“We’re in for a wild ride this year with COVID-19 and the presidential election.”

That was the sentiment expressed by Carbon County Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein said last week.

The county election board met and provided another update on what it is doing to prepare for the upcoming primary election on June 2. Two weeks ago, during a special meeting, the board approved consolidating the number of polling places that will be open on Election Day.

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich announced that in the county election bureau has already surpassed the 5,000 mark with mail-in and absentee ballot applications Wednesday afternoon, which equates to about one-third the turnout that is expected in the upcoming primary.

Lisa Dart, director of elections, said that they are still having a problem with voters sending in two or three applications, which delays her already bogged down department in processing the request.

She stressed that if a voter wants to change parties, they should do so before applying for the mail-in or absentee ballot.

Dart said that she thought that the applications would slow down, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, as she received about 400 more Wednesday.

Of the over 5,000 ballots mailed, 1,000 completed have already been returned and are being secured until Election Day, when each ballot will be opened that evening and scanned and recorded in the final tallies.

Lukasevich asked if there was anything her office needed that the commissioners were not supplying, and she said no.

The two full-time elections employees are receiving overtime, an additional two part-time staff were hired but have been working full-time hours to keep up with the load, and three additional employees from the commissioners’ office have been going to the elections bureau to help get everything ready.

In addition, the county has purchased masks, hand sanitizer, wipes and other disinfectants to keep poll workers and voters safe at the precincts.

“I think we’re going to be pretty prepared,” Dart said.

But one issue Dart said she has been hearing about is poll workers questioning why the county can’t mandate voters wear masks when coming to vote at the polling places.

The board said that there is no law that requires people wear masks, so it cannot be enforced.

For more information on deadlines to apply for mail-in and absentee ballots, or to apply, visit www.votespa.com.