Early Voters Swamp County Election Boards

If the turnout of early voters in Oklahoma and across the nation is any indication, Election Day 2008 will see a record turnout here and everywhere.

In Tulsa, about 3,500 early voters visited the polls on Monday at a rate of almost 500 per hour, an absentee turnout that exceeded the 2004 presidential election by nearly 1,000 votes. About 11,500 total in-person absentee voters cast ballots, with 4,600 Friday, 3,400 Saturday and about 3,500 voting Monday, said Tulsa County Election Board secretary Patty Bryant.

In Oklahoma County, an estimated 15,000 voters cast early ballots.

In Lawton, the early turnout was huge: "This is historic," said Monica Baughman, Comanche County Election Board secretary. "I've been here 23 years, and I've never seen anything like this before."

Since Friday, more than 3,000 people have voted absentee in person in Lawton, shattering the previous county high of 1,500 early voters for the 2004 presidential election. The numbers are not unexpected.

Election clerks there have registered 3,630 first-time voters in the last two months alone, according to assistant sectretary Carol Cox.

Roger Mills County Election Board Secretary Jana Maddux said that through the first two days of in-person absentee voting, about 150 votes had been cast in the county.

"That is a pretty exceptional number for our county. And we've had a pretty good turnout today," Maddux said.

Cathleen Branscum, who works in the Pontotoc County Election board office, said "We've been very, very steadily busy today." She said that more than 700 ballots were cast Friday and a little more than 300 ballots were cast Saturday. Branscum said Friday's total set an early voting record for their county.

In Pottawatomie County in-person absentee voting, 974 ballots were cast Friday, another 555 on Saturday and about 350 by 11:30 today, a county election board worker said.

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