PIERRE, S.D. (KCCR) – The 2020 Primary election is roughly a month away on June 2. Absentee balloting is being encouraged in the primary by the South Dakota Secretary of State’s office and county auditors across the state. Absentee ballot applications were mailed out to every registered voter in the state and Hughes County Auditor Jane Naylor says they’ve processed dozens of applications.

Naylor says they expect three times the normal number of absentee ballots being cast.

Voter turnout across the state is expected to be larger than normal for a primary election because of the emphasis on absentee voting. Naylor says while many are choosing to mail in their ballot, absentee balloting in person is still taking place with restrictions at the Hughes County Courthouse.

Hughes County will be reducing the number of vote centers used to conduct in-person balloting from seven to three. Those vote centers will be the Faith Lutheran and New Life Assembly of God churches in Pierre and the vote center in the town of Blunt in eastern Hughes County.