Community | November 04, 2008 | 39 comments

Election officials estimate that, all told, turnout rate could hit as high as 95%

source: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/11/04/news/wyoming/30-turnoutrate.txt

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CODY - When Park County voters head to the polls today, the lines may be shorter than many expect. That's because more than one in four registered voters has already cast absentee ballots, either by mail or by voting in person.

Park County Clerk Kelly Jensen said that, as of Monday morning, 3,825 of the county's 14,800 registered voters, or 26 percent, had voted, and she expected that number to reach as high as 30 percent.

She said final voter turnout today may reach as high as 95 percent.

More than 23 percent of Wyoming's registered voters have cast absentee ballots in advance of today's election.

The Secretary of State's Office said Monday that election officials had received about 57,000 absentee ballots statewide.

Secretary of State Max Maxfield said the absentee voting rate indicates that turnout will be high on election day.

The absentee votes included more than 34,000 ballots from registered Republicans, more than 16,250 from registered Democrats and nearly 7,000 from unaffiliated voters.

Registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats in Wyoming by a margin of 2.3 to 1. As of Monday, about 23 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of Democrats had voted absentee.

About 17,700 of the absentee voters were ages 18 to 24.

Wyoming doesn't formally promote a specific early voting period like other states, but voters don't have to give a reason to request an absentee ballot by mail. And since Sept. 25, voters have also been able to fill out and submit absentee ballots in person at the Park County Courthouse.

Jensen said the pace of in-person absentee voting has picked up as election day has drawn closer. She said in-person absentee voting Monday was "insane," requiring extra voting booths to be set up in a hallway to handle the overflow.

"I believe there has been so much media attention focused on the concept of early voting, that it never dawned on many people here in the past. But now, there's suddenly this nationwide push," Jensen said.

"Absentee voting has traditionally been done by mail, but now with this national focus on early voting, word is making the rounds here and it's catching on," she said.

Jensen said the crush of early voters has threatened to overwhelm the county elections office, with a handful of clerks working to accommodate hundreds of voters from diverse precincts requiring dozens of different ballots.

"The irony is that it's been so popular to vote early that the lines here, even though they've been only a few minutes, are likely to be longer than on Election Day," she said.

"But there is incredible excitement about this election, and it's fun to be a part of it," Jensen said.

Former U.S. senator Alan K. Simpson spoke Monday on behalf of Republican congressional candidates John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis when the two made a last-minute campaign stop at Park County Republican headquarters in Cody.

He urged the crowd to "get out and vote," adding that, after nearly two years of campaigning, many contests would hinge on which candidate did a better job of getting voters to the polls.

"This campaign has been the most confusing and bizarre one in my lifetime," Simpson said of the presidential contest.

"But I don't think it's particularly nasty," he said. "Nasty is like when my father was campaigning in 1940 in Sweetwater County and they turned his car over - just flipped it right over."

The long presidential campaign has confounded pundits and often played against expectations, and it has "left America exhausted," Simpson said, noting the seemingly endless polls making headlines in the final days.
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39 comments // Election officials estimate that, all told, turnout rate could hit as high as 95%

  • santana01
  • metalcookiesxy70
  • damnneargenius
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • Hmm, would be interesting to see statistics on how many are actually voting based on principle and knowing policy as opposed to voting for a media perception.

    • 3 years ago
  • Pwdrskir
    • 0
      Pwdrskir  

    • Reminds me of a quote:

      "Fate gives us the hand, and we play the cards."
      -Arthur Schopenhauer

      Royal Flush on the Republicans...

      Enjoy today, it will be studied 500 years from now.

    • 3 years ago
  • bluestranger
    • 0
      bluestranger  

    • This best news that Ive heard in a while. It would be even better if every one voted for the candidate of my choice. This is not going to happen. What will happen is that a message will be sent to our public servants. Whatever your political persuasion, this is still the government of a free people. You are not the the government, you are a public servant.

    • 3 years ago
  • bedeboop
  • bedeboop
    • 0
      bedeboop  

    • I live in a small town. Voted this morning. Gotta do my part for Obama to win.

      113 registered voters in town.

      55 had voted by 11:30am (MST)

      Influx will be most likely from 5pm to 7pm according to Election Judges.

      So....I have my fingers crossed all will show up and vote.

      From past experience here, everyone firmly believes in voting and does so. They take nothing for granted here.

    • 3 years ago
  • Blazesboy
  • bedeboop
  • Blazesboy
    • 0
      Blazesboy  
    • Blazesboy:

      Actually, the headline is very broad and doesn't mention Wyoming - but the text you clipped is talking about Wyoming, of course. However, it seems clear that many of the other users commenting here understood the headline to be referring to the entire US - my comment was addressed to them.

    • 3 years ago
  • bluestranger
    • 0
      bluestranger  
    • Blazesboy:

      Blazeboy, are you the guy that brings the fire extinguisher to the weiny roast. C'mon Dude, lighten up. The glass could actually be half full. It's been a long time since this country was motivated enough to generate this kind of turn out. Peace.

    • 3 years ago
  • Blazesboy
    • 0
      Blazesboy  
    • Blazesboy:

      Ha, sorry - didn't mean to extinguish your wieners. It's just that the modern US has ... never ... had a higher voter turnout than 65% of those eligible to vote. I mean, think about that for a minute.

      While it's great that certain places are going to have a higher turnout, and the national turnout ought to be one of the biggest we've seen in ages (one would like to think!), no one should hope for a 95% turnout because that's simply not realistic. Better to be thrilled if we get to 60%!

    • 3 years ago
  • bedeboop
    • 0
      bedeboop  
    • Blazesboy:

      It's ok..tired. I apologize.

      I am proud to say this:

      Where I live, out of 113 voters, 105 voted. 8 did not show up. (No idea why) But, that is about 95% is it not? Hopefully indicative or more to come! I sincerely hope. :)

    • 3 years ago
  • arcticspirit
    • 0
      arcticspirit  

    • That is BEAUTIFUL! Truly. I cannot imagine a better America, than one who actually participates in government.

      I do believe they should hold the voting information until all voting is completed. It just seems wrong to be leaking the information.

    • 3 years ago
  • CalgarC
  • justright
  • Ayahuasca2012
  • sueathome
    • 0
      sueathome  

    • I was one of the early voters in Wyoming. Telling everyone I see today to make sure to get over and vote. If they knew what hope and change is about to occur they would run to vote. OBAMA 08!

    • 3 years ago
  • bedeboop
  • JanforGore
  • alicynx
    • 0
      alicynx  
    • Image

    • Awesome local happenings in Portland, Oregon on Election Day - I'm sure you don't need to look far to find what's happening in your neck of the woods. Go out and celebrate! No more buzzwords like socialist, maverick, "Joe the Plumber" etc etc! I'm hoping to toss back a pint while watching the election coverage on a big screen while my kids can be a part of the action as well - we have a ton of family-friendly options in our town, and my children will be able to witness history. They'll be able to tell their grandchildren where they were the night Obama won the White House (I hope I hope I hope!)...

    • 3 years ago
  • arcticspirit
  • justright
    • 0
      justright  

    • I hope so, not only will people vote, but it will create new jobs because they will have to hire thousands of new poll workers.

    • 3 years ago
  • Ayahuasca2012
    • 0
      Ayahuasca2012  

    • Anyone else think we will have major problems if we do get that good of turn out?

      If they mess things up when we have a low turnout I can't imagine what will happen with a high turnout.

      Ooops... too many hanging chads... just throw them all in the McCain pile guys!

      The only other scary thought is that generally the mass public knows little to nothing about candidates or initiatives. I really don't want boneheads messing up important local and state issues. If you don't know what it is, "DON'T vote on it!". You could do way more harm than good.

    • 3 years ago
  • Brockie
    • 0
      Brockie  
    • Image

    • I was out at my polling place (upstate New York) before 7:00am this morning. There was one person ahead of me. I was in and out within 10 minutes. I dont live in a big city so there wasnt any long lines here.

    • 3 years ago
  • jonny2times
  • Jacques_of_Spades
  • bedeboop
  • nkbe
  • bedeboop
  • 2muchinfo
  • nkbe
    • 0
      nkbe  

    • I think everyone in my precinct was out at 6:30 Am EDT in Maryland. I got there and there were at least 100 people in front of me and more and more arriving. Once poll opened at 7 AM, the line moved quickly. I was finished by 7:45 AM. The lines then were about a quarter mile long. Starbucks is giving free coffee to those who come in with I voted sticker. GO VOTE. DO IT NOW! I will be posting my very first video on youtube on the vote and on my blog at www.ericksonblog.com/blog

    • 3 years ago
  • bedeboop
  • Brandbla8
  • J_Jammer
  • bedeboop
  • joshuaheller
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