NATCHEZ &045; Absentee voting has been brisk leading up to Tuesday’s primary elections, according to officials in the Adams County Circuit Clerk’s office.

As of Friday, 520 absentee ballots had been recorded. By noon Saturday, that number had risen to 630, as a steady stream of voters arrived late Saturday morning to cast their ballots.

&uot;We will probably end up with over 600 absentee ballots here,&uot; and 280 ballots have been mailed out, Deputy Clerk Helen Flowers said earlier Saturday.

The deadline for mail-in ballots is 5 p.m. Monday.

Voters offered varying opinions on which local issues they feel are most important in this election.

&uot;I don’t think we need to be building anything new right now, with the paper mill closing. The county and the city are both far enough in debt already,&uot; Natchez resident Will Pollard said.

Other voters said they looked for candidates with the leadership qualities needed to address the sagging local economy.

But Trenton Simmons, who recently landed a job at the Nissan plant in Madison and moved to Jackson area, said he just wanted to exercise his right to vote.

&uot;I just wanted to put my two cents in. I figured I couldn’t complain if I didn’t vote,&uot; he said.