Dakota County voters have no local contests when Nebraska polls open Tuesday
You have run out of free articles. You can support our newsroom by joining at our lowest rate!
Already a subscriber? Log in or Activate your account.
Loading&hellp;
- {{html}}
Thanks for being a subscriber.
Sorry, your subscription does not include this content.
Please call 800.397.2213 to upgrade your subscription.
Register for more free articles
Stay logged in to skip the surveys
DAKOTA CITY, Neb. — There are no local contests involving Dakota County elective offices or any municipal contests, but polls will be open for 12 hours Tuesday as some statewide Nebraska contests comprise the primary election ballot.
Dakota County voters had mailed in many ballots by Monday midafternoon, Clerk Joan Spencer said, in a number that was above all the people voted in the 2018 primary. Dakota County residents had requested 2,148 early ballots, and 1,737 have been returned to the clerk’s office in the Dakota County Courthouse.
Polls will be open at all 13 normal county precinct voting locations from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
“Because so many people voted early ballots, I think the (polling place) voter turnout will be low,” Spencer said, with limited Tuesday voting from the nearly 10,000 registered voters in Dakota County.
She said that there have already been more ballots returned than all who voted in the primary two years ago, when 1,326 total votes were cast in a time when more than a dozen candidates combined from the Republican and Democratic parties ran for Dakota County commissioner posts.
The early voting was offered in the county as a way to reduce people being at polls in a time of coronavirus spread, and Dakota County has been the spot of one of the biggest spikes in Nebraska over the last two weeks.
Dakota County reported two more COVID-19 deaths Monday and 45 new cases of the virus. The county now has a total of 1,452 cases and seven deaths, according to a statement from the Dakota County Health Department.
Spencer said she can’t recall a May primary election ever taking place with no county candidates on the ballot. While there are Dakota County people seeking office in the November general election, there aren’t enough to necessitate any primary contests to reduce the field.
Dakota County Courthouse temporarily closes due to COVID-19
Trimming along Highway 20 in Woodbury County leaves some trees behind
Southern Hills Mall reopening Wednesday
Sioux City Schools working on plan concerning coronavirus class disruptions
Related to this story
+3
Siouxland Easter Sunday services go on despite empty pews
“For the first time in some people’s lives, they will not be in church when they usually are, and that will be difficult for them, very, very sad,” said The Rev. R. Walker Nickless, bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City. So technology comes into play.
Rite-of-passage prom season at risk in a time of coronavirus school closures
Sioux City school superintendent Paul Gausman said it is conceivable proms could be be held in some online format, with videos for people to connect, as happened a week ago for the East High School TWIRP, or The Woman Is Required to Pay, dance.
+2
Judge orders Woodbury County to open 5 polling sites for June primary
SIOUX CITY — Under a deal reached Thursday, five polling locations will be open to Woodbury County voters for Iowa’s upcoming primary election.
+2
COVID-19 claims 3 more lives in metro Sioux City
As of Monday, 74 people were hospitalized at either MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center or at UnityPoint Health — St. Luke’s with COVID-19 symptoms. That number includes patients from outside Woodbury County.
Ricketts pushes back on criticism of TestNebraska contract
“You’re not going to find a lot of companies that have tons of experience in testing in a pandemic, since this is the first one we’ve had in 100 years,” the governor said. “So on the face of it, the (criticism from some legislators) is ludicrous.”
