early voting for the general election is on pace to easily eclipse the scant primary-election turnout in Wyoming’s most populous counties. 

Laramie County residents are even breaking early voting records. 

“It’s phenomenal,” County Clerk Debra Lee said. 

The primaries in August yielded the lowest statewide turnout since 2016. But now, Lee says, Laramie County residents are showing up in droves. More than 7,000 people had voted early in person there as of Monday, not including absentee ballots. The entire vote count for the primaries there was 18,554. 

Early voting has been popular in Campbell County, too. 

“It’s definitely busier than the primary was,” Election Coordinator Michelle Leiker said. 

And while the rather long ballot has resulted in the occasional wait for voters, Leiker said the re-registration process has been the primary cause of slow downs. 

“A lot of them missed the November 2022 election, and they didn’t respond back to the postcard that they received in the mail,” she said. “And so I had to purge about 8,000 people that were registered from the 2020 election.”

Campbell County started the year with about 12,000 registered voters, but that had already climbed to about 15,000 a week or two ago, Leiker said. That’s compared to 20,000 voters in 2020. 

Sheridan County purged about 4,000 voters after the 2022 election, according to Election Supervisor James Temple. As of Wednesday, about 1,000 came back to re-register. 

“So it has just been non-stop madness,” Temple said. “But so far, we’re holding our own. If we can just get through one more week, I think it’ll be a really good election.”

Lines and absentee ballots

In Albany County, early voting has attracted decently long lines, according to Election Coordinator Stacey Harvey, so get ready to wait if you show up during a high-traffic time of day.

“​​On a busy time, [it’s a] 20- to 30-minute wait, probably,” she said. “It’s been wild. It’s good, we like it.”

Beyond voting in person, Fremont County Clerk Julie Freese said absentee ballot data suggests they’re on track to eclipse absentee vote counts from 2016, but not the higher-turnout and absentee-heavy 2020 race. Primary numbers have already been eclipsed, she said. 

She added that voters are still requesting absentee ballots, but they should be mindful that the ballots must be back to county offices by 7 p.m. on Election Day. 

“We do still keep getting absentee requests, which is getting close to the time frame where it’s a little bit concerning,” Freese said on Monday. 

The U.S. Postal Service recommends locals send in ballots at least seven days before the deadline, giving absentee ballot holders less than a week to mail it back in, or two weeks to bring it to a drop-box. 

There’s been a bit of a slower start in Natrona County, Clerk Tracy Good said.

“I’m not gonna lie, last week, I was kind of like, ‘Where is everybody at?’” she said.

But it’s picking up this week, and she expects they’ll soon be processing around 800 people a day as the election nears. 

All election staff WyoFile talked with felt confident about the number of election judges and volunteers they’ve been able to attract for the general election, even if there are still a few vacancies and some more training to do. In Sheridan County, Temple said he even plans to keep some of the judges on the clock to help enter voter registrations into the state system the day after the election — something he says they have 30 days to do.

“We’re hoping we can have them done in as little as five to six days this time,” he said. 

To see what’s on your own ballot before heading to the polls, go to your local elections web page, or vote.org. To figure out where to cast your ballot, the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office has also launched a new polling place locator on its website.

WyoFile’s election guide covers races for U.S. Congress and the Wyoming Legislature, as well as judicial retention and the proposed constitutional amendment. 

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