Voters in Guthrie County wanted to make sure their voices were heard during the 2025 City and School Elections.

Auditor Dani Fink says that overall, voter turnout was up 45 percent, going from 1,278 in 2023 to 1,865 this year. She adds that specifically looking at absentee ballots, voting participation increased from 106 to 252, a growth of 137 percent. She explains that each precinct saw about a 10 person difference from 2023, except for the Yale precinct which was a 64 percent increase, and the Panora precinct, which had a 73 percent increase, and attributes that increase to the Panorama School District public measure.

Fink tells Raccoon Valley Radio that there is a group that she wants to bring special attention to with the election having passed now.

“I just really want to thank all the poll workers at all of our polling locations. It’s a really long day for them. So they get there at 6am to set up. They have to set everything up at each precinct and then they have to tear it down at the end of the night. So most of them are there from 6am until 8:30pm or nine o’clock at night.”

Fink mentions that the overall increase in participation is something that she believes began with the increased attention voting received during the 2020 elections, especially with Covid precautions.