Mike Wolanin | The Republic Poll workers helps voters check in on first day of early voting at the vote center inside NexusPark in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, April 4, 2023.
Local election officials say early voting for the May 2 primary has gotten off to a much faster start than four years ago despite having only two contested races on the ballot.
A total of 460 Columbus residents had cast ballots in-person at NexusPark as of the end of the day Thursday, according to the Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office. By comparison, 113 people had voted at the same point during the 2019 primary.
Absentee-by-mail ballot application requests also have outpaced demand in 2019, with local election officials reporting that they have received 237 applications for ballots so far, up from 90 at the same point in 2019.
As of Thursday, local election officials had received 109 completed absentee-by-mail ballots, compared to 18 at this point four years ago.
In total, 569 voters had cast ballots as of Thursday, or roughly 2% of registered voters in Columbus.
Just 13.7% of registered voters turned out for the 2019 municipal primary, which had more competitive races than this year’s primary, local records show.
Bartholomew County Clerk Shari Lentz speculated that the convenience of using NexusPark as an early voting site may be playing a role in the higher turnout so far. In 2019, early in-person voting was held at the Bartholomew County Courthouse.
“Four years ago, we had voting in the courthouse,” Lentz said. “I don’t know if we can attribute that to the convenience of NexusPark with the downtown parking situation being a little bit difficult at times. But we are definitely seeing a higher turnout.”
This year’s municipal primary will be the first step for voters to choose the next mayor of Columbus. Current Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop is not seeking another term.
Mary Ferdon, the city’s director of administration and community development, and Milo Smith, a former Indiana state representative, are both seeking the Republican nomination for mayor. While there is currently no Democratic candidate for mayor, the party could still select a candidate for the general election by July 3 at noon.
On the Democratic side, there is a contested race for the party’s nomination for Columbus City Council District 3. Tony Hayden, Michael Kinder and current District 1 Councilman Jerone Wood are the candidates.
The winner of the Democratic nomination will face Republican Sue Norman-Chapple in the general election. Normal-Chapple is running unopposed in the Republican primary.
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.
Early voting will continue weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. until noon on May 1, according to the Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office.
Early voting also will be held 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at NexusPark and the Bartholomew County Government Office Building downtown on April 22 and April 29, the two Saturdays before election day.
Lentz said that voters should enter NexusPark through the entrance between Riviera Maya and Dunham’s. Just as with the 2022 general election, the voting location will be at the former Petals and Vine store.
“Once again, we will have greeters inside the door,” Lentz said previously. “It is a bit of a walk from the door to the vote center location, and so there are park benches along the way that folks can stop and rest if needed. There also will be a greeter there with a wheelchair and we encourage folks to take advantage of that. We’re there to be sure that we make it as easy and smooth as possible for the voters.”
On Tuesday, local election officials will start travel board voting and will be going out to nursing homes and doing some home visits to help people who are confined to their residence cast their ballots, Lentz said.
“We would encourage anyone who is confined to their residence to reach out to us if they are in need of the travel board’s assistance,” Lentz said. The Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office can be contacted at 812-379-1604.
The deadline to request an absentee-by-mail ballot is 11:59 p.m. on April 20. Voters can request absentee-by-mail ballots through the clerk’s office or at indianavoters.in.gov. The deadline for the bipartisan Bartholomew County Election Board to receive a completed absentee-by-mail ballot is 6 p.m. on election day.
A proposal that would toughen the identification requirements to vote absentee by mail is still pending before the governor and, even if it becomes law, would not take effect until July 1.
So far, early voting has gone smoothly, Lentz said.
“Some people may not be ready to make a decision yet, but we’re there and available for when the voters are ready to cast their ballots,” Lentz said.
