GREEN RIVER -- Sweetwater County voters have overwhelmingly approved expanding the county commission from three to five members, according to election officials.

Residents of the state's largest county approved the ballot measure calling for a five-member commission during a special election Tuesday.

Voters approved the question by more than a 3-to-1 margin, and the initiative passed in all but two of the county's 36 voting precincts.

The idea of expanding the commission has been floating around for years in 140-year-old Sweetwater County, located in southwest Wyoming.

A group of non-partisan residents formed the Time for 5 Committee in January and spearheaded the measure through, garnering enough petition signatures during the summer to schedule the special election.

The two new, at-large commission members will be voted into office in the November 2010 election, officials said. The ballot measure did not call for dividing the county into districts. That move would require an additional ballot initiative.

The unofficial tally was 3,893 votes for the measure and

1,017 against.

Contact southwest Wyoming bureau reporter Jeff Gearino at 307-875-5359 or gearino@tribcsp.com