A record number of Bartholomew County voters turned out during the first week of early in-person voting for the Nov. 3 presidential election, shattering the previous record set in 2016.
A total of 3,066 voters cast ballots this week at the former Carson’s store at FairOaks Mall, including 848 on Friday, said Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps.
Additionally, a total of 4,370 voters had cast absentee-by-mail ballots as of Friday, raising the total overall number of votes cast so far to 7,437 — with 25 days left to go before Election Day.
In other words, roughly 14% of registered voters in the county have already cast their ballots for the 2020 election based on the number of voters registered as of Monday.
A total of 59.8% of registered voters in Bartholomew County cast ballots in 2016.
It is also the first time that more than 700 votes have been cast each day during the first week of early in-person voting. There were 728 votes cast on Tuesday, 717 on Wednesday and 774 on Thursday, according to revised figures from the county.
By comparison, 1,156 votes were cast during the first week of early in-person voting in 2016, a record at the time, according to county records. A total of 585 votes were cast over the same time period in 2012, and 494 in 2008.
Phelps said there has been “an unprecedented number of folks coming out to vote.”
“It’s an incredible response from voters here in Bartholomew County to show up and vote in droves like they have,” Phelps said.
Turnout at FairOaks Mall has been so high that lines have been remained steady over the course of the 36 hours they have been open since since early in-person voting started on Tuesday.
Lines at one point on Tuesday stretched about 60 to 70 yards outside the former Carson’s store, prompting election officials to add additional social distancing markers outside the mall.
The wait time, on average, has been about 25 to 30 minutes for much of the week, Phelps said.
One poll worker in charge of wiping down the voting machines with sanitizer after each voter wore a Fitbit and reported walking a total of five miles inside the polling location on Thursday, Phelps said.
On Friday, election officials added an additional electronic voting machine at the former Carson’s space, raising the total to seven.
Phelps said a combination of people wanting to avoid longer lines on Election Day, favorable weather and fall break have likely contributed to the higher-than-anticipated turnout so far.
So far, there have been no “major issues,” but there have been a couple instances of voters wearing Trump and Biden campaign masks while in line to vote, Phelps said.
In each case, poll workers gave the voters the option of turning their masks inside out or removing them and wearing different masks that the poll workers had on site. The voters complied without any issues, Phelps said.
“One of them turned (the mask) inside out, and the other one took one of the masks we had,” he said.
State law prohibits anyone from bringing any political, campaign or candidate paraphernalia into a polling location, including shirts, hats and other gear with the names of candidates or political parties, among other items, Phelps said.
If a voter wears campaign paraphernalia into a vote center, poll workers will ask the voter cover up or remove the items, such as putting a jacket over a shirt, taking off a hat or changing their shirt and returning later to the polls.
Refusing to remove any of these items when asked at the polling location is a Class A misdemeanor, Phelps said.
“Just don’t wear anything politically-related whatsoever,” Phelps said of going to vote. “…We don’t want a situation where there’s an argument and then it turns into a fight or anything that would disrupt voting on Election Day and that’s why we have electioneering and election laws that say we can’t allow that in the polling place.”
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Early in-person voting will be held at the former Carson’s space at FairOaks Mall weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Oct. 30.
Additionally, early voting will be held 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the former Carson’s store the two Saturdays prior to election day — Oct. 24 and Oct. 31 — and from 8 a.m. to noon on Nov. 2. No voting will be held at the Bartholomew County Courthouse.
Visit indianavoters.in.gov to check your registration status, request an absentee by mail ballot and see who is on the ballot.
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