Mike Wolanin | The Republic People vote early at the former FairOaks Mall in Columbus, Ind., Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020.
Bartholomew County election officials are making final preparations for the May 3 primary, with in-person early voting set to start Tuesday.
Election officials will be setting up voting machines and other equipment Monday at the former JC Penney store at NexusPark, where early voting will take place. Later that afternoon, poll workers will be trained.
Local election officials expect to have five poll workers each day at all voting locations and do not anticipate a shortage of workers.
“We’re just making our last-minute preparations to get everything ready and getting our supplies together, and it’s going really well,” said Bartholomew County Clerk Shari Lentz.
Where to vote
In-person early voting will be at the former JC Penney store at NexusPark, 2380 25th St., in Columbus weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from April 5 to 29 and May 2 from 8 a.m. to noon.
Early voting also will be held at the former JC Penney store 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. the two Saturdays prior to election day — April 23 and April 30. No voting will be held at the Bartholomew County Courthouse.
Early-in person voting will also be held 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on April 23 and 30 in the Bartholomew County Council chambers in the Bartholomew County Governmental Office Building, 440 Third St., in downtown Columbus.
Voters can also request absentee-by-mail ballots by contacting the Bartholomew County Voter Registration Office at 812-379-1604 or by going to indianavoters.in.gov.
The deadline for the bipartisan Bartholomew County Election Board to receive an absentee-by-mail ballot is 6 p.m. on Election Day.
In the past, election officials have urged people who intend to return their ballots by mail to plan ahead in case of delays with the U.S. Postal Service.
Absentee-by-mail ballots also can be returned in person at the Bartholomew County Courthouse, 234 Washington St., election officials said.
Voting requirements
To be able to cast a ballot in the May 3 primary, voters must be registered to vote by the end of the day Monday.
The deadline to register online to vote at indianavoters.in.gov is Monday at 11:59 p.m. People can also register to vote at the Bartholomew County Voter Registration Office, 234 Washington St., until 5 p.m. Monday.
For questions about ID requirements for voting in person, voters can call the Bartholomew County Clerk’s office at 812-379-1604 or go to indianavoters.in.gov, where you can also check your voter registration and see who is on your ballot.
As of Thursday, there were 52,628 registered voters in Bartholomew County, election officials said.
Safety precautions
Some of the safety measures aimed at reducing the chances of spreading COVID-19 at polling places during the 2020 election will once again be in place.
Election officials will have hand sanitizer on site, poll workers will be wiping down voting equipment and officials plan to space out voting machines. Masking at polling places is encouraged but is optional for poll workers and voters, election officials said.
How the primary works
Because it is a primary, voters must select the Republican ballot or Democratic ballot. It is not possible to vote for candidates in both parties.
This year, there are several contested races on the Republican ticket.
Indiana Rep. Ryan Lauer, R-Columbus, is being challenged by Bartholomew County Prosecutor William “Bill” Nash for the GOP nomination for state House District 59.
Lindsey Holden-Kay and Joshua K. Scherschel are seeking the Republican nomination for Bartholomew County Prosecutor.
Three people — incumbent Scott Bonnell, Dave London and Greg Patterson — are seeking the GOP nomination for the Bartholomew County Council District 1 seat.
Incumbent Bartholomew County Council President Greg Duke is being challenged by Leah Beyer for the Republican nomination for the Bartholomew County Council District 2 seat.
Derick Olson is challenging incumbent Mark Gorbett for the Bartholomew County Council District 3 seat.
Rep. Greg Pence, R-Indiana is being challenged by Johnson County resident James Dean Alspach for the Republican nomination for Indiana’s Sixth Congressional District.
There are fewer contested races on the Democratic ticket.
Two people — Cynthia “Cinde” Wirth and George Thomas Holland — are seeking the Democratic nomination for Indiana’s Sixth Congressional District.
Expected turnout
Local officials are hopeful that turnout will be high, with several contested races in the primary and both major parties saying their bases are energized.
If requests for absentee-by-mail ballots are any indication, turnout may be higher for this year’s primary than in 2018 primary, the previous midterm election.
So far, requests for absentee-by-mail ballots are much higher than they were at the same point in the 2018 primary, according to data from the Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office.
A total of 478 absentee-by-mail ballots had been requested as of Thursday — five days before early voting starts — and 103 had already been returned, election officials said.
By comparison, 39 absentee-by-mail ballots had been requested five days before in-person early voting started in the 2018 primary, and no ballots had been returned.
Additionally, it is unclear if using NexusPark as an early voting site will encourage more people to turn out. In the 2020 presidential election, NexusPark proved to be a popular voting location, with a record-shattering 20,843 people turning out to vote early at the former Carson’s space.
However, midterm elections like this year often see lower turnout than presidential elections.
“(Turnout) is just hard to predict,” Lentz said. “I know that, a lot of times, folks wait for that first day for in-person voting to cast their ballots. …There are several contested races, so that would speak to a higher turnout for sure. I’m expecting it to be an average turnout for a midterm, but I hope I’m wrong.”
The Bartholomew County Republican Party, for its part, said there is a lot of excitement within the party for the upcoming primary.
“We’ve got a lot of energy going on,” said Bartholomew County Republican Party Chair Luann Welmer. “We’ve got several contested races within the Republican Party, and many qualified candidates.”
Welmer said she hopes that the contested races will drive up turnout, “but you never know.”
“Maybe we’ll even get some Democrats that decide that they want to get in on the action … and vote for some of the contested (Republican) races,” Welmer said.
The Bartholomew County Democratic Party in encouraging local supports to turn out and “rally around our candidates” and feels optimistic looking toward the Nov. 8 general election.
“We’re pretty pleased,” said Bartholomew County Democratic Party Chair Steve Schoettmer. “We’ve got several candidates. I’ve got a few more that I’m going to place into positions after the primary is over. So, we’re going to have a pretty decent ticket. We live in a Republican county, and a lot of times, people don’t want to run. But I think that we’re going to end up winning some races this year.”
