Primary Election Ballots On Their Way To Dawes County Voters
CHADRON - Dawes County Clerk Cheryl Feist mailed out the ballots for next month's primary election Wednesday and says everyone should have them by Friday. Dawes County has conducted all its elections by mail-in ballots for several years, eliminating the need for voters to apply for absentee ballots.
Prepaid return envelopes are included with the ballots, but voters can also put them in the drop-box at the east entrance of the courthouse in Chadron or - if coronavirus limits are lifted in time - deliver them in person to the clerk's office.
Secretary of State Bob Evnen says Nebraska could have a record number of ballots casts because of the virus. Evnen and other officials have been urging voters to request mail-in ballots for safety and, as of last Friday, some 340,000 requests had been received.
Added to the roughly 50,000 voters in mail-in only counties, that means 390,000 voters if all ballots are returned - within 24,000 of Nebraska's record turnout for a primary of 413,015 in 1972 with thousands more voters expected to go to local polling places as usual.
Requests for mail-in ballots can still be made to county election officials as long as they are received by May 1st.