OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Election day is only three weeks away, and this year, Douglas County is expecting a low turnout at the polls with many voters opting to vote early either in person or by mail.
In a normal election year, about 30% of Douglas County voters would be voting early, while 70% would be going to the polls on Election Day. But of course, this is not a normal election year.
Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse says he expects those numbers to be reversed, with 70% of voters choosing an early voting option.
So far, 152,000 mail-in ballots have been requested; 66,000 ballots have been returned, though it's not usually through the mail.
"So that’s about 42% of the ballots that we’ve mailed out that we’ve gotten back in," Kruse said. "And of that 66,000 plus, about 85% of those have been returned by a dropbox.”
And those numbers continue to go up.
“Now we’re still getting in about 900 requests a day," Kruse said.
Mail-in ballots can be requested up until October 23 which is also the last day to register to vote. The ballots can be dropped into a dropbox up until 8 pm on Election Night. If you’re sending a ballot by mail, it's suggested you send it in at least a week early.
Voters can also cast their ballot early at the Election Commissioner's Office up until November 2, the day before election day.
This early, in-person voting began last Monday, and so far 1,800 ballots have been given out.
Come election day, polling places will likely seem much emptier than usual.
“I think it’s safe to say the majority of folks, more than half of the folks will definitely have voted early," Kruse said.
For more information on voting in Douglas County go to votedouglascounty.com or call 444-VOTE.