Let the waiting begin
A 102-degree fever wasn’t enough of a deterrent to keep Brad Burkhart away from the polls on Election Day.
The Republican candidate for Hancock County sheriff shrugged off the sickness and dragged himself to the Hancock County Library on Tuesday morning to join his supporters with a determined smile on his face.
“I can rest when it’s after 6 p.m,” Burkhart said with a chuckle and a sip from his coffee mug.
A wall of citizens wielding red, white and blue signs surrounded the entrance to the library’s entrance. Most candidates were at the polls before 6 a.m. to make a final push to impress voters before they headed inside to cast their ballots, said Hancock County commissioner candidate Kent Fisk.
After a stress-filled and mentally-draining election, Fisk said he’s sure every person running will be glad when the day is done.
Maybe not everyone, joked Circuit Court Judge candidate Scott Sirk.
“Nope, I’m only ready for this to be over if I win,” Sirk laughed.
Adding a little sparkle
Shannon Craney glittered from head to toe Tuesday morning at Vineyard Community Church.
Craney, supporting Republican sheriff candidate Wayne Addison, used a die-cutting machine to make sparkly iron-on patches with the candidate’s name, adhering them to a hat, a shirt and a hoodie.
“I love your hat!” Addison said when he arrived at the polling place, his sixth stop of the day.
McCordsville stays steady
McCordsville town hall has been busy all day with voters. As of noon, Sharon McLarnon, said there were over 300 voters on the day, with plenty more expected when people got off of work.
“That’s pretty typical for a primary,” she said. “Voters need to know this election is more important than presidential races. These candidates are going to make decisions about taxes, schools, roads, all of it.”
Mandy Kelley, a nursing student from McCordsville, said she’s so busy with studies she often doesn’t know what’s going on in the real world. But she knew enough to know it was Election Day and that she needed to vote for the litany of races this year.
Tired of the negativity
Hancock County has seen a surprising amount of negativity among political candidates even here locally, said Greenfield resident Bob Lee. While ugliness in the political arena is commonplace at the federal level, it’s discouraging to see the same thing begin to happen in his home, he said.
Mud-slinging combined with a lower voter turnout could very well result in unexpected consequences, Lee said. He expected a surprise result for certain offices this election, he said.
“You could have a million people sitting out here with signs, and it won’t matter,” Lee said. “People are turned off by negative people; they’ve already made up their minds before they walk in the building.”
A lone soldier
Ben Carr made his way through the crowd of supporters set up outside the Hancock County Courthouse Annex midday Tuesday, shaking hands and offering a smile.
He stood out. The only one wearing brown and yellow — campaign colors for Donnie Munden, a candidate for sheriff — in a sea of red, white and blue.
Stomping for candidates is just plain fun, Carr said. He sees old friends and meets new ones. And it doesn’t matter that they might disagree.
A simple solution
As election-day tech troubles go, it was a small one.
When voters signed their names to the electronic tablets at the Vineyard Community Church polling place, the surface was so sensitive it wouldn’t accept the signature unless only the stylus was touching it.
That meant volunteers had to find a way to prevent voters from using their hands to steady the surface.
The volunteers worked with what they had — and that was roll upon roll of “I voted” stickers. Propping the tablets up with a roll of stickers made it easier for voters to sign their names. Some 316 voters made their way through the process by about 11 a.m. Tuesday at the church on Mt. Comfort Road, according to election judges.
