Primary Election Day: Polls are open until 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7 in Monroe County

Election Central processing of early in-person and mailed-in absentee ballots. (May 7, 2024)

Monroe County election board from left: Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne; Judith Benckart; and John Fernandez. (May 7, 2024)

Election operations building at 3rd and Walnut streets. (May 7, 2024)

The polls at Monroe County’s election operations building at 3rd and Walnut streets opened Tuesday morning, when election site inspector Maqubè Reese gave the official announcement: “The polls are open!”

Audio: “The polls are 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.”

A technical glitch prevented opening of the polls at 6 a.m. sharp. The code that was supposed to open the scanner for processing ballots did not work, and it took several minutes for that issue to get sorted out.

Even though the announcement from Reese came at 6:15 a.m., there were no voters queued up waiting—the first voter did not arrive until a few minutes after Reese gave the announcement.

The only “people outside the polls” when Reese gave the official opening announcement were The B Square and Monroe County Democratic Party chair David Henry, who is running for one of the three at-large county council seats. He’s competing with Matt Caldie, Trent Deckard, and Cheryl Munson for one of the three nominations from the Democratic Party.

The B Square will try to provide some updates through rest of the day. Continue reading “Primary Election Day: Polls are open until 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7 in Monroe County” →

Monroe County election board finishes final prep for Tuesday, May 7 primaries

These are the lanyards for Monroe County election board members: Nicole Browne, Judith Benckart, and John Fernandez.

Election Central at 7th and Madison streets is set up to process mailed-in and early in-person ballots.

Chart of the early in-person voting totals for the 2024 primary election in Monroe County.

On Monday night, a red-tailed hawk kept watch over Monroe County’s Election Central from the antenna on top of the justice center at 7th Street and College Avenue.

On Monday night, campaign yard signs at Fairview Elementary School were guarded by the Joe LaMantia’s Aristicat.

Campaign yard signs at Monroe County’s election operations building at 3rd and Walnut streets.

By around 7:30 p.m. on Monday night, all but three of the 29 polling locations for Primary Election Day on May 7 had checked in with Monroe County election division staff at Election Central to confirm they were set for the next day’s voting.

Election Central is the old Johnson’s Hardware building at 7th and Madison streets.

Polls open at 6 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. Continue reading “Monroe County election board finishes final prep for Tuesday, May 7 primaries” →

GOP candidates for Monroe County commissioner field questions on economic development

From left: Kristen Weida, Joe Van Deventer, and Paul White, Sr.

At a Wednesday afternoon forum hosted by the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation at the Monroe Convention center, three rounds of county commissioner candidates from both major parties fielded questions from a moderator and the audience.

That included the two Republican candidates for the party’s District 3 county commissioner nomination.

Competing for the GOP nomination for the District 3 county commissioner seat are Joe Van Deventer and Paul White, Sr.

All registered voters in the county can cast a ballot in a District 3 race. The geographic districts for county commissioners are used only to define the area of the county where candidates have to live.

Primary Election Day is May 7, but in-person early voting has been underway for a couple of weeks, at the Monroe County election operations center at 3rd and Walnut streets.
Continue reading “GOP candidates for Monroe County commissioner field questions on economic development” →

May 7 primary notebook: Pay for Monroe County Election Day poll workers could get bump

Some election workers who have staffed Monroe County’s polling sites in the past say they won’t work this year unless the pay is increased.

From left: Monroe County attorney Molly Turner-King and election supervisor Kylie Moreland. (April 4, 2024)

That’s the message that county election supervisor Kyle Moreland passed along to the three-member county election board at its regular meeting on Thursday.

Primary Election Day falls on May 7.

Here’s how Moreland put it: “We have some members that have worked in the past that have decided that if there is not a change on the pay, they will not be working this election.”

Election workers have to arrive at the polls at 5 a.m. to open the polls at 6 a.m. Polls don’t close until 6 p.m. That makes for a day that lasts 14 to 15 hours.

The current per diem pay for different jobs breaks down like this: $165 for inspectors; $135 for judges; $135 for clerks; and $115 for sheriffs. Continue reading “May 7 primary notebook: Pay for Monroe County Election Day poll workers could get bump” →

Elections 2024: First filing day—both Monroe County commissioner races could be contested for Dems

David Henry submits paperwork at Election Central to depuy clerk Larime Wilson. He’s running for county council. (Jan. 10, 2024)

Sierra Roussos submits petitions for Valerie McCray’s campaign for U.S. senate. Working the counter is Larime Wilson (Jan. 10, 2024)

Peter Iversen submits paperwork to run for the District 2 county commissioner seat. Working the counter is deputy clerk Larime Wilson. (Jan. 10, 2024)

Trent Deckard stands just inside the door at Election Central to submit his paperwork to run for re-election as a county councilor. (Jan. 10, 2024)

Deputy auditor Christopher Muench with incumbent auditor Cathy Smith, who filed paperwork to run for county treasurer. (Jan. 10, 2024)

Brianne Gregory files paperwork as candidate for Monroe County auditor. (Jan. 10, 2024)

Monroe County Election Central time stamp. (Jan. 10, 2024)

Steve Volan. The B Square missed Volan at Election Central on Jan. 10, 2023 but he addressed the new Bloomington city council from the public mic later that day.

Official filings on Wednesday mean that Monroe County voters in the 2024 Democratic Party primary might have choices in both of the county commissioner races that are up for election this year.

Previously announced was District 2 county commissioner Julie Thomas’s intent to seek re-election and Peter Iversen’s intent to challenge for the seat. Iversen’s District 1 county council seat is not up for election this year.

Incumbent for the District 3 county commissioner seat is Penny Githens, who has been considered likely to seek re-election. Filing paperwork on Wednesday for the District 3 county commissioner seat was Democrat Steve Volan, a former Bloomington city councilmember.

Volan’s 20 years of service on the city council concluded at the end of 2023. After representing District 6 on the city council for two decades, he sought the party’s nomination to one of the three at-large council seats, but was not among the top three vote getters in the 2023 primary.

Reached on Wednesday, Githens indicated to the B Square that she has not yet decided whether to run again for the District 3 county commissioner seat.

The districts for county commissioners define the limited geographic areas where candidates have to live—but the voting for county commissioners is countywide.

Wednesday was the first day it was possible for this year’s candidates for local office to file their official paperwork.

It was also the first day that candidates for U.S. president and U.S. senate could submit signatures to qualify for the primary ballot. Incumbent Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, and Valerie McCray’s senatorial campaign submitted signatures from Monroe County voters on Wednesday.

Up for local election this year in Monroe County are the positions of auditor, coroner, surveyor, treasurer, circuit court judge (Division 3, Division 4, and Division 9), county commissioner (District 2 and District 3) and county councilor (three at-large seats). Continue reading “Elections 2024: First filing day—both Monroe County commissioner races could be contested for Dems” →

Election board roundup: Bloomington municipal election cost $472K, talk on vote center timeline

Thursday’s meeting of the Monroe County election board included several updates and briefings, as the board looks ahead to the challenges of the 2024 election cycle.

Primary election day falls on May 7 this year. That means early in-person voting starts April 9, which is just 95 days away.

Meeting highlights included a breakdown of 2023 election costs from county election supervisor Ryan Herndon.

The share charged to Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) for its referendum on Nov. 7 was $94,951.85.

The city of Bloomington was billed $198,127.39 for the primary election and $273,676.49 for the Nov. 7 municipal election. That made Bloomington’s total $471,803.88.

The total cost for elections in 2023 was $566,755.73

Other topics touched on at Thursday’s meeting included: notices given to two Bloomington city council candidates about possible campaign finance violations; an after-action report on polling locations used in the 2023 elections; and the board’s expectations for the completion of the vote center study committee’s work. Continue reading “Election board roundup: Bloomington municipal election cost $472K, talk on vote center timeline” →