Interest in this year’s general election is running hot, with roughly 6,800 Park County residents having already voted as of Wednesday afternoon.

That figure includes 4,365 residents who voted early at the Park County Courthouse and another 2,426 who’ve cast absentee ballots by mailing or hand-delivering them to the elections office. With several days to go, it’s already a record number of early votes and more than double the 3,078 early and absentee votes cast in August’s primary.

Any county resident can vote early at the courthouse between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. today (Thursday), Friday and Monday, but on Tuesday, Election Day, voters must go to their polling place. For Powell area residents, that’s the Park County Fairgrounds.

Absentee ballots, meanwhile, must be returned to the elections office by 7 p.m. Tuesday or they will not be counted, regardless of when they’re postmarked.

County Clerk Colleen Renner posted a ballot drop off box outside the courthouse during the 2020 election cycle, but hasn’t since then.

The boxes have proven controversial, as critics like Secretary of State Chuck Gray feel they’re not secure and not allowed under the law.  However, the County Clerk’s Association of Wyoming contends that the law allows for the boxes.

Albany, Carbon, Converse, Fremont, Laramie, Sweetwater and Teton counties are continuing to use drop boxes this cycle, according to previous reporting by WyoFile, while Sheridan County removed theirs given the lack of legal clarity.

In a Tuesday news release, Secretary of State Chuck Gray thanked Sheridan and Park counties “for discontinuing the use of drop boxes for the 2024 Election Cycle.” However, Park County didn’t use a box in 2022, either, and elections staff said it was ongoing construction that prompted no box this year. Renner told the Tribune Wednesday that she plans to bring the box back for the 2026 election.

In the meantime, however, Gray said he hopes to work with the Legislature to change the law and decisively ban drop boxes in the state.

For more information about the local elections, visit parkcounty-wy.gov/county-elections.