Interest is high in the Aug. 12 primary election, or people simply like voting from home.Today, the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s Office will mail 58,000 absentee ballots – a record number, according to election worker Liz Olson. In 2006, 30,000 were mailed, she said.Olson said one reason for the sharp increase could be that the law changed since the 2006 election to allow people to become permanent mail-in voters.Second, there are five contested Republican primary races, which might be generating more interest than normal, she said.Those primaries are in state Senate District 4, which includes part of northern El Paso County, between Mark Scheffel and Bob Denny; state House District 15, between Mark Waller and Douglas Bruce; state House District 17, between Catherine “Kit” Roupe and Sheila Ann Hicks; 4th Judicial District attorney, between John Newsome and Dan May; and the 5th Congressional District, among Jeff Crank, Bentley Rayburn and Doug Lamborn. The 5th District also includes Teller, Chafffee, Lake, Park and Fremont counties.There are no primary contests among Democrats.Monday is the last day to register to vote in the primary election. Registered unaffiliated voters may declare a political party affiliation anytime before the election and even at the polls.CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0238 or pam.zubeck@gazettedev.gazette.comTO REGISTERGo to one of the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s Office locations: 200 S. Cascade Ave., southeast corner of Powers Boulevard and Airport Road, or the north side of Chapel Hills Mall next to the J.C. Penney story. Hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.To request a mail-in ballot, use the application form furnished by the clerk’s office or send a letter that includes the applicant’s name, signature, residence address, mailing address, address where the ballot is to be mailed and date of birth.

Mark Tedder is a music minister with the Beijing International Christian Fellowship. Photo by BRYAN OLLER, THE GAZETTE