Today is the first day people may cast their votes in person for the June 2 presidential primary.
In-person early voting begins today and continues through Saturday at Donner Center, 739 22nd St., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 8 a.m. to noon on Monday.
Though 8,919 Bartholomew County voters requested mail-in ballots for the presidential primary, county election officials are still expecting “quite a bit” of turn out for in-person early voting.
“I do think that you will have quite a bit of folks still vote in person at Donner for early voting,” said Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps.
However, voting in person for the presidential primary this year will look different than in the past due to precautions being taken by election officials aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19 in the community.
On May 14, Bartholomew County election officials received a shipment of personal protective equipment to protect staff and poll workers, including 450 masks, 1,500 pairs of gloves, 25 gallons of hand sanitizer, 90 smaller bottles of hand sanitizer, 23 gallons of surface cleaner, 47 smaller bottles of surface cleaner, 900 microfiber towels to wipe down surfaces and some sneeze guards.
However, local election officials said they will not have enough gloves or masks to distribute any to the public and are encouraging voters to wear masks or face coverings and to maintain social distancing whenever possible, Phelps said.
“We just encourage folks, if you’re comfortable wearing a mask, please wear a mask to the polls. That’s the recommendation,” Phelps said earlier.
