Early voting shifts

In-person early voting has been moved again.

Jay County Clerk Jon Eads announced Thursday early voting in the county will run from May 26 through June 1. The change is being made statewide.

It is the latest modification to election procedure in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Eads explained this morning Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson had been working with state leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties on election procedures. They recently agreed on the change for early voting, which had been scheduled to begin May 5, and Lawson notified clerks via email Thursday.

Indiana’s election, including primary races ranging from president to county offices, was originally scheduled for May 5. Early voting would have started April 7.

That changed March 20 when Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced the primary would be moved to June 2.

On March 25, Indiana Election Division announced voter registration deadlines and early voting dates would be moved back 28 days to bring them in line with the new election date. It also ruled voting by mail would be allowed for anyone — previously Indiana residents needed to provide a reason for voting by mail — with ballot requests to be filled out at indianavoters.com.

Early voting in Jay County is held in the voting room on the south side of the first floor of Jay County Courthouse. Eads said this morning that he has poll workers lined up for May 26 through June 1.

“My early voting poll workers, I have been in contact with them, and they’re fine with working,” he said.

He added that he has not yet reached out to election day workers with June 2 still nearly two months away.

Eads noted that Lawson’s email also said local election boards can consider limiting voting locations, with approval from the state election division. Jay County’s election board has not discussed that possibility, he added.

Jay County residents interested in voting by mail can request an application from the clerk’s office by calling (260) 726-4951 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. weekdays or by going to indianavoters.com. Applications for a mail-in ballot should be sent to Jay County Clerk, 120 N. Court St., Portland, IN 47371.

Contested races locally — for commissioner, superior court judge, county council and surveyor — are all on the Republican side of the ballot. Both parties contested races for District 33 state representative and Third District U.S. representative.

Because there will be more mail-in ballots this year, Indiana’s deadline to have them counted and results finalized is 3 p.m. June 12. The election division is set to meet again April 22 to discuss “moving to a vote-by-mail election if necessitated by the public health crisis.”

Ohio’s primary, which was originally scheduled for April 7, has also been changed.

Gov. Mike DeWine originally moved the election to June 2. Since then, the Ohio General Assembly passed House Bill 197, setting April 28 as the final day of the primary election.

It is being conducted almost entirely by mail, with in-person voting limited to those with disabilities and those who do not have a home mailing address.

Votes will begin being counted after 7:30 p.m. April 28, with final unofficial results to be available May 8.