Monroe County election board prepping for in-person polling numbers based on regular rules for absentee voters

The reduced number of polling sites that Monroe County used for the June 2 primary is not a part of current planning for November voting. That’s the latest word from the county election board’s meeting last Thursday.

nov. 3 new poll vote

For the general election, the county election board is looking to use all its regular sites and maybe more, not just the seven it selected for the primary from the 34 that it typically uses.

That’s because it was only for the primary election that no-excuse absentee voting was approved by the state’s election commission this spring—during the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A larger number of absentee voters means fewer people at the polls on election day.

No-excuse absentee voting is unlikely to be enacted for this year’s general election, based on Indiana governor Eric Holcomb’s remarks at his press conference last Wednesday.

Holcomb is not inclined to allow mail-in balloting, except for the limited exceptions that are already listed out in the state’s election law. Continue reading “Monroe County election board prepping for in-person polling numbers based on regular rules for absentee voters” →

Monroe County clerk on 2020 general election: “I know seven polling sites are not going to cut it in November.”

The Nov. 3, 2020 general election will be likely be administered under the standard prevailing laws and rules in the state of Indiana.

cropped Hal Turner Screen Shot 2020-07-03 at 3.30.01 PM 1 — Chair of Monroe County’s three-member election board, Hal Turner at the July 2, 2020 meeting, which was conducted on the Zoom video-conferencing platform.

That’s what Monroe County election board members are assuming, based on discussion at their regular meeting on Thursday.

That would mean no-excuse absentee balloting, which was enacted just for this year’s primary election by Indiana’s state election commission, won’t be in place for the general election.

So Monroe County board members are planning to use all 34 election day polling sites in November, not just the seven that were used for the June 2 primary.

The four-member bi-partisan state commission decided in late March to allow voters to request an absentee ballot to vote by mail for any reason.

Allowing no-excuse absentee voting was an effort to reduce the number of people voting in person at the polls on election day, to help prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic virus. Continue reading “Monroe County clerk on 2020 general election: “I know seven polling sites are not going to cut it in November.”” →

Monroe County election board girds for June 2 in-person primary balloting, but all voters to receive applications to vote by mail

Opening ballots

Hal Turner

Carolyn VandeWiele

Hal Turner

Monroe County’s election board is preparing for the upcoming June 2 primary election by promoting the no-excuse absentee voting option that the state’s election commission has enacted just for this year’s primary.

The June 2 date is a postponement from the originally scheduled May 5 primary. Postponement of the election and no-excuse absentee voting are measures meant to help make the election safer for the voters and election workers.

Voting absentee takes a couple of steps, the first of which is for a voter to submit an application form to request a ballot.

At it’s meeting on Thursday afternoon, the election board gave a green light to election office staffers to start prepping for a mass mailing, so that all of the county’s roughly 100,000 registered voters will receive a ballot application in the mail. Continue reading “Monroe County election board girds for June 2 in-person primary balloting, but all voters to receive applications to vote by mail” →

Polling place consolidation, ballot application mailing mulled by Monroe County election board

At an emergency work session held Monday morning, Monroe County’s three-member election board took some initial steps towards implementation of the in-person primary elections described in Friday’s order by the state’s election commission.

R Map Possible 2020 Primary Locations XXXxxxx — Monroe County’s election board is considering limiting the number of in-person polling places on primary election day (June 2) to just five locations.

Two key strategies are part of Monroe County’s plan deal with this year’s pandemic-impacted primary election.

First, the election board is looking to reduce the number of polling locations, to decrease the number of required poll workers.

Second, they’re looking at the possibility of mailing a ballot application to all roughly 100,000 registered voters in the county.

By encouraging voters to apply for and cast ballots by mail, election officials are hoping reduce the chance that poll workers and voters will infect each other with the COVID-19 virus.

The primary has been postponed, from May 5 to June 2 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which as of Monday has caused 569 deaths in Indiana in the last month. Continue reading “Polling place consolidation, ballot application mailing mulled by Monroe County election board” →