City Primary Election Day for Bloomington, Ellettsville: Polls are OPEN

“The polls are open and all is well.”

That was the opening line from an email sent by Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne at 6:09 a.m today, Tuesday, May 2.

Bloomington voters are electing party nominees for mayor, clerk, and nine city council seats. Ellettsville voters are electing party nominees for clerk/treasurer and town council.

At 6 a.m. the election inspector for the voting location that’s set up at the elections operations building at 3rd and Walnut streets opened the door and announced the opening of the polls, as required by state election law.

No one was standing in line to vote at 6 a.m. sharp. The first voter arrived at 6:11 a.m., and asked, “Where is everybody?” before disappearing inside to cast his ballot. Four minutes later, he reappeared then drove away.

The election operations building at 3rd and Walnut streets, which is the former NAPA auto parts store, is the voting location for seven precincts: B-03, B-07, B-22, P-06, P-08, P-15, and P-31.

Indiana’s secretary of state has set up a voter portal where you can check your polling site for primary Election Day, which is May 2.

The B Square will update this article with vignettes from different polling locations throughout the day.

06:45 Election operations building. At the 6 a.m. polling start, the only candidate represented was Kerry Thomson, whose mayoral campaign was staffed by Holly Stocking. It’s Stocking’s first time working the polls for any candidate. She’s a former reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

Mayoral candidate Don Griffin appears around 6:30 a.m.with his wife, Nicole. He’s wearing an orange knit hat against the chilly 43 F degree temperatures. He unbuttons his coat to reveal his campaign T-shirt for The B Square’s photo. As he heads in to vote, he buttons back up to conform with the election law that prohibits campaigning within 50 feet of a polling place.

At-large candidate for city council Isak Asare is here greeting voters with enthusiasm: “You are a superstar for voting this morning!” Supporting his campaign holding signs is Sydney Zulich.

07:00 a.m. Emailed update from the Monroe County clerk, Nicole Browne. “Since the opening of the polls, 211 people have voted. I was made aware that only one voter has taken advantage of the IMU polling site. If you know voters in that community, please encourage them to vote once their final exams are done.”

07:53 a.m. Bloomington High School South. This is the voting location for five precincts: P-09, P-10, P-12, P-13, and P-32. Mayoral candidate Kerry Thomson, is here in person. Before ducking into the polling site to check for a tally of voters so far, The B Square asks Thomson for a guess. She ventures 38. The total proves to be 41. The Griffin campaign is represented by Jessika Griffin, who is not related to Don. Here in person to support his campaign for at-large city council is Jonas Schrodt. Supporting the Jenny Stevens campaign for District 5 city council is Pamela Davidson. Supporting the Shruti Rana campaign for District 5 city council  is Natalia Galvan.

08:00 a.m. Emailed update from the Monroe County clerk, Nicole Browne. “Since the polls opened, 387 voters have reported to their polling sites and cast their ballots.Bloomington High School South has had the most voters (48). Indiana Memorial Union has had the fewest (1). The sun is up. Rise and shine.”

08:24 Bloomington High South addendum. Democratic Party chair David Henry is here, but not in that capacity. He’s also a member of the election board, and that’s why he’s here, to make sure things are running smoothly. Also of note: Running smoothly along the fence as the B Square exits the polling place is a deer. It proves democracy has not stag-nated in Bloomington.

08:53 a.m. Bloomington High School North. Three precincts vote here: B-04, B-13, and B-17. Representing the Griffin campaign is De Delarosa. Representing the Thomson campaign iss Katie Weismiller. No other campaigns for any office are represented. Inside the running tally is 49 people who have voted with one in progress.

09:00 a.m. Emailed update from the Monroe County clerk, Nicole Browne. “As of this correspondence, 840 people have voted since the polls opened at 6:00 this morning. Between Early Voting and Election Day, 4,043 voters have cast a ballot.”

09:21 a.m. Arlington Heights Elementary School. Just one precinct votes here: B-14. That probably accounts for the fact that just 10 people have voted so far. Also, no live human beings are here representing any campaign, but there are plenty of signs.

09:48 a.m. University Elementary School. Three precincts vote here: B-09, B-10, and B-16. The sun is out full bore, but the 10 mph northwest wind with gusts to 23 mph and the 49 F degree temperature have the three representatives from different campaigns shivering. For Don Griffin’s mayoral campaign, Kaisa Goodman is here. For Kerry Thomson’s mayoral campaign, her campaign manager, Jacob Schwartz is here. Hopi Stosberg is here in person supporting her own bid for District 3 city council. All three guess way under for the tally of voters so far, but Stosberg comes closest to the total of 96 with her guess of 65.

10:00 a.m. Emailed update from the Monroe County clerk, Nicole Browne. “I am pleased to report that, by 10:00 this morning, more than 1,000 voters have turned out today to cast a ballot. More specifically, since the polls opened at 6:00 this morning, 1,200 voters have cast a ballot. Let’s keep that momentum going.”

10:20 a.m. Eastview Church of the Nazarene. Two precincts vote here: P-21 and P-26. Tanner Branham is here on behalf of Don Griffin’s campaign for mayor. Chris Geary arrives back to represent Kerry Thomson’s mayoral campaign after fetching coffee for herself and the others, which include Jenny Stevens, who is running for city council District 5. The coffee is supposed to help against the chill winds. In the short time The B Square is on site, the sun has moved enough so that the campaign representatives are no longer standing in the shade of a tree—they’re enjoying some  warming rays. According to election officials, 117 people have voted here so far.

10:57 a.m. Sherwood Oaks Christian Church. Voting here are precincts P-18 and P-19. So far 175 people have voted at this polling location. Isak Asare is here in person supporting his campaign for at-large city council. Here on behalf of Kerry Thomson’s mayoral campaign is Carol Remak. Mayoral candidate Don Griffin’s campaign treasurer Larry Allen and Niki Farrell are here in support of Griffin. Supporting Jenny Stevens in her bid for District 5 city council is Valerie Merriam. The Stevens campaign has a big bowl of peppermint candy for voters, which Merriam says was common back in the 1970s when she first started working on campaigns. Merriam said there’s not many takers, even though they only have 15 calories apiece. But as they’re exiting the polls with their parents, two kids grab some peppermints. Merriam said she has worked elections on days when it’s been really cold and rainy. Today’s weather (51 F degrees, sunny with 10 mph wind) is comparatively pleasant, she says.

11:00 a.m. Emailed update from the Monroe County clerk, Nicole Browne. “We’re getting close to the 5,000 number. As of 11:00 this morning, between Early Voting and Election Day voting, we’ve had 4,861 ballots cast…and 1,658 were cast today alone.”

11:25 a.m. Faith Lutheran. Just one precinct votes here: P-14. Only one campaign is represented in person. Nancy Baldwin is here on behalf of Kerry Thomson’s mayoral campaign. So far, 83 people have voted at this location.

12:00 p.m. Emailed update from the Monroe County clerk, Nicole Browne. “As of the noon hour, 5,260 voters have cast ballots…and 2,057 voters cast those ballots today. Please call anyone you know who might not have voted and encourage them to get out there. Wait times are shorter and the ballot is smaller.”

12:45 p.m. Election operations building redux. The B Square circled back to 3rd and Walnut streets to see if candidates were targeting this location for the lucrative noon hour. Spotted from the top of the 4th Street parking garage, looking south, was mayoral candidate Don Griffin talking to Kerry Thomson, who is also running for mayor. Thomson’s daughter, Caroline, arrives with a box of donut holes. Nicole Griffin, Don’s wife, is also here. Representing Susan Sandberg’s mayoral campaign was Brian O’Neill, a former county commissioner. Shouts by The B Square  from the top of the garage were not enough to draw the attention of the candidates to make a better photo.

Also here are the two candidates for city council District 1—incumbent Isabel Piedmont-Smith and Joe Lee. At-large candidate for city council Isak Asare is here along with campaign volunteer Sydney Zulich. Asare’s enthusiasm from earlier in the morning is unabated. A parent is walking into the polls with a youngster wearing a hat shaped like some kind of animal. Asare is thanking people for voting, and includes the youngster: “And you—with the wonderful hat!”

WTIU reporter Elizabeth DeSantis is here shooting footage of the candidates. They take turns standing in front of DeSantis’s camera, answering basic questions.

14:00 p.m. Emailed update from the Monroe County clerk, Nicole Browne. “As of 2:00, we have passed the 6,000-voter mark with 6,040 voters having cast a ballot in this election…2,837 voters have cast an Election Day ballot. I tried to find the oldest voter who has participated in this municipal election…and, so far, she appears to be 99 years young.  Her 100th birthday will be this summer and I want to acknowledge her making the concerted effort to vote. Now, if she can do it….Less than four hours until the polls close.”

14:30 p.m. Fairview Elementary School. Three precincts vote at this location: B-01, B-06, and B-20. According to the election inspector, 130 people have voted here so far. Here at this polling site are the two city council incumbents who are looking to be elected to serve District 2, with its newly drawn boundaries: Sue Sgambelluri and Kate Rosenbarger. Also here is Cory Ray, handing out “cheat sheets” for Rosenbarger, and at-large city council candidates Matt Flaherty and Steve Volan.

Tim Ballard is here supporting Don Griffin’s mayoral campaign. Beth Ellis is here on behalf of Kerry Thomson’s campaign. Marc Haggerty approaches the group of campaigners for a short visit. This is his polling place— he’ll be circling back later to cast a ballot.

15:00 p.m. Emailed update from the Monroe County clerk, Nicole Browne. “At the 3:00 hour, I anticipate the number of Election Day voters passing the number of Early/In Person voters. We’ve had 3,201 voters today.”

16:00 p.m. Emailed update from the Monroe County clerk, Nicole Browne. “With two hours left until the polls close, 6,839 voters have cast a ballot in the municipal Primary. Of those, 3,636 votes were cast today. I believe I found one of the youngest voters, a 17-year-old who will turn 18 in September. I love it when the young people initiate the habit of voting. Thank you so much for turning out.”

17:00 p.m. Emailed update from the Monroe County clerk, Nicole Browne. “At the 5:00 hour, 4,133 voters have turned out on Election Day and 7,336 voters have turned out since Early Voting began last month. … At 6:00, you will receive the last update I have prior to our transition for polling sites to report back. Please do not anticipate any results before 6:30 or 7:00…and call it a pleasant surprise if I am able to deliver some numbers prior to that time.”

18:00 p.m. Election Central. The tally of voters on Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne’s screen at 6 p.m. was 7,912. That could increase a bit based on voters who were in line at the time the polls closed. That’s the final update from the polls. Results, when available, will be reported at this link: Alea iacta est: May 2, 2023 primary election results, served when ready