Almost 80% of Seward County voters cast ballots in the 2024 general election Nov. 5.
“That is very good,” Sherry Schweitzer, county clerk and election commissioner, said.
She said almost 2,000 voters cast their ballots early, which is a record for a regular election.
“I’m glad. That’s what my office is for,” she said. “Anyone who wants to vote can.”
She thought people may have chosen to vote early because of the number of issues on the ballot. An early vote allowed people to take the ballot home, research the issues and decide how to vote.
Ballots were returned either to the clerk’s office or dropped in the drop box outside the north door of the courthouse. Schweitzer said the drop box is checked every day, including on weekends.
“They can see it is a safe and secure way to vote,” she said.
Voters turn out in greater numbers for presidential elections, as well. With the publicity surrounding the Senate races and the ballot initiatives, “everybody wanted to vote,” Schweitzer said.
All 16 of the county’s voting precincts had long lines, which hadn’t happened before. Schweitzer said the line in Utica was out the door. Seward also had voters waiting at the Ag Pavilion, where the four wards in Seward vote.
Schweitzer said the election workers will look at ways to make lines shorter and options easier for future elections. This year, workers met voters at the door to help direct them to the area their ward votes.
“It makes them feel like they are here for me,” Schweitzer said.
Schweitzer said another idea was to divide wards and precincts alphabetically to help shorten the wait.
The voting machines worked well all day, she said. Counters were done between 11:30 and midnight. They counted 9,377 ballots, she said.
Most counties in Nebraska saw percentages between the upper 70s and lower 80s of voters casting ballots. Those that offer all-mail elections were closer to 90%.
Utica and Garland drew more voters because of local issues. Utica was voting on whether or not to continue the LB840 program and had four who were running for three village board positions.
Garland had a sales tax on its ballot, with 53 voting for and 55 voting against. Schweitzer said there are no recounts on issues, only for candidates.
She said five voters chose not to vote on that issue. That shows that every vote counts, she said.
As of Nov. 8, the county hadn’t finished its canvas, so the numbers were not official.
“We have to do a lot more things,” Schweitzer said.
Once the numbers are finalized, the results on the county clerk’s website will be marked official.
See more election results on the SCI’s website.
