Editor’s note: Voters can track election results by visiting www.greenfieldreporter.com this evening. Polls close at 6 p.m.
HANCOCK COUNTY — With many votes already cast via mail-in ballots and early voting, Hancock County’s primary election season comes to an end today.
The county’s four vote centers are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., but that’s about the only thing that will be normal for this unusual Election Day. Social distancing measures that were in place for early voting will remain in effect throughout Election Day.
Even election night will acknowledge the pandemic.
Candidates typically gather in the Commissioners’ Courtroom at the courthouse annex along with family members, supporters and others to hear election results. It is a tradition that goes back decades, but the gathering tonight is likely to be more sparsely attended this year due to social distancing recommendations.
While the public will be permitted at the annex, gatherings are limited by law to 100 people or fewer. For public access, the results of the election will be updated live on the Daily Reporter’s website, greenfieldreporter.com, as they come in. The results will be linked prominently at the top of the paper’s homepage.
The Daily Reporter will also publicize results on its social media, as well as in Wednesday’s print edition.
Not every candidate will be appearing at the annex this year. Ray Richardson, a candidate for Hancock County Council and the former longtime attorney for the county, said he will be missing the gathering for the first time in years, although his name is on the ballot. Richardson said attending in person would not feel safe.
Several other candidates said they were still deciding whether to wait for results at the annex and it would likely depend on how crowded the room is on Election Night.
Casting a vote
Hancock County Clerk Lisa Lofgreen said just over 6,000 ballots had been cast in the county as of Monday, through a combination of mail-in and early voting. In unprecedented circumstances, she said, it was difficult to predict what the final total would be.
“I have no way to gauge what’s going to happen tomorrow,” Lofgreen said of Election Day.
The county experienced a complication when officials learned a race for Republican precinct committeeman in the Sugar Creek 7 precinct had been erroneously omitted from ballots. Supplementary ballots were printed, and Lofgreen said distributing them has gone smoothly.
Voters still needing to cast a ballot can visit one of the county’s four polling places, each open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The locations are the Hancock County Courthouse Annex, 111 American Legion Place in Greenfield (the Commissioners’ Courtroom on the first floor); the Hancock County Public Library main branch in Greenfield at 900 W. McKenzie Road; the Hancock County Public Library Sugar Creek branch in New Palestine at 5731 W. U.S. 52; and the Buck Creek Township Fire Department at 5809 W. Airport Blvd., Mt. Comfort.
If you have received an absentee ballot but have not returned it to the Election Office at the Hancock County Courthouse, you must do so by noon on Election Day in order for your vote to be counted. You also have the option of casting a vote at one of the four polling places on Election Day. To do this, you will need to bring your unreturned ballot and a form of photo ID, fill out a form to void the absentee ballot and cast an in-person vote.
Personal protective equipment has been provided to all poll workers. Voters are asked to bring their own, as well as to consider bringing their own pens to fill out a ballot or operate an electronic voting machine. Wearing a mask is recommended and encouraged, but not required, to vote.
All polling places are frequently sanitizing equipment and have planned traffic patterns to ensure social distancing among voters.
Because there are fewer polling places available than in a typical election, Lofgreen said voters should take care to ensure they are headed to the right place.
“Some Election Day locations that you’re used to going to are not going to be available. We only have just the four locations, and that is due to the state reducing the requirement of the number of vote centers for us to have,” Lofgreen said.
She also advised voters to get out to vote early so that results could be tabulated as soon as possible.
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The four vote centers are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Bring your own personal protective equipment. Poll workers will be equipped with PPE but will not have enough to distribute to voters.
Election results may be found at www.greenfieldreporter.com starting when the first votes are tallied.
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