Almost 3,000 ballots cast in first 3 days of early voting

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Absentee and early voting could play an important role in the outcome of the U.S. Senate race. Officials at the state Division of Elections say that in the first three days of early voting, over 2,700 ballots have been cast.

If that pace continues over the 15 days of early voting, it would exceed the total of 8,455 early ballots cast in the 2006 general election. So far, election officials have mailed more than 27,600 absentee ballots, which is more than were mailed in 2006.

The Division of Elections doesn't expect to start counting names written onto ballots until about Nov. 18, when the total number of ballots is known and it's clear whether the state must legally count write-ins.