Advance voting this year more than twice the usual turnout

By Roger Sims, rsims@linncountyjournal.com

Update: When Linn County Clerk David Lamb posted the initial results of voting just after 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5, all of those results came from advance or mail-in ballots. The total: 1,691 ballots were cast before election day or were received by mail. Of those votes, 1,352 voted for Donald Trump and 320 voted for Kamala Harris, further confirming reports that state Republican Party had been urging Trump supporters to vote early.

MOUND CITY – Three times on Saturday, Nov. 2, the lines of voters stretched out of the county clerk's office and into the hallway of the Linn County Courthouse. The county residents were there on the final Saturday before the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5, to cast advanced ballots.

In an interview with County Clerk David Lamb just before the office closed Saturday at noon, he said voting had been heavy.

As of Saturday, about 1,400 ballots had been cast in person since advance voting began in mid-October. His office has also sent out 217 mail-in ballots bringing the total of ballots not cast at the polls to more than 1,600.

"We usually have about half that many," Lamb said. "I don't remember ever having more than 600 or 700."

That uptick in advance voting follows trends that have happened across the state and across the nation.

Lamb said he expects a heavier that normal voter turnout for this election.

The clerk's office will be open for advanced voting from 8 a.m. to noon on Monday, Nov. 4. After that, voters will need to head to the polls on Tuesday, which will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.