DEWAYNE HOLLOWAY/dewayne@mcnews.online
Nearly half of all Montgomery County registered voters have already cast their vote according to the Montgomery County Clerk’s Office.
County Clerk Penny Black reported Friday afternoon that 2,138 votes have been cast during the early voting process. This is 42 percent of all registered voters in Montgomery County. A preliminary count of absentee ballots received at the clerk’s office was at 299, or approximately six percent of the vote.
In comparison, there were just over 1,500 ballots cast during the early voting process during the 2016 Presidential Election. President Donald Trump received 1,141 early votes, while then Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton received 384. The rest of the ballots were cast for a number of independent and third party candidates. In 2018, a non-presidential election year, 1,294 ballots were cast during early voting.
Black stated that this is by far the busiest early voting has been in her time working for the county clerk’s office. The first days of early voting last week saw wait times of an hour or more as people clamored to get their vote in early.
She added that historically the last three days of the early voting period are the busiest. If this trend repeats itself Montgomery County should see over half the ballots cast before Election Day arrives Tuesday, November 3.
The hotly contested Presidential race and rumors of vote tampering and delays at the polls have caused record numbers of voters to turn out for early voting and absentee voting across the country.
Election Day is Tuesday, November 3. The polls will open at 7:30 a.m. and will close at 7:30 p.m. Registered Montgomery County voters can cast their ballot at any of five voting centers located within the county.
Voting Centers open election day include: Mount Tabor Church, Lake Ouachita Baptist Church, Montgomery County Annex, Norman City Hall and Pencil Bluff Fire Station.
Early voting for the general election began last Monday, October 19, and will continue through Monday, November 2. Early voting is available at the Montgomery County Annex Building located at 117 Ray Drive in Mount Ida.
Early voting hours will be from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on both Saturdays. The last day for early voting will be Monday, November 2 at 5 p.m.
Registered voters who have received absentee ballots have until November 2 to turn them in personally. Ballots mailed in must be postmarked by November 3. If you have requested an absentee ballot, but have decided to vote in person you may do so. However, you will not be able to submit an absentee ballot if you do.
Voters are asked to be patient as they navigate their way through the voting process. There are 13 candidates for president on this year’s ballot. As a result there are more than one page to scroll through to see all the choices. Election officials ask that you hit the more button to scroll through all the options.
If you have any questions during the voting process please feel free to ask for help.
Please be reminded that you will be asked to present a photo ID at the election center when you vote.
For more information regarding the upcoming election please contact the Montgomery County Clerk’s Office at (870) 867-3521.
