Mike Wolanin | The Republic People check in to cast their ballots at the vote center inside NexusPark on the first day of early voting in Columbus, Ind., Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022.
COLUMBUS, Ind. — Turnout for early in-person voting for the Nov. 8 midterm election has gotten off to a faster start than during the previous midterm election four years ago, local election officials said.
As of 12:30 p.m. Friday, a total of 638 voters in Bartholomew County had cast early ballots at NexusPark, roughly 2.5 days after early voting started, according to the Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office. By comparison, 513 voters had voted early in-person during the first three days of the early voting period during the 2018 midterm election.
Additionally, demand for absentee-by-mail ballots is up this year compared to 2018, local election officials said. As of early afternoon Friday, the Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office had received 1,214 applications to vote absentee by mail, up from 918 at this point during the 2018 midterm.
A total of 320 completed absentee-by-mail ballots had already been returned to the clerk’s office as of the end of the day Thursday.
In total, 958 Bartholomew County voters had already cast ballots either in-person or absentee by mail as of early afternoon Friday.
“It’s a little above what we saw in 2018,” said Bartholomew County Clerk Shari Lentz. “I just think that some voters appreciate the convenience and the ease of voting early, and NexusPark is a great location for us. I think all those factors together give us a little better turnout.”
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.
