JACKSON, Wyo. — Teton County Clerk Maureen Murphy briefed the Teton County Board of County Commissioners on early voting turnout during their Oct. 15 voucher meeting. Teton County’s early voting or in-person absentee polling place opened on Tuesday, Oct. 8.
“We’ve had a strong start,” Murphy said. “As you may know, we opened on Tuesday and we had 304 people go through on Tuesday which is usually a number we see right before the election.”
“As I’ve walked up here, we’ve had 900 people go through our early vote center,” Murphy said.
“To put that into a little perspective, we had 1,045 total people go through the early vote center for the primary, so we are busy,” Murphy said. “I know Laramie County hit a record; I believe they had 790 people go through on the first day so they are at 2,700 people already, so it looks like a strong turnout for the state.”
To consider how many ballots will be processed by Murphy’s office during the general election, a total of 14,787 Teton County voters cast a ballot in the last presidential election. It was the most votes ever tallied in Teton County for any election and accounted for 92.6% of the 15,966 total registered voters.
The number of Wyoming voters casting their ballots early has been on the rise in recent years. A study conducted by the University of Wyoming following the 2020 general election found that nearly 40% of Wyoming voters cast their ballots early; 66% of which vote at an early voting polling place and 34% by mail.
Early voting is available and open to all electors at the absentee polling place, located in the basement of the Teton County Administration Building at 200 South Willow Street, Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It opened on Oct. 8 in accordance with the Wyoming state law that passed in 2023, shortening the early voting window from 45 days to 28 days leading up to the election.
Voters can also stop by the Administration Building and pick up a ballot and take it home, if they fill out an absentee ballot request form, available either in-person or online. The same form can be used to pick up a ballot for someone else, or a handwritten note from the person can be used to pick up their ballot.
The absentee polling site is not open on Election Day. Voters must go to a designated Vote Center on Election Day. According to Teton County, the last day to drop off an absentee ballot is at 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 4. All absentee ballots must be received in the Clerk’s Office by 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 5 to be counted.
