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Highest number of absentee ballots ever for Silver Bow County

Posted: Oct 26, 2012 6:40 PM by Katy Harris KXLF News

Silver Bow County has set a record for the most absentee ballots ever mailed out of the county.
Retired Butte resident Rich Day says, "I think this is just another very viable, good option for people to get out and vote."
The Silver Bow County Clerk and Recorder's Office says they've sent out about 8,300 absentee ballots but they've only gotten back about 4,000. If you've asked for your absentee ballot to please send it in as soon as possible. Getting those in early can help take the pressure off election day.
Day chooses to vote through absentee ballots because he would rather be hunting than going to the polls.
He says he's not surprised that so many voters are going absentee.
"I think that what you're seeing throughout is people are saying yeah this absentee stuff makes a lot of sense because it's convenient. It's easy to do. You can give a lot of thought to what's going on and frankly I think it makes a better voting process because you can sit down and evaluate what the different options are rather than when you're in the booth," says Day.
Clerk and Recorders throughout the state are pushing for absentee ballot elections for the future.
Paying for both absentee ballots and polling locations for elections can be spendy.
Silver Bow County Clerk and Recorder Sally Hollis says, "If we went to a straight mail ballot the cost would be reduced a lot."
She says an all absentee election could would save the state millions of dollars.