By Katie Knapp Schubert
Omaha, NE – Early voting for the 2010 midterm election is underway.
You can now vote in-person at your local election commission office, or request a ballot be mailed to you. Douglas County Election Commissioner Dave Phipps says early voting has grown in popularity since its introduction in Nebraska. "A lot of that change happened because Nebraska law changed to allow anyone to vote early, you didn't have to have an excuse anymore. That law changed in 1999 and 2000 was the first year that we actually had no-excuse early voting," Phipps says.
Phipps says about 1,000 early voting ballots were sent out Monday by mail. You can get an early voting ballot by mail until October 27th.
If you're not registered to vote, October 15th is the last day to register at a location other than the Election Commission office.
The midterm election is November second. You can find a list of candidates and election deadlines at www.votedouglascounty.com. The Iowa and Nebraska Secretary of State's offices also have information on voting, districts, and deadlines.
As of the 2008 election, Nebraska had 1,157,345 registered voters. Iowa had 2,105,534 registered voters.