Staff Reports
HANCOCK COUNTY — Election Day is almost here, and voters have only a few more opportunities to vote early to beat the crowd on Tuesday, June 2. Here is a reminder guide about polling places, COVID-19 precautions, and other helpful information about the election.
Polling places
Four vote centers are open for early voting this weekend; one will be open Monday morning. The four sites will be the only ones open on Election Day as well. Voters may cast a ballot at any of the vote centers. Here are the sites:
Hancock County Courthouse Annex, 111 American Legion Place, Commissioner’s Courtroom, first floor: Noon to 7 p.m. today (Saturday, May 30), and Sunday, May 31. Also, 8 a.m. to noon Monday, June 1.
Buck Creek Township Fire Department, 5809 W. Airport Blvd., Mt. Comfort: Noon to 7 p.m. today and Sunday.
Hancock County Public Library main branch, 900 W. McKenzie Road, Greenfield: Noon to 7 p.m. today and Sunday.
Hancock County Public Library, Sugar Creek Branch, 5731 W. U.S. 52, New Palestine: Noon to 7 p.m. today and Sunday.
All polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Election Day, June 2.
Staying safe and distant
Personal protective equipment has been provided to all poll workers. Voters are asked to bring their own PPE and to consider bringing their own pens to fill out a ballot or operate an electronic voting machine. Teams of volunteers also are armed with sanitizing materials to frequently disinfect surfaces around the voting stations and pens used to mark ballots.
Each polling place has its own traffic pattern to keep voters properly spaced. These include specially marked entrances and exits at each building.
Absentee ballots
Deadline to return absentee ballots is noon on Election Day, Tuesday, June 2.
Absentee ballots mailed today (Saturday, May 30) or later may not arrive in time to be counted. Election officials now recommend dropping ballots off in person rather than mailing them.
The county election office, on the second floor in the county courthouse, is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, June 1; it also is open to accept ballots until noon on Tuesday.
No after-hours or weekend drop-off is available for absentee ballots.
What else you’ll need at the polls
In addition to personal protective equipment such as masks, voters also should bring one of Indiana’s accepted forms of photo identification. These include an Indiana driver’s license, a state-issued photo identification card, a military identification card or a U.S. passport. Some student identification cards also are accepted. They must be issued by an Indiana public university and must include the voter’s photo and name. All forms of identification must feature an expiration date and either be current or have expired only since the last general election on Nov. 6, 2018.
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Ballots in Sugar Creek Township’s 7th precinct left out a race for precinct committeeman. Page A6
A list of candidates running in the major contested races. Page A6
A glossary of the offices sought by candidates in the election. Page A6
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