MARSHALL — Election Day isn’t until Nov. 8, but so far more than 1,000 Lyon County voters have cast their ballots early, the Lyon County Auditor/Treasurer’s Office said.

The early voting period for the 2020 general election started Sept. 23 in Minnesota. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Auditor/Treasurer’s Office had received a total of 1,178 absentee and mail-in ballots, said Auditor/Treasurer Aurora Heard.

“It has been very busy the past two days, and we would expect the trend to continue as we get closer to election day,” Heard said.

So far, the early voter turnout at this year’s general election isn’t close to the record-breaking numbers Lyon County had in the 2020 election. However, that year there were also factors like COVID precautions at play.

In 2020, Lyon County had a 90% voter turnout, with a total of 5,186 votes cast in person and an all-time high of 7,763 absentee and mail-in ballot. That year, all but seven of the county’s 33 voting precincts had opted to mail out ballots instead of having in-person polling places.

This year, some precincts have switched back to having physical polling places, which would likely reduce the number of mail ballots cast.

The number of absentee and mail ballots received so far for the 2022 general election is higher than the August primary. In the primary, the county received 955 absentee and mail ballots.