Nearly 5,000 vote early in Monroe County, rain may shape Tuesday (May 5) turnout
Early voting in Monroe County closed at noon Monday, with 4,957 ballots cast. That’s well above 2022 but just shy of 2018’s record. Voters now head to assigned precincts Tuesday, where rain could dampen turnout. Results are expected to be posted online a couple hours after polls close.
About a half minute after noon on Monday (May 4), a couple of prospective voters arrived at the North Showers building on Morton Street in downtown Bloomington intending to cast their ballots in the Monroe County primary elections.
They were 30 seconds too late for the final day of the early voting period. But they will have from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday (May 5), Primary Election Day to fill out a ballot for candidates running from the party of their choice.
They will still have to vote at their assigned polling place, which is based on their home precinct. There are 28 polling locations in Monroe County this year. One easy way to check for a voter’s correct voting location is the Indiana voter portal’s online lookup tool.
In the last four weeks, 4,957 people cast an in-person early vote in Monroe County, which is a smidgen less than the 5,032 early voters in 2018. That was the year with the highest numerical turnout of any mid-term primary election year since 2006. This year’s total was 44% bigger than the 3,433 early voters in the most recent mid-term primaries in 2022.
The early daily numbers this year were outpacing numbers from 2018 by about 40%, but in the final week, the daily totals this year couldn’t match those from 2018.
In 2018, the Democratic Party’s primary in the race for U.S. senator saw 12,007 ballots cast. If the early voting this year indicates a similar trend for the totals, that would mean around 12,000 total ballots this year for the Democrats. It would take around 6,000 votes to win a two-way race.
But the weather could have an impact on the turnout this year. In 2018, primary Election Day was mostly sunny and warm with a high around 79F°. This year, the best chance of staying dry will be early in the day. The National Weather Service gives a 30-50% chance of rain from 6 a.m. until 9 a.m., when the chance of showers increases to around 70%. After noon, it is going to rain until well after the polls close at 6 p.m.
The Monroe County GIS team will be reporting results from the polls on an online dashboard, but those numbers should not be expected until at least an hour or two after the polls close.
Comments ()