Capitol Beat OK

OKLAHOMA CITY — Absentee voting by mail and “in-person absentee voting” (i.e. early voting at county election boards) were both brisk in Oklahoma through early Monday morning.

Oklahoma state Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax told CapitolBeatOK that as of 9:06 a.m. Monday (November 5), 66,335 Oklahomans had participated in early voting conducted Friday and Saturday. Ziriax cautioned, “The numbers are at least somewhat understated, because not every county reports its raw numbers in ‘real time.’”

Of those who voted early, Democrats enjoyed a slight numerical edge. In all, 33,251 Democrats had voted early, while 28,882 Republicans had made the trip to a county election board for the in-person absentee option.

In all, 4,200 Independent voters had cast in-person early votes, while two members of the Americans Elect party had done so.

As for traditional absentee voting, a total of 57,033 absentee ballots had been received via the U.S. mail through 9:06 a.m., Ziriax said. Of those, 31,964 ballots were cast by Republicans, while 21,409 were Democrats. Independents made up 3,659 of absentee voters through the mail, with one Americans Elect voter. A grand total of 77,265 absentee mail ballots were sent to voters in Oklahoma this year.

Ziriax told CapitolBeatOK the state would have the largest voter turnout since 2008, when about two-thirds of those eligible went to the polls. In 2008, 2,022,537 Oklahomans were eligible to vote. The final list of eligible voters for the 2012 presidential election included 2,114,713 people.

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Oklahomans take advantage of “early voting” and absentee ballots