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MOSES LAKE — People were already starting to line up 10 minutes before the polls opened for the Moses Lake Irrigation and Rehabilitation District election Tuesday.

Voters arrived at the former John L. Scott building in Moses Lake to cast their ballots for board candidates Ron Covey or Mick Hansen.

They faced off in the special election to fill exiting board member Glen Rathbone’s position. Rathbone is retiring from the board.

Results were not available until after the Columbia Basin Herald’s deadline Tuesday, but are expected to be released Wednesday.

It appears this year’s election set a record for voter turnout, said Julie Smith, the district’s administrative assistant.

At 4 p.m., four hours before polls closed, she estimated 650 people voted, which doesn’t include the 2,700 absentee ballot requests the district processed before the election.

Covey and Hansen mailed voters absentee ballot request forms to voters, which apparently generated more interest in the election.

Last year, 935 votes were cast in the election where board incumbent Richard Teals defended his seat against challenger Rich Archer. Archer won that election.

“It’s generated a lot of interest and a lot of confusion,” Smith said of the absentee requests. “I’ve gotten many, many, dozens and dozens of phone calls because of the mailings that went out.”

Some people thought they could drop absentee ballots off at the polling place, which isn’t the process, she explained.

Absentee ballots must be postmarked by midnight Tuesday to be counted.

Absentee ballots are counted during next Tuesday’s irrigation district board meeting, making absentee figures unavailable until then.

Interest in the irrigation district has built up over the years.

Last year alone, it appears turnout more than doubled in 2009 from the previous 2002 election, in which about 450 votes were cast, according to a 2009 Columbia Basin Herald article.