Absentee voting has double in Lee County from four years ago

LEE COUNTY, MISS. (WCBI) – Absentee voting in Lee County has more than doubled from four years ago.

So far, more than 45-hundred people have voted absentee in Lee County. Circuit Clerk Camille Roberts Dulaney says the wait to vote absentee at her office has been as long as two hours in recent days.

This Saturday is the final day to vote absentee before Tuesday’s election. Dulaney said last weekend, the wait on Saturday was as long as two to three hours.

For the first time, the Lee Circuit Clerk’s office will be open from 8 until 5 on Saturday.

“If you come on Saturday, for Halloween, I’m going to try and have some candy for people, to get you through the line, expect the wait,” said Camille Roberts Laney, Lee County Circuit Clerk. “We’re doing the best we can, difference in absentee in offices, we have to do pretty much everything by hand, where if you go to the polling precinct, they’re set up to take mass amount of numbers. They are set up to do it a different way than we can in the office, so it just takes us a little bit longer.”

There are several reasons you can vote absentee in Mississippi. Among those, if you are over 65, will be out of town on election day, or are a covid caregiver, a covid patient, or are disabled. Dulaney also points out that her office staff is still taking care of requests for marriage licenses, and other business.