NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) – Early voting turnout is outpacing other election years in Lincoln County. County Clerk Becky Rossell said the area has already surpassed its previous record.

“In 2008 and 2012, we had about 4,000 early voters, so this time we have surpassed that number by almost 1,000. It’s been a while since we’ve had such a large turnout,” Rossell said.

About 5,200 people have cast their ballots earlier this year, 2,000 of them in person. More than 3,000 ballots were mailed out, the county is still waiting for about 580 to return. Rossell suspects the county’s results will finish being counted around midnight on election night.

“We’re going to have more votes to count, which is good. Our goal is to try to update every 60 to 90 minutes, so you know where we are. All of the early voting ballots will, for the most part, be counted before I release the results at 8 p.m., those will be the early voting numbers,” Rossell said.

Rossell wants to remind voters how important it is to be informed about the initiatives they are voting on.

“One thing for Election Day for those people going to the polls, there are a lot of initiatives on the ballot this time, make sure you read them ahead of time. We have noticed that many people, even those sent by mail, have voided the ballots this time because they are not reading them correctly and then want to go back and change them. So as for the initiatives, make sure you read them before you go to the polls on Election Day,” Rossell said.

Stay with News 2 on Election Day next week for all the election updates.

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