Tracking absentee voting numbers across Lowndes and Noxubee counties
LOWNDES COUNTY, MISS. (WCBI) – The high demand for absentee ballots has just begun In Lowndes County.
“Been very heavy,” says Lowdnes County Circuit Clerk Teresa Barksdale. “We started absentee voting last week and we’re already up to around 1,600 right now.”
Barksdale says her staff is processing nearly 75 absentee ballot requests and mail-outs each day.
“Had to hire some extra help in the office because the traffic flow has increased already within the first week,” she explained.
More than 60,000 absentee ballots have been sent out across the state of Mississippi. Barksdale says the reasons for the spike in absentee voting is two-fold. First, there is the high-profile Presidential Election at the top of the ballot.
“I think it’s just because of the candidates,” she says. “I think a lot of people are advertising and just the two candidates we have running, it’s created a lot of interest on both sides.”
But with that interest likely creating long lines at the polls amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the mail-in option is the safer choice for some voters.
“I have [pre-existing] conditions that would probably hinder me from being in a large crowd,” says Columbus voter Addie Walker.
So she cast her first ever absentee ballot on Wednesday.
“It was, different but not a bad experience,” Walker says. “And I’m just glad I had the opportunity to vote absentee.”
But that’s not the case everywhere. Noxubee County Circuit Clerk Freda Phillips says her office processed around 500 absentee ballot requests, which is down, due to the lack of local issues.
“The most absentees that we do have are from District 3 and that’s only because of that local race that we have for supervisor,” Phillips says.
But that doesn’t stop the staff from doing their best to get those ballots out.
“We get them in the morning, we try to have them out before 4:15 in the afternoon so the voters can get them in a properly timed manner,” Phillips says.
Barksdale hopes more voters can stay invested past the November election.
“We see a natural increase in the Presidential Elections so we need this interest to continue in our local races when we have county-wide elections coming up in a few years.”
The deadline for absentee voting in Mississippi is October 31st. Polling places like Lowndes County Courthouse will be open on the final two Saturdays before Election Day on November 3rd.
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