Early voting for the November 6th General Election is underway and Lamar County voters are still breaking records on the third day.
“The numbers are just astonishing and this has never happened before,” said Elections Administrator Tricia Johnson.
In fact, not only did voters break the record on the first day of voting with 1,655 votes but they are expected to surpass the number of votes in the 2016 Presidential Election.
“In 11 days during the Presidential Election we had 7,325 votes and today at lunchtime, the third day of voting, we have 3,966 votes,” said Johnson.
“This is just crazy numbers which is great. People are getting out and making their voice heard and they want their voice heard.”
However, there seems to be some confusion amongst voters; particularly in the area of Straight Party ticket voting.
“It’s on Facebook that if you vote any Straight Party ticket and then mark a candidate from a different party in a race, then no one gets the vote,” said Johnson. “That’s never ever been the case and for some reason this year people are discussing it.”
Tricia advised people to not believe everything on Facebook and if they’d like to contact the Elections office to verify they can do that.
“It’s no different to any other general we’ve always had,” added Johnson.
To be clear, vote Straight Party ticket (Republican or Democrat) and then you can crossover in any race and mark a candidate from the opposing party. That vote only applies to that race. Your Straight Party ticket vote is still valid on all other races.
Those wishing to vote early can do so at the Lamar County Annex located at 231 Lamar Avenue in Paris.
Polls are open now Monday to Friday from now until Friday, November 2nd from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Saturday, October 27th from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
For more information on the November 6th General Election or early voting click here
