Photo caption: Bainum Library & Learning Center, seen here Oct. 23, is one of two early voting locations in Pike County.

Early voting in Pike County is running nearly 20% behind the pace of the 2022 midterm election, one of the sharpest declines in Arkansas as voters prepare for Tuesday’s general election.

As of Saturday, Oct. 31, a total of 1,603 Pike County residents had voted early or by absentee ballot, compared with 2,001 at the same point four years ago. That’s a decline of 19.9%, according to the Arkansas Early Vote Tracker.

Only two other counties in the state have experienced larger declines: Jackson County, where early voting is down 28.6%, and Stone County, down 22.6%.

Monday is the final day of early voting, with polls closing at 5 p.m. On Election Day, polls will be open Tuesday from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Showers and thunderstorms are forecast for the region Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.

Pike County has two early voting locations. In Glenwood, voting is taking place at Bainum Library & Learning Center, 128 E. Broadway. Between Oct. 19 and Saturday, 718 voters had cast ballots there, averaging about 60 per day.

The other location is the Courthouse Annex, 112 N. Washington St., in Murfreesboro. As of Saturday, 859 people had voted there, averaging about 72 per day.

The decline in Pike County contrasts with much of the state, where early voting has increased compared with the 2022 midterm election. According to the tracker, 42 of Arkansas’ 75 counties are ahead of their 2022 pace, while 18 are within 5% of their previous totals. Just 15 counties, including Pike, are more than 5% behind.

Pike County has 6,264 registered voters, meaning 25.6% had already cast ballots as of Saturday. Of those, 1,577 voted early in person, while 26 cast absentee ballots.

The total represents approximately 43% of the 3,748 votes cast in Pike County during the entire November 2022 general election.

An analysis of voter participation shows that residents age 65 and older account for a substantially larger share of early ballots than they did four years ago.

Of the 1,603 people who had voted, 913 were 65 or older, representing 57% of the total. At the same point in 2022, that age group accounted for 42.5% of early voters.

Meanwhile, younger age groups account for a smaller share of the early vote than in 2022.

Voters ages 50 to 64 accounted for 27.4% of ballots cast, compared with 33% in 2022. Those ages 35 to 49 represented just 9.2%, down from 16.3% four years ago.

The youngest voters accounted for an even smaller share. Residents ages 18 to 24 made up 3% of early voters, unchanged from 2022, while those ages 25 to 34 accounted for 3.5%, compared with 5.1% four years ago.

Combined, voters age 50 and older accounted for more than 84% of all early and absentee ballots cast in Pike County.

The tracker also found that frequent voters, classified by their previous voting history, accounted for 86% of ballots cast. Infrequent voters represented 8%, while new voters accounted for 6%.

The figures come from the Arkansas Early Vote Tracker, which analyzes voter participation and compares turnout with previous elections. The data does not indicate which candidates voters supported.

The final early voting total will not be known until Monday’s ballots are included, and overall turnout will also depend on the number of voters who go to the polls Tuesday.