Early Voting Counts Suggest Heavy Interest in Tuesday’s Election

Based on long lines and solid absentee vote counts, local county auditors say early voters have exceeded expectations for numbers of participants at this point.

In Burleigh County, by noon this past Friday, 6,685 absentee ballots were returned out of the 8,370 that were requested. Not to mention 6,536 early voters had turned in their ballots. These numbers are said to be more than anticipated, while similar increased results are expected in the remaining days before the election Tuesday. Burleigh County has roughly 85,796 eligible voters.

In contrast, for the 2012 election, 43,680 residents of Burleigh County voted, with 6,316 early votes counted, and 10,547 voted absentee.

Burleigh County auditors said the average wait time to vote this past Friday was 22 minutes.

In Morton County, early voting results were right on par with previous elections. County auditors counted 2,066 ballots returned out of 2,524 that were sent out, and 2,083 people had voted early as of 3 p.m. on Friday.

Monday's early voting polls will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at both the Burleigh City/County Building and Morton County Courthouse. Early voting concludes at 5 p.m. on Monday.

Source: Bismarck Tribune