Mail-in ballot option a popular choice

The voters of Holt County have spoken by casting ballots in the 2020 general election.

Important local races, combined with a battle for the White House, brought 78.6% of the county's registered voters to select their choices for leadership positions.

County clerk and election commissioner, Cathy Pavel, said of the county's 7,144 registered voters, 5,615 voted.

"Early voters totaled 2,163 and 3,462 individuals voted at the polls. Very busy all day with voting," Pavel said.

vote counts for local races were received from Pavel's office. Nebraska's Secretary of State office confirmed results for regional, state and national races.

Local village board races were held:

- Ewing: Incumbents James Ramold and Dustin Wright ran unopposed.

Ramold received 155 votes and Wright ended with 156.

- Page: Five individuals ran for a seat on the Page Village Board of Trustees.

Dennis Van Every topped the field with 64 votes; Rachel Linquist earned 60 votes and Caleb Mosel will fill the third seat after receiving 42 votes.

Mary Jo Van Every Leichleiter received 36 votes, while Kurtis Campbell earned 17 votes.

- Inman: Five Inman residents vied for the village board of trustees.

Jacque Murray received 44 votes; Kyle J. Campbell garnered 26 votes and Sherryl L. Sawyer received 25 votes.

Debra Fisher finished with 24 votes and Julie Engelbart earned 18.

At the county level, four spots were available:

- Supervisors: Three seats were open. Incumbent Darrin Paxton ran for the District 6 spot. Dustin Breiner, District 2, and Scott Keyes, District 4, advanced to the General Election after defeating Steve Boshart and Robert Snyder, respectively, in May's primary election.

- Weed Control Authority: Three spots were open and only one candidate ran.

Kevin DeKay was elected to fill a four-year term.

Final vote counts for the county races were not provided by the Holt County Clerk's office.

At the regional level, races included positions on natural resources district boards, Elkhorn Rural Public Power District, Nebraska Public Power District and Educational Service Unit 8.

- Lower Niobrara Natural Resources District: Brian A. Kaczor will represent Subdistrict 6 after receiving 497 votes.

- Upper Elkhorn Natural Resources District: Gary L. Bartak will serve a four-year term after receiving 427 votes for the Subdistrict 4 seat.

Cody Frank, of Brunswick, will represent Subdistrict 5. He received 80 votes, while Dennis L Bridge, of Royal, garnered 78.

When combined with Antelope County totals, Frank earned 54.22% of the votes, finishing with 469. Bridge ended the race with 396.

- Elkhorn Rural Public Power District: David Hoefer received 275 Holt County votes to earn the Subdivision 3 seat.

Nebraska Public Power District: Aaron Troester, of O'Neill, edged incumbent Barry DeKay, of Niobrara, by 132 votes to win the Subdivision 2 seat.

Troester received 2,572 votes in Holt County and DeKay finished 2,338.

- Educational Service Unit 8: Incumbent Tim Lambert will retain his position after earning 3,021 votes from the three counties included in District 2.

Holt County voters cast 2,632 in favor of Lambert.

At the national level, congressional, senatorial and presidential races were included.

- Congress: Incumbent Adrian Smith was the overwhelming choice for District 3. He received 4,702 votes from Holt County voters and finished with 224,077 votes overall.

Democratic candidate Mark Elworth, Jr. received 50,596 votes across the district, with 503 coming from Holt County.

Another 192 votes were garnered by Libertarian Dustin C. Hobbs. He finished with 10,887 votes districtwide.

- Senate: Incumbent Ben Sasse received 576,230 votes 67% - to retain his spot.

In Holt County, Sasse pulled in 81% of votes, receiving 4,163 to defeat Democratic contender Chris Janicek, who earned 602 votes.

Across the state, Janicek earned 222,316 votes.

Libertarian candidate Gene Siadek picked up 372 votes in the county and 54,227 statewide.

- President: The Republican ticket of Donald Trump and Mike Pence earned 58.63% of the Nebraska vote, while Democratic candidates Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris earned 39.24%. Libertarian candidates Jo Jorgensen and Jeremy Cohen earned 2.12%.

Those percentages translated into 549,789 votes cast for Trump/Pence; 367,988 for Biden/Harris and 19,909 for Jorgensen/Cohen.

In Holt County, the Republican ticket received 4,766 votes; Biden and Harris, 683 and Jorgensen and Cohen, 82.

One of Nebraska's electoral votes went to Biden. He earned the state's 2nd Congressional District vote. Trump won the remaining four electoral votes.