Monroe County ballot inspection done, election staff prep for Oct. 8 early voting start
Preparations by Monroe County election staff continue for the Nov. 5 election.
Even though Election Day is still 52 days away, in-person voting starts in a little over three weeks, on Oct. 8. [2024 election calendar]
That means the last day to register to vote is Oct. 7.
According to Monroe County election staff, voter registrations this past week have jumped to an average of around 200 a day, after Tuesday’s presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
From 10 a.m. to noon on Friday, election division staff, along with county election supervisor Kylie Farris, chief deputy clerk Laura Wert, and county clerk Nicole Browne, were on hand for the display of ballots to be used in this year’s elections.
The eight different ballot styles across 83 precincts in Monroe County made for about 50 linear feet worth of ballots laid out on long tables placed end-to-end. The different ballot styles are needed to account for parts of the county in different congressional districts, state house districts, state senate districts, school board districts, as well as overseas voters.
Farris told The B Square that the public ballot inspection is important to ensure that each ballot that is used during early voting and on Election Day is correct, by allowing anyone to see the ballot and to alert staff to any potential errors.
Farris said that her office received the final, amended certified list of candidates from the state of Indiana on Sept. 6—amended because Republican candidate for president Donald Trump’s name had been misspelled.
Appearing on the ballots is a blank to allow someone to write in a name for the county council at-large races. That’s one of two local races that are contested.
Appearing on the county council at-large ballot are three Democrats—Cheryl Munson, Trent Deckard, and David Henry—and one registered write-in candidate, Joe Davis. Straight-ticket votes for a party don’t apply to that party’s candidates in at-large county council races, which means voters have to mark each one individually.
The other contested local race is for District 3 county commissioner, between Republican Joe Van Deventer and Democrat Jody Madeira.
With the Oct. 7 deadline looming for voter registration, next Tuesday (Sept. 17) Monroe County’s election division is partnering with the IU Center on Representative Government (IU CORG) to host a voter registration center at CORG’s office, across from Dunn Meadow on Indiana Avenue.
Hours for the voter registration event at IU CORG on Sept. 17 are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Cosponsoring the voter registration event are Indiana University Student Government (IUSG), IU Political and Civic Engagement (PACE).
