Campaign sign kerfuffle marks early voting launch at new Monroe County location
Early voting for the May 5 primary began Tuesday morning at Monroe County’s lone early voting site, the North Showers building in downtown Bloomington. A controversy over the placement of campaign signs came to the surface when Bloomington officials objected.
Left: No campaigning is allowed within 50 feet of the polls. Right: This is looking south down the sidewalk by the Showers building when all the campaign signs were still in place. (Dave Askins, April 7, 2026)
Early voting for the May 5 primary elections started at 8 a.m. Tuesday at Monroe County’s one early voting location, which is the county-owned North Showers building at 9th Street and Morton Street in downtown Bloomington.
It’s a new location for early voting.
Voting itself got off to a smooth start. But a little over an hour after the polls opened, city of Bloomington officials came to the county-owned side of the Showers building to say that candidate campaign signs and directional signs could not remain in place on city-owned property just outside the building. The property is apparently a mix of city-owned property, county-owned property, and public right-of-way.
Monroe County election supervisor Kylie Farris and others interviewed by The B Square said that Bloomington corporation counsel Margie Rice had pointed to a recent court case, involving public art in the public right of way, filed against Bloomington by Turning Point USA, as the reason the city did not want signage on its property. Bloomington prevailed in that case.
When asked if she was “relying on” the Turning Point case in an emailed question from The B Square, Rice appeared to indicate there was not a crucial connection between the Turning Point lawsuit and the question of campaign signage.
She put it like this: “I do not think it is accurate to say that I am ‘relying on’ the Turning Point case; however, that case is fresh in my mind. Of course, I always want to avoid confusion or questions about non-City signs or messages on City property.” Rice added, “When I think about signs and sign ordinances, the first case that comes to mind for me is the 2015 United States Supreme Court out of Arizona (Reed v. Town of Gilbert).” [Reed v. Town of Gilbert]
Asked about the idea that polling places are a governmental function and the signs could be allowed as such, Rice wrote: “The signs at issue are not City signs. As I understand it the signs are candidate signs and County-issued signs; therefore, as of now, this is not a case of the City exercising a governmental function or the City speaking. It could be, in the near future, but—as of now—the City has not authorized placement of any campaign-related, directional signs on City property.”
According to Matthew Kochevar, who is co-general counsel for the Indiana Election Division, the relevant state law allows a city to bar all campaign signage or to allow all of it on its property—it just has to apply the policy evenly:
36-1-4 Placement or display of political materials on political subdivision property
Sec. 21. If a political subdivision permits or authorizes the placement or display of materials:
(1) advocating the election or defeat of a candidate or public question; or
(2) supporting or opposing a political party; on the real or personal property of the political subdivision, the political subdivision must permit the placement or display of these materials from any person on that real or personal property subject to the same time, place, and manner restrictions.
For the county government’s part, it sounds like county commissioners would be in favor of allowing all campaign signs on county property. Asked by The B Square if she would support campaign signage outside North Showers on county-owned land, commissioner Jody Madeira said: “Yes, in all-caps.”
While the issue of candidate signage looks like it might evolve a bit over the next day or two, nothing will change for voters. They will be able to cast their ballots there just like those who showed up at 8 a.m.
Before the doors opened on Tuesday, a half dozen early voters were waiting, bundled up against the 39F° temperatures.
One early voter told The B Square she generally opts to vote during the four-week early voting period, but this year she actually has to, because she’ll be out of town on Election Day.
Another woman said she’s not sure which location her precinct has been assigned for Election Day, after the old NAPA Auto Parts story building was demolished to make way for the convention center expansion. To avoid the uncertainty, she figured she would just vote early at the new early voting location at North Showers: “I thought I’d better come here because I know where this is.”
The old NAPA building served as the county’s early voting location for a few years, and also served as the voting location for several precincts on Election Day. Voters who are uncertain about their Election Day voting location can verify it on the Indiana Voter Portal.
At 8 o’clock sharp Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne opened the doors to the North Showers building and give the announcement that the polls were open: “Hear ye, hear ye, the polls are now open!”The announcement is not just for fun. It’s a requirement of state election law, which says the announcement about the start of voting must be made “in a loud tone of voice” to “the people outside the polls.”
Comments ()