Residents can walk into the Guthrie County Auditor’s Office and vote ahead of the special election on March 3rd, but just don’t call it “voting early.”

Guthrie County Deputy Auditor Dani Fink wishes to clear up confusion surrounding absentee voting, as she’s had many people question the system in the last couple weeks, “Some people like to call it ‘early voting,’ and the reason it’s not ‘early voting’ is because you’re casting your ballot but it’s not actually being tabulated. So like on election day you get your ballot, you make your vote and you put it into the machine and your vote is automatically counted at that moment. When you absentee vote you get your ballot, you make your vote, and then you put it inside an envelope and we store those votes until election day and at that time they are tabulated.”

To vote ahead of election day at the Auditor’s Office, Fink says all voters must fill out a requested absentee ballot form, then they will cast their ballot using one of the electronic poll books that are used at all the polling locations. If you are unable to leave your vehicle, Fink says you can call her office at 641-747-3619 and one of the staff will bring the ballot out to them at the courthouse parking lot. Absentee voting is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays through March 2nd. To learn more about voting, listen to today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County program with Fink on air and at raccoonvalleyradio.com.