Election is Tuesday

A month later than originally scheduled, election day finally comes Tuesday.

“It feels drawn out,” said Jay County clerk Jon Eads.

Voters, those who haven’t already voted via mail-in ballot or early voting, will go to the polls to vote in primary elections ranging from Penn precinct committeeman to president.

It’s been a different primary season.

Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb delayed the election by a month — it was originally scheduled for May 5 — because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The state opened mail-in voting to anyone who requested a ballot. (Previously a valid excuse was required.)

With social distancing required, candidates have been limited in their ability to go door-to-door and hold campaign events.

Early voting was reduced from a month to a week.

Polling places in Jay County were cut to just five.

Other than the delay, the biggest change for the clerk’s office staff has been the increased number of mail-in ballots.

Jay County had 1,286 voters request mail-in ballots this year.

As of early Friday afternoon, 1,047 of those ballots had been returned to the clerk’s office. That’s a 1,146% increase over the 84 individuals in the county who voted by mail in the 2016 primary.

The ballot increase has kept election deputy Penny Roush busy.

“She’s just been strictly doing nothing but elections for three or four weeks,” Eads said.

The process has mostly gone smoothly, though the clerk’s office has had to return some ballots that were not turned in correctly. Others were sent in unsigned, and those voters had to be contacted in order to rectify the problem. Six of those who requested mail-in ballots returned them to the clerk’s office unopened, instead deciding to use the early voting option.

Eads reminded those who have not yet turned in mail-in ballots that they must be received by the clerk’s office no later than noon Tuesday. Voters may turn those ballots in at the clerk’s office — temporarily located in the auditorium at Jay County Courthouse — to make sure they are in before the deadline.

Voters who have sent ballots in via mail may call the clerk’s office at (260) 726-4951 to make sure it has been received.

In addition to mail-in voting, there has been a relatively steady stream of Jay County residents taking advantage of early voting in the voting room at Jay County Courthouse. That option will continue to be available from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and 8:30 a.m. to noon Monday.

For those voters who plan to cast their ballots Tuesday, the local election board has cut back to five polling places from the 11 that were used in November. They are as follows:

•Bryant Community Center — Bearcreek and Wabash precincts

•Jay Community Center — Wayne 1, Wayne 2, Wayne 3, Wayne 4, Wayne 7, Madison and Noble precincts

•Jay County Scouting Facility — Greene, Jefferson and Pike precincts

•Pennville Lion’s Club — Penn and Jackson precincts

•West Jay Community Center — Dunkirk 1, Dunkirk 3, Redkey and Knox precincts

Jay County Election Board had already decided to eliminate former polling places at Holy Trinity Catholic Church and Salamonia Fire Station because of challenges with security and internet connectivity. Penn precinct voters were slated to vote at Pennville Lion’s Club rather than the usual site at Pennville Community Center because of mold issues.

The cut down to five came mostly because of concerns about being able to find poll workers. That has been a challenge, Eads said, noting that he would like to be able to get one more poll worker signed up for West Jay Community Center.

“That’s been a little bit of a challenge because most of my poll workers are elderly,” he added, noting that two who originally agreed to work the polls later decided they were not comfortable with doing so.

The polls will look a little different than usual Tuesday, as the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office and Indiana Election Division have provided counties with supplies such as shields, masks and gloves for poll workers, disinfectant cloths to wipe machines after each voter and hand sanitizer. At the busier polling sites, an election worker will be designated to make sure that proper social distancing is being practiced.

The clerk’s office suggests that voters wear a face mask when they go to the polls Tuesday, but it is not required.

Holcomb initially announced in mid-March that the primary election would be delayed. The state’s election division initially simply pushed all related dates — the voter registration deadline, the start of early voting, the deadline to request a mail-in ballot — by 28 days. It later cut early voting down to just a week and approved the expansion of voting by mail.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine also initially delayed his state’s primary election from April 7 to June 2. But the state legislature later passed a bill that shifted the election to almost entirely mail voting, with election day as April 28.