Based on the number of people who have already cast ballots, turnout in this election could break recent records.
Election officials are predicting that more than 30,000 Johnson County residents will cast ballots early this election, which is more than half of the total number of people who voted in the each of the last two presidential elections.
Based on those numbers, Johnson County Clerk Susie Misiniec thinks a total turnout of 70 percent — or more — is possible. That would beat the 2012 election, when nearly 61 percent of voters cast a ballot, and the 2008 election, when about 64 percent voted.
“That is just insane, that is just never heard of,” Misiniec said.
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Click here to purchase photos from this galleryDays before early voting ended, turnout had already beat the estimates of 15 to 20 percent that Misiniec had hoped for. That is more than the total turnout reported in some recent municipal elections, she said.
“Some years, we are at 9 percent in municipal elections. Now, we have everyone coming out of the woodwork,” she said.
Voters reported standing in line for an hour or longer at satellite early voting centers, leading election officials to add more poll workers to help speed up the process, said Beth Boyce, Johnson County Republican Party chairwoman.
In some cases, voters were waiting a bit longer because the people in front of them needed a quick tutorial on how to use the county’s voting machines, which Johnson County has been using for 13 years. That’s because the voters have either never been to vote or haven’t voted in years but were excited to vote in this election, said Kathy Stolz, Johnson County Democrat Party secretary and a poll worker. She met one couple who had not voted in 55 years, she said.
Members of the local Republican Party have been knocking on doors, encouraging voters to get out and vote early, and people are excited, Boyce said. They are waiting in lines, but they are patient and positive, saying they’d wait all day to vote, she said. One relative of hers returned to an early voting site seven times, waiting for the line to be short enough to vote, she said.
At the end of the week, early voting sites were reporting 3,500 to 4,000 people had cast ballots each day, with as many as 1,400 per day at Mt. Pleasant Christian Church in the Center Grove area.
“That is just the nature of it, to be a little nutty,” Boyce said.
In past years, the county’s early voting turnout has been lower than expected, but that wasn’t the case this year, officials said.
Election officials used early voting turnouts to help prepare for Election Day, but they had already expected a big turnout that day, Misiniec said.
The county will have 24 vote centers open on Election Day across the county.
At 14 sites, five poll workers will be working to check in voters, set them up at a machine and keep people moving through the process, Misiniec said.
At 10 of the busiest sites, 10 workers will keep voters moving through the lines.
In eight locations, the county has added floaters, or poll workers who will be able to help at any point of the process where there is a backlog, Misiniec said.
Election officials discussed adding those workers as a way to help speed lines along, Boyce said.
The extra workers can talk with voters in line, asking if they need anything, reminding them to have their ID ready and reassuring them poll workers are moving the line as quickly as they can, Boyce said.
“The whole point is to check people in faster, activate ballots, and get them through,” Misiniec said.
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Early voting continues until noon today. Here is where you can vote today:
Today, 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Johnson County Courthouse, 5 E. Jefferson St., Franklin
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