COLUMBUS, Ind. — Turnout for early in-person voting is off to a strong start, with about 180 votes cast on the first day.
Early voting began Wednesday at NexusPark, with voting machines set up as a voting center in the former Petals and Vine store.
Bartholomew County Clerk Shari Lentz said 177 individuals had cast their votes at the site as of 2 p.m.
“We’re off to a great start,” she said, noting that they saw 160 voters on the first day of early voting during the 2018 general election and only 52 for the first day of this year’s primaries.
Republican inspector Kathy Busselberg said that turnout was better than what poll workers had expected, given what they’d seen in the spring.
“I’m pleased that it’s significantly higher,” said Democratic Judge and Bartholomew County Democratic Chairman Steve Schoettmer, who was also helping at the polls.
When asked if she had a theory for the higher turnout, Lentz said that while she’s not entirely sure, one reason may be that most races are contested.
“I’m sure that is generating a lot of interest, so that’s wonderful,” she said.
There were 53,392 registered voters in Bartholomew County as early voting began. While the deadline to register was Tuesday, Lentz said that not everyone has been processed yet, so it will be a few days before the office has a final count.
In-person early voting is being held at NexusPark on weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from now until Nov. 4 and on Nov. 7 from 8 a.m. to noon.
Early voting also will take place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the two Saturdays prior to election day — Oct. 29 and Nov. 5. On both days, there will be two voting sites: NexusPark and the Bartholomew County Council chambers in the Bartholomew County Governmental Office Building at 440 Third St. in downtown Columbus. No voting will be held at the Bartholomew County Courthouse.
For the complete story and more photos, see Thursday’s Republic.
