Advance voting numbers up in Riley, Pottawatomie counties

As voters head to the polls Tuesday, local election officials are hoping a good advanced voting turnout this election season also translates to a high volume of voters at the polls for Election Day.

Riley County Clerk Rich Vargo says the number of advanced voters this election cycle has been nearing historic levels. While official numbers won’t be known until all mail-in ballots are received this Friday, Vargo says they easily have surpassed more than 8,000 advance votes this year.

To put that in perspective, in 2016 a total of 9,111 advance votes were tallied, including mail ballots. Overall turnout that year was 65 percent. In the 2014 midterms, Riley County’s advance voting total was 4,582 and overall election turnout was at 46 percent.  Vargo says he believes the interest in this election should push overall voter turnout close to 60 percent, if not higher. He says there are still many mail ballots to be collected.

Pottawatomie County Clerk Nancy McCarter says advanced voting ended at noon Monday with roughly 13 percent of the county’s electorate casting their ballots.

Two years ago, during the presidential election, McCarter says 17 percent turned out to vote early. She expects more advanced voting opportunities to continue for future elections and says turnout has also been good for Saturday advance voting.

Polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. News Radio KMAN will have full election night results Tuesday with Dave Lewis and Brandon Peoples anchoring coverage as soon as polls close.