WASHINGTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — Ahead of the 2024 election, Northwest Arkansas saw more early votes than ever before, according to official reports.
"We did more early votes than we've ever done in previous years, well over 7,000. Today we've also continued to see an increase in our early vote numbers, so we're really pleased with that," said Jennifer Price, the Director of Elections for Washington County.
"Of course, it is to be expected with a presidential election year, but we've also offered up more early voting locations for voters around the county," Price added.
Kim Dennison, the Benton County Elections Coordinator, said they're seeing a similar trend.
"We had a great start to early voting yesterday, with over 11,000 voters coming out. Compared to 2020, we had about 1,800 more," Dennison said.
However, it's a trend that election officials have seen over the last few elections.
"We definitely have been seeing that trend for quite a while. Ever since 2016 when we've started opening up and expanding our early vote sites, we've seen that voters have taken advantage of that, and that number has slowly increased," Price said.
Price also believes it's the easiest way to vote.
"Think voters find it really easy to vote early. It's convenient, it's fast. They don't have to wait in line very long, and so they like that," Price explained.
And the people taking advantage of early voting agree.
"It gets people to be able to vote when they don't have a big crowd around. To me, it's very important for everyone to come out. We need enough time for everybody to feel comfortable," said Alexandra Pilkington, an early voter in Washington County.
"Everybody has an opportunity to vote. They don't have to wait for just one day. They can take whatever day they want to come at their convenience and vote and it's over with," said Larry Ridgeway, another early voter.
"I just think it takes the pressure off people to wait until the last day," added Gene Jennings, a first-time early voter.
Jennifer Price predicts they will see even more early voting next week as election day gets closer.
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