County Clerk Stays Busy Before Election Day

A steady stream of absentee voters has been cruising through the Natrona County Clerk's office to cast their ballots before the general election on Tuesday.

"It's really picked up this week in absentee voting," County Clerk Renea Vitto said Friday.

"Yesterday was extremely steady, and today is looking like the same, so we expect probably 200 people to come in today with the mail, and probably that many if not more on Monday," Vitto said.

Her office has sent out about 3,500 absentee ballots, and about 2,900 have come back, she said.

Usually, a large number of absentee ballots indicates a high turnout at the polls, but that didn't happen with the Aug. 19 primary, Vitto said.

This year's ballot is larger than usual with the U.S. Senate, U.S. House Representative, Governor and other statewide contests, municipal, and county commission and other countywide races.

But it's still an off year compared to election years with presidential contests, Vitto said. "They (the voters) wait and just vote for the president."

Yet each vote counts that much more in the cases of some races, such as the governor's race with Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, independent and write-in candidates, she said.

"When you have that many candidates, it splits the vote," Vitto said. "It's that much more important for everyone does turn out to vote for the person of their choice."

Such a split could result in a close race and a recount. In the Aug. 19 primary, the third- and fourth-highest county commission candidates were within 1 percent of each other, which triggered a countywide recount.

Tuesday, the polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

For more information, including information for where to vote, go to natronacounty-wy.gov click on the links and enter your address and you will see the address of your polling place and even show a sample ballot. Voters also can call the clerk's office at 235-9206.