Mike Wolanin | The Republic Bartholomew County Chief Deputy Clerk Dustin Renner, left, and Shari Lentz, supervisor of voter registration, unload a shipment of personal protective equipment for election day at the Bartholomew County Courthouse in Columbus, Ind., Friday, Sept. 25, 2020.
Bartholomew County election officials have started preparing for the upcoming primary in May, including the possibility that they will need to put in place many of the measures from 2020 to avoid spreading COVID-19 at polling places.
Barring a “miracle,” the measures, which included masking inside vote centers, spacing out voting machines and voters waiting in line by at least 6 feet and having specially designated poll workers wipe down and disinfect any surface a voter touches, among other measures, will likely be the same when voters turn out for this year’s primary on May 3, said Bartholomew County Clerk Shari Lentz.
“We’re probably going to be following the same guidelines as 2020,” Lentz said. “Unfortunately, that’s still necessary. …Unless something miraculously happens between now and then, we are planning towards that for the primary.”
In spring 2020, the pandemic escalated right as Hoosiers were set to go to the polls for the primary, leaving election officials scrambling to take unprecedented safety measures as the virus swept across state, including hurriedly expanding vote-by-mail efforts and amassing stockpiles of personal protective equipment for poll workers and election staff.
State election officials ended up delaying the 2020 primary nearly a month to ensure the safety of poll workers and voters.
The Indiana National Guard delivered pallets of personal protective equipment to the Bartholomew County Courthouse before the 2020 primary and general elections, including, among other things, thousands upon thousands of masks and disposable gloves, a few hundred gallons of hand sanitizer and surface cleaner, more than 2,000 microfiber towels and at least 40 rolls of blue masking tape for social distancing markers, election officials said in previous interviews.
Local election officials also received nearly $32,000 in federal aid to offset higher-than-expected price tag of running the 2020 primary and general elections.
Lentz said local election officials still have some sanitizer left, as well as some other supplies from the 2020 election season, and is hopeful that the county won’t have to incur a large expense to purchase personal protective equipment for this year’s elections.
However, chief among Lentz’s concerns heading into the primary is pinning down vote center locations. The bipartisan Bartholomew County Election Board is expected to meet this month to decide on vote centers for the primary, Lentz said.
Local election officials had to reduce the number of vote centers in the primary and general elections in 2020 due to, among other things, poll workers dropping out over concerns about the virus.
Currently, it is unclear whether election officials will be able use part of the FairOaks Mall property (now NexusPark) — where a record 20,843 Bartholomew County residents voted early for the 2020 general election.
“Good locations with good parking, that’s always a bit of a challenge,” Lentz said. “…Probably one of my biggest concerns right now is making sure that we can find locations that are good, accessible. We’re in the process right now of figuring all that out.”
For her part, Lentz is hopeful that the pandemic eases by the time the vote centers open their doors this spring.
“Hopefully by May it’s a little better, and we’re in a better place,” Lentz said. “But time will tell for sure. But we are preparing to be sure that we’re following every protocol that can keep everyone as safe as possible.”
