With 11 days until 2024 Election Day, about 1-in-5 voters in Lancaster County have already cast their ballots.
Lancaster County Election Commissioner Todd Wiltgen tells KLIN News, of the 57,000 ballots his office has issued by-mail or in-person for early voting, 41,300 have been returned.
This means 20% of the county’s 204,596 registered voters have already cast ballots for their preferred federal and state office candidates, as well as on various ballot measures. 180,459 of those voter reside in the City of Lincoln, and 24,137 in rural Lancaster County.
“It’s been a steady here at the office with early voting in person,” said Wiltgen. “Today is also the last day for voters to update their voter registration in-person before the November 5th election. So we’ve had steady lines since 8 a.m. this morning and it will continue through 6 p.m. this evening, I’m sure.”
While these numbers might hint at promising turnout for 2024, they still fall notably short of the 2020 general election, when 87,316 early ballots were cast. Total voter turnout that year reached just over 78% of registered voters (158,801).
“I don’t know if we’re going to exceed that number just because in November of 2020, we were still dealing with the pandemic and health department restrictions, causing a lot more people to vote by mail,” Wiltgen added.
There are just minutes until the final in-person 2024 registration deadline — 6 p.m. in-person at the Election Office – 601 N. 46th Street.
All voters who are line by 6 p.m. will be able to register, Wiltgen says, regardless of how long it takes.