Absentee voting is off to a fast start in Lowndes and Oktibbeha counties.
More than 2,000 total absentee ballots have been cast ahead of Tuesday’s general election.
The presidential election, headlined by Democrat Hillary Clinton running against Republican Donald Trump, is driving higher numbers so far this year, though voters will also decide a few state races, such as the Mississippi Supreme Court, Mississippi Court of Appeals and U.S. House of Representatives, District 1.
Voters can cast absentee ballots in person in both counties until Saturday. The offices will remain open from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday. Both offices are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Deadline for completed mail-in absentee ballots arriving at the circuit clerks’ offices is Monday.
Lowndes County received 1,328 absentee ballots as of Tuesday morning, Circuit Clerk Teresa Barksdale said. The county has 46,092 registered voters.
Barksdale said her office has seen heavy in-person absentee voting in the last two weeks.
“It’s extremely busy because it is a presidential election,” Barksdale said. “There seems to be a heavier concern and turnout. We had an extreme turnout in 2008. I think it will be heavier this year.”
Sheryl Elmore, an election deputy clerk for the Oktibbeha County Circuit Clerk’s office, said absentee voting has ramped up as the election date approaches.
Elmore said she received 1,250 requests for absentee ballots and was still counting submitted ballots on Tuesday morning. Oktibbeha County has 27,824 registered voters.
So far, absentee voting is trending ahead of the 2012 presidential election, Elmore said.
Elmore added the office had received more requests than usual for mail-in absentees. She said the Oktibbeha office stopped filling those requests last week because the turnaround for voters to return them would push past Monday’s deadline.
Absentee voting by mail requires voters to request an application through the mail that must be completed, notarized and returned. Then the voter is mailed a ballot, which also must be notarized and returned.
“They have to be in the office by Monday,” Elmore said. “If it’s postmarked earlier but we don’t get it until Tuesday, it won’t count.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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