Thursday last chance to cast your early vote
Thursday will be the final day to cast early votes in the party primaries and county option sales tax referendum.
According to Election Administrator Donna Yates, over 1,200 people had cast early votes as of Tuesday morning, which is an above average pace.
“I’d say this is a little bit more than usual for a primary,” said Yates. “Of course, there’s also a referendum for county voters so that’s going to bring out more too. Overall, we’re pretty pleased with the numbers so far.”
Early voting will continue in the rear of the County Administrative Offices on Locust Street today and tomorrow with voting held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Among the items on the ballot is a local option sales tax increase. The referendum asks if county voters want to increase the local option sales tax from its present rate of 2.0 percent to 2.75 percent. The city of McMinnville overwhelmingly approved the measure last year. The new rate is in effect in the city. Only county voters, those residing outside the city, may vote in the referendum.
However, all county and city voters are allowed to participate in the Democratic and Republican primaries. The primaries include primaries for the office of United States president, and local primaries for the offices of assessor of property and 5th District county commissioner.
For those who do not vote early, polls around the county will be open Feb. 10.