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CITY, ND – (NewsDakota.com) The new absentee vote-by-mail system was implemented in Barnes County for the first this this year including the idea of having one polling site inside the courthouse.

Barnes County Commissioner Rodger Berntson believes the new voting system worked well during the June 14th primary election.

But Leroy Triebold believes the new voting system didn’t work as well as expected compared to the 2012 primary election.

Barnes County Auditor Beth Didier says a few changes need to be made before the November 8th general election.

Barnes County Commissioner Bill Carlblom believes the new voting system worked well.

Eldred Knutson says we need to find out how it will work in the upcoming general election on November 8th.

The following is a portion of the audio recorded during the Barnes County Commission meeting as they discussed the voted by mail system during the July 5th meeting.

The Barnes County Commission voted 4-0 to continue the new system which consists of vote by mail, absentee voting and having one polling site located in the courthouse during the November 8th general election.

During the June 14th 2016 Primary Election 2,725 ballots were cast, of those, more than 1,900 ballots were cast under the absentee vote by mail system. That was 868 more ballots compared to the 2014 primary election where a total of 1,832 ballots were cast.

But there were 775 more ballots cast in the 2012 primary election with a total of 3,500 votes compared to the June 2016 primary election of 2,725.