If you still have your ballot, please hand-deliver, says Monroe County election official

Local Government, Monroe County 1 Minute

 

Door slot at Election Central for turning in ballots.
Chief deputy auditor Chris Muench and auditor Cathy Smith.
Door slot at Election Central for turning in ballots.

On Wednesday, Monroe County election board member Carolyn VandeWiel passed along a kind of public service announcement to The Square Beacon:

If you still have your absentee ballot, don’t drop it in the mail.

Please hand-deliver it to Election Central.

Election Central is at the corner of 7th and Madison Streets in downtown Bloomington.

Why hand-deliver it? The ballot has to arrive by noon on Tuesday, June 2. At this point, the easiest way to make sure that happens is to make a field trip to Election Central. Arrival is defined by actual arrival, not the postmark.

There’s a labeled vertical slot on the Election Central door, ready to accept a ballot.

A quick trip by The Square Beacon over to Election Center was highlighted by encounters with a few different public figures.

Spotted on the county courthouse walkway, wearing their “I voted!” stickers, were auditor Cathy Smith and her chief deputy Chris Muench. They were returning from Election Central a couple blocks west of there. Smith is unopposed in the Democratic Party’s primary and there’s not a Republican candidate for auditor on the ballot.

Campaigning in front of Election Central was one of the candidates for circuit court judge, Kara Elaine Krothe. She’s competing with Jeff Kehr for the Democratic Party’s nomination. The winner will face incumbent Republican Judith Benckart. Krothe said about 300 people voted in person the previous day, and Wednesday’s voter traffic was brisker than the day before.

At Election Central, Bloomington city councilmember Jim Sims dropped by to turn in some campaign committee documents. Sims used the same door slot where some voters were already taking the advice to turn in their ballots by hand, instead of hoping the mail would arrive on time.

copped 2020-05-28 I voted IMG_0702

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8 thoughts on “If you still have your ballot, please hand-deliver, says Monroe County election official”

  1. I am surprised anyone is campaigning outside Election Central with all of the concerns about COVID

    1. I did not do a great job (or any job, really) clarifying the nature of the “campaigning”—which was totally at a large distance. She was on the grass median where candidates put there signs and it was waves and shouts, everything way farther than 6 feet. I am sorry for the confusion I seem to have sown on that point. Also: Everyone named in this story was wearing a mask.

    2. We are standing on the corner with masks on, no where close to voters. We are not approaching anyone and holding our signs. We are following all guidelines. Thanks for your concern.

  2. Thanks for passing this information along. Could you please give me more specific directions? East or west side of Madison? North or south side of Seventh St.? Is there a sign?

    1. Hi Mary, it’s the southwest corner of 7th and Madison. You can’t miss it. Lots of campaign signs along 7th Street. Big “Voter Parking Only” signs facing Madison. Here’s a view of the building from Madison, looking southwest.

      1. Thank you! That’s very helpful. I haven’t walked downtown since early March (have been sticking to streets with very low foot traffic), and I didn’t want to wander around looking for it. And thanks again for the information about dropping off ballots rather than mailing.

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