HANCOCK COUNTY – Throughout the waves of rain during the day, polling centers located across the county had lines of voters out the doors for the primary election.
On the north side of the county, people holding campaign signs lined the sidewalks at the McCordsville Town Hall — a final strategy to get voters to select their candidate on the ballot.
Bruce Bender stood with a sign for Stephanie Yocum for State Rep. District 88 in one hand and an umbrella in the other, representing his daughter running for office.
Bender had been outside the town hall since about 10:30 a.m. and planned to be there until he had to leave for work in the mid-afternoon. Bender, a U.S. Army veteran, said that a reason they (military service members) go out and fight is so every citizen has the right to vote.
Not too far down the sidewalk, Linda Robinson, who is running for county council, was also holding a sign and greeting voters as they came to wait in the line of approximately 30 people. Robinson mentioned that every vote counts, and proof of that is when she ran McCordsville Town Council last year — only falling behind by seven votes.
“That’s what I’m running for, the future of Hancock County,” said Robinson, mentioning that voters can always reach out to her about the county’s future and her focus on the roads and infrastructure.
Others who showed support included family and friends of both candidates for county commissioner — Greg Brewer and Jeannine Gray.
At the Fortville Community Center, election volunteer Marybeth Sears said she had begun the set up and make sure everything was ready to go at 5 a.m. Being an inspector this year, Sears was trying to stay ahead of any issue that may arise, such as if an ID didn’t scan properly or if a voter needed directed to a different county.
Sears has been volunteering for the elections for 10 years and said she enjoys being involved in the selection process.
“I always admired people working when I would go with my parents when they voted. My dad always took me with him. And I always thought, ‘Oh, that’d be so much fun to be able to do that,’” Sears said. “And I know a lot of people in town and it’s just good to kind of catch up on a bi-yearly time with elections and see people that I’ve known over the years.”
Polls were busy at 11 a.m. at the Hancock County Public Library in Greenfield, where the line stretched 30 people or so long. One little boy waited patiently in line, Spiderman action figure in hand as the adults around him waited their turns to vote.
A steady stream of cars made their way into the parking lot, where cars jockeyed for spots in the parking lot, making their way past a small group of candidates and their supporters. Some made their way into the library on canes, walkers or crutches to make their vote count.
“It was a little quiet here at first but then things picked up,” said Keely Butrum, one of the four Republican candidates running to take over State Rep. Bob Cherry’s seat in District 53.
Butrum planned to spend her day greeting voters at the polls while a throng of volunteers sporting her name on T-shirts were doing the same in other parts of the county.
“I do believe for an undecided voter going in that a presence can have an impact, but I don’t think it changes the minds of decided voters,” she said.
One of three opponents, Kevin Mandrell of New Palestine, also spent his morning greeting voters at the Greenfield library.
After nearly four months of steady campaigning, Mandrell said it was exciting that Election Day was finally here.
“My wife and I knocked on over 2,800 doors ourselves, and we had tremendous volunteers getting out knocking on doors and talking to people,” he said.
While he works long hours as a farmer, 31-year-old Matt Heath of Wilkinson made the time to vote Tuesday morning at the Wilkinson Church of Christ near his home.
“I think it’s important people vote every single year. I’ve never missed an election yet,” said Heath, who started voting the year he turned 18.
Only Republican races were up for grabs this year as Democratic races went uncontested.
“Things have been moving at a good pace. We’ve had a very good turnout so far,” said Charles Collier, the inspector at the Wilkinson Church of Christ voting center, where 111 voters had cast their ballots by 9 a.m.
Among them were Larry and Marty Massey of Shirley.
Although Larry has mobility issues at the age of 86 and walks with the aid of a walker, his wife made sure he was able to cast his vote.
“I’ve been voting all my life,” said Marty, 79, who can remember sitting in her parents’ car as a young girl alongside her siblings as her parents went in to vote.
Heath said taking advantage of the right to vote is the least Americans can do to help shape their government. Heath puts his faith in some of the local officials he knows to make Hancock County a great place to raise his 4-year-old daughter.
“With this being a primary, not a lot of people put an emphasis on it because they think it’s a throwaway election. But, fortunately for the county, this is kind of where we figure out who is going to be leading us for the next four years on a local level to some degree,” he said.
Heath said he hopes those elected will make the county and beyond a better place to live and work.
“As citizens, we ask quite a bit to have the ability to live how we want, so we have to put a little bit of effort into it, at least in my humble opinion. So the one thing we can do is just help out and try to figure out who do we want to be leading us for X amount of years, whether it’s one term or they serve for five or whatever the case may be.”
In the southern half of the county, officials at the Sugar Creek Township Library and Cross of Grace Lutheran Church had differing views of how election traffic was unfolding on election day.
There was a steady stream of voters from the time the polls opened despite the mid-morning rain at Sugar Creek Township Library while folks at Cross of Grace said things were moving slowly at times.
At lunchtime, there was a line of voters waiting outside the doors of the Sugar Creek Township Library to get in and cast their vote despite lingering sprinkles of rain.
Ethan Lawson, who is running for the Republican House Seat in District 53 had his wife, Holly, camped in front of the library wishing voters a good day while holding a Lawson sign.
“My day is wonderful,” Holly Lawson said. “We feel energized and know there is a ground-swelling of support for his authentic, conservative message.”
Holly Lawson noted her husband was working the polls in Greenfield hoping to pick up as many last minutes votes as possible while she manned the ship in New Palestine.
Over at Cross of Grace, less than a mile away, Keely Butrum’s father, Mark McDonald, noted the crowd of voters had been a little sporadic. He’d been at the poll since 6 a.m. McDonald and said it’s been great giving support for his daughter who is also running as a Republican for the House Seat in District 53.
“She’s a real hard worker and is always thinking about doing what is right for the people,” McDonald said. “She’s not a ‘yes’ person and she’s known pretty well in Greenfield.”
Butrum said he was also doing last-minute campaigning in Greenfield on election day, talking with voters where they hoped a good crowd would turn out.
Nicole Parcell, election inspector at Cross of Grace, said they had 175 voters by around 11:15 a.m., indicating a slow but steady Tuesday morning. Parcell reported there were no machine issues and everything seemed to be rolling smoothly.
“Things are going well,” Parcell said. “I’ve worked in rain, snow and sleet, so as long as people turn out to vote we don’t mind the weather.”
The Daily Reporter will cover the election results live Tuesday night after the print deadline, after which you can find results and reaction at greenfieldreporter.com.
