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Early voting numbers down in Indiana just a few days out from Election Day

A bald White man with glasses, wearing a blue jacket, votes at a voting machine. The man is facing away, towards the machine.
Lauren Chapman
/
IPB News
The percentage of people who voted early in Indiana has been on the rise for a decade, when you separate out midterm and presidential elections.

The number of Hoosiers voting early – whether in-person or by mail – is down this fall compared to past elections.

The percentage of people who voted early in Indiana has been on the rise for a decade, when you separate out midterm and presidential elections – which is usually a good idea, considering far more people vote in presidential elections.

READ MORE: These are the most common mistakes election boards see on mail-in ballot applications, at the polls

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But this year, that early vote is down with just days to go before Election Day – and that’s because of in-person voting. More than 600,000 people voted early, in-person in the last midterm, 2018. This year, it’s less than 400,000 so far.

But the number of people who’ve voted by mail is already higher this year than 2018. Mail-in voting became considerably more popular during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.