Record absentee votes recorded

An extra pile of absentee ballots was almost a given at this year’s elections, thanks to the ongoing pandemic creating concern for those who are more vulnerable to COVID-19 to visit their polling station in person. The actual number of absentee ballots received for the primary elections, however, was record-breaking.

The number of absentee ballots requested for the primary was 908. Of those, 827 were then returned to be counted.

“That was a 91% turnout on our absentees,” says County Clerk Linda Fritz.

In 2016, the biggest elections in recent history for absentees, 602 absentee ballots...