GREENFIELD — At the Hancock County Election Office, all hands are on deck. Even county clerk’s office employees who normally spend their time on other matters, like processing records requests and marriage certificates, are chipping in to keep up with the demand for absentee ballots.
County Clerk Lisa Lofgreen reported that approximately 4,800 requests for mail-in ballots have been submitted as of Tuesday, Sept. 29. Although Indiana has not made mail-in voting automatically available to everyone in the general election — as it was during the primary as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19 — that’s an unusually high number.
The voter registration deadline for Indiana is fast approaching, and once voters are registered, they’ll need to decide how to cast their ballots. Early voting will soon be available as well, giving voters concerned about large crowds a chance to get their “I Voted” sticker as quickly as possible.
Lofgreen reported that Hancock County currently has about 58,415 registered voters. In 2016, a total of 36,914 people voted in the presidential election. This time, Lofgreen is hoping to see turnout numbers higher than that.
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Today, the Daily Reporter presents a primer on voting in this unusual election as key dates approach.
Register to vote
Indiana residents can register to vote through Oct. 5. To do so, they’ll need a valid form of state identification, like a driver’s license. Registration can be completed online at indianavoters.in.gov or in person at the Hancock County Election Office.
Mail-in ballots
Though not all Hoosiers are eligible to request a mail-in ballot, many are, including all voters over the age of 65 and anyone with a disability.
Registered voters can request a ballot be mailed to them via mail, fax, email, or the IndianaVoters website. When the request reaches Lofgreen’s office, it is marked in the Statewide Voter Registration System as having been received, and the website issues a label. That label is then placed on an envelope, in which the appropriate unmarked ballot is mailed to the voter.
“Once you vote that ballot, be sure to sign the gold ballot return envelope before you mail it back. We cannot process a ballot that does not have a signature,” Lofgreen said.
If voters prefer not to return their ballot via the mail, they can do so in person at the election office, located on the second floor of the Hancock County Courthouse, during business hours, or during early voting hours at the Hancock County Annex.
A form is also available at the election office which can be filled out by voters who want to give another person, such as a family member or caregiver, permission to return their absentee ballot for them.
When the ballot is returned to the office, either by mail or by hand, it is marked in the Statewide Voter Registration System as a “fail-safe” against voter fraud; this will show up on the computer system poll workers use and prevent anyone who has already returned a mail-in ballot from voting in person.
Even if the voter has requested, but not returned, a mail-in ballot, there’s only one way they can vote in person. They will need to bring in the ballot they received to a polling place on Election Day, fill out a form so that it can be invalidated, and cast a new ballot.
“Nobody can submit two ballots,” Lofgreen said. “We log every one of the ballots.”
Lofgreen added that she’s never dealt with a case of attempted voter fraud during her time as county clerk.
Once an absentee ballot is back at the election office, it’s matched with the voter’s application and placed in a lockbox at the Hancock County government annex. Two keys, one in the possession of local Republicans and the other in the possession of local Democrats, are needed to open that box. It remains sealed until Election Day.
Early in-person voting
Any ballot cast prior to Election Day is considered an absentee ballot, but unlike mail-in voting, any registered Indiana voter is eligible to cast an in-person early vote at several locations around the county. Early voting begins Oct. 6.
Voters will need to show a photo identification to vote in person, whether early or on Election Day.
If you opt to vote in person early, your ballot will also be placed into an envelope, which you’ll sign. Those ballots, too, will be placed in the locked box at the county annex and sealed until it is time to count them on Election Day.
Ballots are checked by bipartisan “slice teams” working together, so called because they slice open the envelopes containing the completed ballots after checking to make sure the envelope is signed and turning it upside down. The ballot is then removed and placed to the side, so that the name of the voter on the envelope is not seen alongside their confidential vote. Only after that will the ballots be counted.
Lofgreen said there will be 10 to 12 slice teams working on Election Day, and they are able to start counting votes as early as 6 a.m. Depending on turnout and based on figures from the last presidential election, the number of envelopes to be processed could approach 20,000.
Election Day voting
Voting will work slightly differently on Election Day, Nov. 3; rather than being sealed in an envelope and counted later, votes are tabulated as they come in. The paper ballots are fed into a machine called a DS200, which processes an ongoing count.
A flash drive attached to that machine is then plugged in to the election office’s computer system, where it transfers the numbers it’s been tracking throughout the day into the software that tracks the final results.
The county has increased the number of polling places available for the general election to 10 from an originally planned eight. Lofgreen said all polling places are fully staffed for both early voting and Election Day. (The county had four vote centers in the June primary.)
The state will provide personal protective equipment for all poll workers, and extra masks will be available for voters who wish to use them.
Michelle Repar, the vice chair of the Hancock County Democratic Party and a frequent poll worker, is planning to serve on Election Day this year. She said the primary election experience went well, with voters observing COVID-19 safety.
“I thought they took it very seriously, and I did not feel afraid to be there,” Repar said.
She is anticipating a high turnout in the general election and hopes voters will practice distancing.
“I think it’s going to be crowded, if everyone who says they’re going to vote gets out and votes,” Repar said.
Becky Studebaker, another longtime Democratic poll worker, said she felt safe during the day of the primary election. However, she said, it could be difficult for voters to stay at least 6 feet apart if lines are long.
“If there are long lines, there’s not much social distancing when they’re wrapped around the building,” she said.
Lofgreen is hoping the number of locations, plus the availability of early voting, will help the county tabulate its final results more quickly than it did during the primary. Polls close at 6 p.m.; anyone who is in line at that point is allowed to vote. Once the queue is empty, poll workers will bring their flash drive containing the days tally to the annex.
Although voters may be waiting a long time for the results of the presidential election, they can expect to know how Hancock County voted without staying up all night. Just a handful of local races are contested, and none countywide.
“All things considered, if the lines aren’t too long at 6 p.m. and we’re able to move those voters through who are still in line at 6 at a fairly decent rate, then as soon as we get those polls closed and they get the information back to us… that process doesn’t take more than 30 minutes,” she said.
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Here is where you can vote before Election Day:
Hancock County Annex — 111 American Legion Place, Greenfield
Weekdays, Oct. 6-30, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 24, and Saturday, Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 2, 8 a.m. to noon
Hancock County Public Library — 900 W. McKenzie Rd., Greenfield; and 5731 U.S. 52, New Palestine
Weekdays, Oct. 19-30, 2-7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 24, and Saturday, Oct. 31 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 25 and Sunday, Nov. 1, 1-4 p.m.
Fortville Community Center, 400 W. Church St., Fortville; and Buck Creek Township Fire Department 5809 W. Airport Blvd., Greenfield
Weekdays, Oct. 19-30, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 24, and Saturday, Oct. 31 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 25 and Sunday, Nov. 1, 1-4 p.m.
All of the above locations will be open on Election Day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. These vote centers also will be open on Election Day:
-NineStar Connect North, 2331 E. County Road 600N, Greenfield
-Nameless Creek Camp and Event Center, 2675 S. County Road 600E, Greenfield
-Wilkinson Church of Christ, 7293 State Road 109, Wilkinson
-McCordsville Town Hall, 6280 W. County Road 800N, McCordsville
-Cross of Grace Lutheran Church, 3519 S. County 600W, New Palestine
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A list of polling places and hours for early, in-person voting, which begins Oct. 6. Page A4
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