JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Thursday, November 6, 2008 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - Voter turnout in Tuesday's general election was the state's highest in 30 years, according to the secretary of state's office.
The agency reported Wednesday that 105 percent of registered voters and 65 percent of all those of voting age cast ballots. Not all people of voting age are registered, hence the discrepancy.
Secretary of State Max Maxfield said it is possible to have a turnout of more than 100 percent of registered voters because Wyoming allows election day registration.
The turnout in the general election was considerably higher than in the August primary election.
In August, only 47 percent of registered voters cast ballots and only 26.5 percent of the voting age population cast ballots.
Peggy Nighswonger is the administrator for the secretary of state's elections division. She said voter turnout in this year's general election was the highest it's been in 30 years.
"We had so many people who registered at the polls," Nighswonger said.
Some election results came to the secretary of state's office slowly Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning because of the high number of absentee ballots that needed to be counted, Maxfield said in a release.
Nighswonger said election returns from Albany and Natrona counties were late because the tabulating equipment used to count the absentee ballots was running slow.
The day before the election, 23 percent of eligible voters had cast absentee ballots, she said.
The total number of absentee ballots cast is not yet available.
The state canvassing board will meet at 10 a.m. on Wednesday in the capitol building to certify the general election returns.
The board includes the governor, secretary of state, auditor and treasurer.
In Laramie County, more than 15,000 voters cast absentee ballots, a new record, said Laramie County Clerk Debra Lathrop.
"Our last highest was in 2004 and it was somewhere about 11,500," Lathrop said Wednesday.
Voter turnout was nearly 104 percent of registered voters, just shy of the record 106 percent in 2004.
"We just always have a high turnout in presidential races," Lathrop said.
Albany County Clerk Jackie R. Gonzales said 4,630 absentee ballots were cast in Tuesday's election, an all-time high.
Voter turnout also was a record, she said, with more than 17,100 votes cast at the polls.
She said about 31 new voters registered at the polls and another 1,100 voters made changes to their names, party affiliations or addresses.
"We still have a handful of absentee ballots that will be processed by the county canvassing board on Friday," Gonzales said.
Those ballots were damaged in the mail so they couldn't go through the ballot counter, she said.
Gonzales believes convenience was the main reason for the increase in absentee ballots.
It gives the voter time to study the ballot and decide how to vote, she said.
Contact capital bureau reporter Joan Barron at (307) 632-1244 or joan.barron@trib.com