Signs at the Randall County Annex | Photo by Noah Dawson

After a slow start, the number of ballots cast as of the end of the first week of early voting has now eclipsed the totals from this point in the 2021 local election.

In 2021, after the end of the first week of early voting, a total of 6,720 in person ballots had been cast between Potter and Randall Counties, while 8,952 had done so in this year’s election as of last Friday.

When we last reported on the turnout, in person early voting had been up slightly compared to 2021 numbers, though the number of ballots cast had actually been slightly down when adding in mail-in ballots. While there are still far fewer people voting by mail this year, the increase in in-person turnout has now overcome the decrease in mail in ballots. So far, as of Friday, a total of 9,707 ballots had been received, including both in person and mail in ballots. At that point in 2021, only 8,748 ballots had been cast across in person and mail in voters.

Early voting ends on Tuesday, May 2nd. Election day is Saturday, May 6th.