Indiana residents who vote early in person could start casting their ballots today.
State law allows counties to begin offering early in-person voting today, but counties aren’t required to start so early. Elkhart County is waiting until Monday to start.
People have always been able to vote early by mail or in their home with qualifying health conditions. But voting early in-person simply for convenience has become more common over the past decade.
About a third of Hoosier voters have voted early over the past four general elections, according to state data. The exception was the very high-interest 2020 election, when Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump to become president, when a staggering 60% of people in Indiana, a state Trump won, voted early.
By comparison, an average of just 17% voted early in the 2010, 2012 and 2014 general elections.
City and town offices are on the ballot this year.
In the May 2 Primary Election in St. Joe County, about 30% of votes were cast early. Trisha Carrico, the county clerk’s chief deputy of elections, said she’ll be curious to see how many people vote early over the next few weeks.
“A lot of people don’t come out for the primary,” Carrico said, “so it will be real interesting to see how the numbers compare after absentee (voting) closes this election, compared to the spring.”
In St. Joe County, you can vote early on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the lobbies of the County-City Building in South Bend and the County Government Services Building on Lincoln Way in downtown Mishawaka.
In Elkhart County, early voting options vary by the date and your city. For more information, see this story at WVPE.org.
