More than three weeks still remain before the Nov. 5 general election, but records are already being shattered for early voting turnout around Wyoming.
Laramie County announced that turnout on Day On of early voting in Laramie County on Tuesday set a record, as 754 ballots were cast. According to Laramie County Clerk Debra Lee, the previous first-day record, set in 2020, was 313.
By Friday afternoon, the early voting line at the Laramie County Clerk’s Office was out the door. Lee told Cowboy State Daily that 2,672 ballots had been cast for the first week so far, also a record.
“This is good. There’s a lot of interest in this election for sure,” she said.
None of these totals include absentee ballots and only represent in-person early voting.
In Laramie County, 438 absentee ballots and 48 ballots sent to residents stationed overseas were returned as of Friday afternoon, slightly higher numbers from what was seen in 2020. That’s significant, considering a whopping 13,025 absentee ballots were sent out for the 2020 election, mostly as result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Platte County Clerk Malcolm Ervin said similar records were likely broken in his county for the first week of early voting.
As of Friday, Platte had 552 early ballots recorded. This compares to the roughly 2,000 ballots that were cast in his county through the entire 45-day early voting period in 2020.
Ervin said his staff anticipated a heavy early voting turnout this year because of changes in law that just went into effect, reducing the early voting period from 45 to 28 days for most voters.
Fremont County Clerk Julie Freese said she wasn’t sure if any records had been broken in her county, but early voting participation has been “steady” in her central Wyoming county, with 301 casting an early ballot so far.
Republicans and former President Donald Trump have made a concerted effort to promote early voting in this year’s election, even though Trump himself has also criticized it. Democrats have historically had success in encouraging early voting, which has helped them bank votes ahead of Election Day.
Earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman put out a video on social media reminding the voters that the polls are open and that “we need to take our country back.”
‘Get ’R Done’
State Rep. Clarence Styvar, R-Cheyenne, was one of the early voters Friday afternoon waiting to cast an early vote. When asked why he chose to vote early rather than vote on Election Day, Styvar responded to, “get ’r done.”
The overwhelming sentiment among people Cowboy State Daily spoke with was similar to Styvar, expressing a desire to get voting out of the way and done when they had free time to do it.
Michelle Blake said avoiding long lines on Election Day was a factor in her consideration to vote early.
“I don’t want to have to wait in the line too long,” she said.
One of these people was Cody Fife, who was voting in his first Wyoming election after moving to the Cowboy State from Alaska.
Fife said he hadn’t even planned to vote when he left the house that day, but realized the convenience of casting his vote early when stopping by the courthouse to register his vehicle in Wyoming.
When asked if he was knowledgeable about the candidates running, Fife responded that he’s “just as much as anyone else.”
Presidential elections tend to draw much larger turnout than non-presidential elections. The high-stakes race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris will likely be no different, with people from both parties seeing the result in fatalistic terms for the country.
Larger Trends
When it comes to absentee voting, which involves the county mailing a ballot out to voters who make a request for one and then those voters returning the ballot in-person or by mail, Murray said she doesn’t trust the process.
“I’d rather do in-person voting because of how the election went four years ago,” she said.
Andrea Aguiar feels differently, confidently voting by absentee ballot in the past. On Friday, she was casting her vote in person with her daughter in tow.
“Just to beat the crowd and make sure it’s done with,” Aguiar explained of why she came early. “Also, in case I get sick on Election Day.”
Aguiar and others expressed surprise by how many people were voting early.
All three clerks believe there has been slowly growing popularity for early voting over the last few election cycles. Although there was a major spike in 2020, Ervin pointed out that his county’s early voting numbers are on pace to beat what it saw in 2016.
“Some people are realizing that if life happens, something might happen on Election Day that makes them not able to vote,” Freese said. “Others don’t want to have to wait in the lines.”
Lee also believes the public has become more confident in early and absentee voting than in the past.
“Trust has increased,” she said. “As people become more familiar with it they realize it is a convenience for them. They’re assured their vote is cast and counted. It makes them confident.”
Freese doesn’t think confidence in these mechanisms of voting has increased and pointed out that there is still a solid cohort of voters who adamantly only vote on Election Day.
“We like giving a lot of options to make sure people feel confident in their vote,” she said.
Although none of these three county clerks promote voting early instead of voting on Election Day, Ervin and Lee admitted that the more people that do, the easier it makes work for their election staff on Nov. 5.
“It takes the burden off the vote centers,” Lee said.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
