Nebraska Secretary of State predicts 72% turnout for Tuesday's election

Secretary of State Bob Evnen predicts about 72% of the more than 1.2 million voters registered in Nebraska will cast a ballot in the 2024 general election Tuesday.

In a news release, he said he based the estimate on early voting turnout and turnout trends in recent general elections.

"County election offices have done a remarkable job helping early voters cast their ballots securely," he said. "Nebraskans continue to fulfill the new voter ID requirement before voting, and we expect that to continue on Election Day."

If the prediction holds true, it will be a lower turnout than in 2020, when 76% of the state's voters cast a vote.

Lancaster County Election Commissioner Todd Wiltgen predicts 70% of the 206,568 registered voters registered in Lancaster County will cast a ballot.

Monday was the final day voters could vote early in person at county election offices. Tuesday is the final day voters can return their early voting ballot to county election offices.

In order to be counted, early voting ballots must be returned to county election offices by the close of polls (8 p.m. CT) on Election Day. Late ballots will not be accepted, even if postmarked on or before Election Day. It's too late for voters to mail their early voting ballots. Voters should use secure drop boxes to return their early voting ballots before the close of polls on Election Day.

In Lancaster County, those boxes are at the Election Commissioner's Office, 601 N. 46th St., and four city library branches: Gere, Eiseley, Walt and Anderson.

So far, 332,455 registered Nebraska voters have successfully cast ballots for the Nov. 5 election, representing roughly 26% of the 1,264,149 registered voters.

* 72,049 voters have voted early in person at county election offices.

* 260,406 voters have voted early by mail, including voters in by-mail counties or precincts.

In Lancaster County, more than 63,000 early voting ballots were issued, with 57,000 returned as of the end of the day Saturday. Wiltgen said the early ballots include those returned by mail and those completed by people voting in person at the Lancaster County Election Commissioner's Office.

The 90% return rate for early voting ballots is in line with previous years, he said, but the number of early ballots is lower than in 2020, when about 75,000 people voted early in Lancaster County.

Wiltgen also said that he thinks the early voting ballots will account for less than half of the total votes in the 2024 election. In 2020, early ballots accounted for more than half of all votes.

Polling sites will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Central Time (or 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mountain Time). Nebraska voters can find their polling place on VoterCheck .

Voters also should be prepared to vote with an acceptable form of ID.

And one last note: Voters who want to know whether their early vote ballot was delivered and accepted by the Election Commissioner's Office can check online at the Nebraska Secretary of State's voter-lookup site: www.votercheck.necvr.ne.gov/VoterView .

Here is the Lincoln Journal Star's comprehensive guide to the 2024 Nebraska general election.

Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter.

Managing editor

Alyssa Johnson Trending Topics Reporter