COLUMBUS, Ind. — The number of Bartholomew County voters casting ballots through the mail for the Nov. 3 presidential election has already surpassed the total cast in 2016 and 2012 with 37 days still to go before Election Day.
As of Friday morning, a total of 2,125 voters had returned their absentee-by-mail ballots, up 1,775 since Monday, said Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps.
By comparison, a total of 1,333 absentee mail-in votes were cast during the 2016 presidential election and 1,346 were cast in the 2012 election.
A total of 5,631 absentee-by-mail ballots had been sent out to local voters as of Friday morning, or roughly 10% of all registered voters.
“We still have 3,506 ballots that have not been returned as of this morning,” Phelps said.
Currently, local election officials are anticipating a record 12,000 to 13,000 voters to request absentee-by-mail ballots for the general election. But officials can see that number easily jumping to 17,000 to 18,000 — or more — depending on how the pandemic evolves as the election approaches.
For more on this story, see Sunday’s Republic.
