Rain means early Election Day turnout light so far in Monroe County primaries

It was a rainy start to primary Election Day in Monroe County. At Election Central at the North Showers building on Morton Street in downtown Bloomington, Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne opened the polls at 6 a.m. sharp. She delivered he announcement in the statutorily required loud tone of voice.

May 5, 2026 "Hear ye, hear ye the polls are now open"

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Polling locations log

Election Central at North Showers. 6:00 a.m. There was no one in line to hear Browne’s announcement opening the polls. The first voter showed up around 6:05 a.m. While many voters are casting their ballots today, the absentee ballots that were mailed in and the ballots that were voted early in person are also getting processed at Election Central today. Scanning of those already-voted ballots is not allowed until Election Day.

Boys and Girls Club. 6:23 a.m. Two people have voted so far. There was a technology glitch with the driver’s license scanning function on the electronic poll books, which meant that poll workers were instructed to use a backup strategy of entering voter information manually. One voter didn’t have time to wait for the issue to get sorted out, so they left with the intent to return later in the day. A few minutes later, the driver’s license scanning function has been restored and two more voters were checked in with the pollbook scanner as The B Square watches.

Indiana Memorial Union. 6:52 a.m. Just one person has voted so far. Pollworkers here have not experienced the driver’s license scanning glitch. But a member of the IT team from B&L IT Services, the county’s election equipment consultant, confirms to The B Square it was a systemwide issue that has now been resolved. The IMU marks the first candidate encounter. Joe Davis is running for county clerk and arrives to place signs at the IMU. The two other candidates in the race for the Democratic Party’s nomination for clerk are Tree Martin Lucas and Tanner Branham.

County clerk’s emailed update. 8:00 a.m. The emailed update from county clerk Nicole Browne says around 800 people countywide have voted so far today.

Bloomington High School South. 8:18 a.m. So far 46 votes have cast a ballot at this location. Tree Martin Lucas has a campaign volunteer working this location. Martin Lucas is one of three candidates for the Democratic Party’s nomination for county clerk. The other two are Joe Davis and Tanner Branham. Julie Hays is the only Republican on the ballot.

Here representing his own campaign for county commissioner is Trent Deckard. He is competing with David Henry for the Democratic Party’s nomination for District 1 county commissioner. Also here is Jeremy Goodrich, who is running for one of three Democratic Party nominations to the Perry Township board. Also running are Jack Davis, Susie Hamilton, Jenny Olmes-Stevens and Barbara Sturbaum.

Bloomington High School North. 8:48 a.m. So far 45 voters have cast a ballot at this location. There are campaign signs but no candidates here.

County clerk’s emailed update. 9:15 a.m. The emailed update from county clerk Nicole Browne says around 1,712 people have voted today. Top locations so far, with more than 100 voters each, are: St. John’s Catholic church, Emmanuel Church, Highland Park Elementary, and University Elementary. 

University Elementary School. 9:58 a.m. So far at this location 153 people have voted. Candidate for county clerk Tree Martin Lucas is here in person. She also has the largest sign of any candidate. A voter approaches me with a question: “Are you Dave?” The followup makes my heart sing: “Do you have any stickers?” Yes! There were two stickers left. Now there is one! 

County clerk’s emailed update. 11:00 a.m. The clerk says 3,434 people have voted so far since the polls opened this morning. Five sites have tallied more than 200 people: Eastview Church; Ellettsville Christian; Emmanuel Church; St. Johns; and University Elementary.

Sherwood Oaks. 11:09 a.m. So far at this location 139 people have voted. Campaigns represented include Brad Meyer for 9th District U.S. Congress and Erik Oliphant for county prosecutor. 

Jackson Creek Middle School. 11:29 a.m. So far at this location 210 people have voted. David Henry’s campaign for county commissioner is represented by Cathy Smith, who is county treasurer. Tanner Branham’s campaign for county clerk is represented by Tanner Branham himself. The state house representative campaign for Amy Huff Oliver is represented by Josh Montagne. And the Erica Oliphant campaign for county prosecutor is represented by chief deputy prosecutor Jeff Kehr.

County clerk’s emailed update. 12:00 p.m. The clerk reports that 4,521 people have voted so far on Election Day. It seems pretty clear that today’s tally will surpass the number of in-person early voters, which was 4,957 people.

County clerk’s emailed update. 1:45 p.m. According to county clerk Nicole Browne, 5,893 voters have cast a ballot today. Added to the 4,957 people who voted early in person, that makes 10,850.

Boys and Girls Club. 3:54 p.m. Kade Young with WFHB is here interviewing people about their voting experiences. Campaigns represented include Leon Gordon for Perry Township trustee—Gordon is here himself. Also here is a volunteer for Erika Oliphant’s campaign for county prosecutor. Former Bloomington city clerk Regina Moore is here, so I coax her over to talk to WFHB. Not sure how much of the interview they will use, but listen to today’s newscast to find out.

County clerk’s emailed update. 4:00 p.m. The turnout today so far is 8,130 voters, according to county clerk Nicole Browne.

County clerk’s emailed update. 5:00 p.m. The turnout today so far is 9,509 voters, according to county clerk Nicole Browne.

End transmission. That’s the final update from here.

When results are available they will be posted by the county’s GIS team on a results dashboard, among other places.