More people are filing absentee ballots for the primaries this year than they did two years ago. That’s what Marion County Auditor Jake Grandia tells KNIA/KRLS News. Grandia says that as of Friday morning, 567 absentee ballots had been filed, well ahead of the 500 that had been filed at this time in 2010. He says that it’s a strong turnout considering that there is no hotly contested state-wide race. Two years ago, Governor Terry Branstad and Bob Vander Plaats were locked in a hotly contested GOP primary for governor. Grandia says that if past patterns hold, these large numbers of absentee ballots means that there will be a strong turnout in June 5th’s primary election.