MARSHALL — Fewer Lyon County voters took part in primary elections this year than in 2020, according to the county’s unofficial vote totals.

Roughly 2,300 people cast ballots in Tuesday’s primaries, which was a decrease of more than 400 from 2020 levels. However, more voters were at the polls in person this year.

The unofficial total of votes cast in Tuesday’s primary was 2,306, said Lyon County Auditor/Treasurer Aurora Heard. The total included 955 mail-in or absentee ballots, and 1,351 people voting in person. Two years ago, only 819 people voted in person at the August primary election.

At the 2020 primaries, a total of 2,734 Lyon County voters cast ballots. That number included 1,915 absentee and mail ballots, and 819 people voting in person.

The COVID pandemic was part of the reason more Lyon County voters mailed in ballots in 2020. That year, all but seven of Lyon County’s 33 voting precincts switched to using mail ballots only. This year, a few more precincts were back to holding in-person elections again, the Lyon County Auditor/Treasurer’s Office said.

In Lyon County, the 2020 general election had a 90% voter turnout and a record-breaking number of absentee and mail-in ballots. However, it’s hard to compare a November general election with a primary. Primaries tend not to draw as high of a turnout as general elections, Heard said.

The same COVID precautions that drove higher absentee ballot numbers at the 2020 primary also impacted the 2020 general election in Lyon County. In November 2020, a total of 12,949 votes were cast, which was a 90% turnout. That total included 7,763 absentee and mail ballots.