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Election Day is just over a week away, but hundreds of local residents have already cast their ballots.
Early or absentee voting has been underway for several weeks and as of Monday, 271 people had submitted absentee ballots in the city of Ely.
Numbers for the neighboring townships were not available, as those ballots go directly to the respective county rather than the local unit of government.
In Ely, date-to-date comparisons could not be obtained so it’s unclear if as many people are voting early this year than in 2020, which also was a presidential election year.
Balloting that year, however, was done in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic and early voting was encouraged as a way to go to take part in the election without dealing with crowded polling places.
In Ely in 2020, there were 855 absentee or early votes cast.
Balloting in Ely continued at City Hall throughout the week and is available from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day at the city clerk’s office.
“Only city of Ely Residents can vote in person at Ely City Hall clerk’s office,” said Casey Velcheff, Ely’s deputy clerk. “We get a lot of other people coming in. Town of Morse, city of Winton, Eagles Nest township residents can vote early in person at the Virginia Government Services Center and Fall Lake residents would need to go to Lake County Courthouse in Two Harbors. ” Ely will also have extended hours as follows:
• Saturday, Oct. 26 - 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tuesday Oct. 29 - extended hours until 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 2 - 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 3 - 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 4 - extended hours until 5 p.m.
• Next week’s Echo will include profiles of all five candidates for Ely City Council - incumbents Jerome Debeltz and Paul Kess and challengers Frederica Musgrave, John Lahtonen and Emily Roose.
