MARSHALL — There’s a little more than a week to go before Election Day, but so far more than 2,700 Lyon County voters have already cast their ballots, according to the Lyon County Auditor/Treasurer’s office.

As of noon Thursday, a total of 2,750 ballots had been returned, said Lyon County Auditor/Treasurer Aurora Heard. That total included 2,450 mail ballots, and 300 direct ballots, she said. Starting Oct. 18, voters could place their absentee ballots directly into the ballot counter at the Lyon County Government Center in Marshall.

“It’s been pretty steady at the counter,” Heard said. Since last Friday, she estimated around 60 to 65 people a day had come to vote in person.

Some of Lyon County’s mail ballot numbers come from voting precincts that have switched to using mail-in ballots.

A total of 18 of the county’s 33 precincts are using mail ballots, including 14 rural townships and the cities of Florence, Garvin, Ghent and Taunton. However, Heard said early voting participation was up from the 2022 general election.

“It’s quite a bit higher,” Heard said. On Oct. 25, 2022, a total of 1,178 mail and absentee ballots had been returned, compared to 2,750 almost exactly two years later.

In recent years, voter turnout in Lyon County has been higher for presidential elections. Data from the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office showed that in the 2020 election, 12,948 people out of a total of 14,327 registered voters in Lyon County cast ballots. In the 2022 election, the turnout was 9,857 people out of a total 14,608 registered voters.

Heard said there are still opportunities for Lyon County voters to turn in absentee ballots in person at the Auditor/Treasurer’s Office. In addition to regular business hours, the office will have some special extended hours leading up to Election Day. The Auditor/Treasurer’s Office will be open for absentee voting from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday; from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday; and from 9-3 on Nov. 2 and Nov. 3. Early voting ends at 5 p.m. on Nov. 4.

Heard said absentee ballot requests can be completed online, at https://mnvotes.sos.mn.gov/abrequest/index. Registered voters can also download a paper version of the request form to return to their local elections office. Absentee ballots can be mailed to someone’s residence, or they can be turned in in person at the Auditor/Treasurer’s Office.

Ballots must be returned in person by 8 p.m. on Election Day. Mailed ballots must arrive on or before Election Day.

More information on voting, including ballot tracking, how to confirm you are a registered voter, and how to register to vote on Election Day, is available online at the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office website, https://www.sos.state.mn.us.