While the turnout looks low, Johnson County voters had a better showing than during the last municipal primary.
Just shy of 11 percent of registered voters turned out, up from the last municipal election when 7.9 percent voted. Going into Election Day, only 2.6 percent had voted early. Nearly 5,300 people waited until Tuesday to vote.
Despite several highly contested races, local Republican primaries in every city and town except New Whiteland, a school referendum and all new equipment to try out, few of the eligible registered voters cast ballots to determine who gets a spot on the fall ballots. The candidates who win office this year manage local budgets, determining if more police officers and firefighters are hired, which businesses get tax breaks and which streets to pave.
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County election officials predicted a 10 percent total turnout.
In Greenwood, The Nest, like vote centers all over the county, had anticipated a stronger turnout for this year’s municipal primary elections.
Nearly 20 voting machines were set up along the walls, waiting for a rush of people who had not yet materialized, inspector Damian Katt said.
“We anticipated a little more,” he said.
Early voting indicated a low turnout. Exactly 2,700 people cast their ballots early — a 2.6 percent turnout.
Election Day wasn’t much different.
Voters were able to walk right into the polling place, check in using the new ballot books and vote, all in a matter of minutes. The scene was a far cry from November’s general election, when malfunctioning electronic poll books and insufficient cloud storage led to hours-long waits for many people.
Although they didn’t see large swaths of people throughout the day, the Nest saw a steady flow of people, Katt said. More than 400 people had voted at that location by about 4 p.m.
“The machines have worked really well. Everyone seems to really like the new e-poll books. The machines themselves have had very few errors,” Katt said. “People walking out are saying it’s quick, easy and they like the machines. And obviously, their experience last time was quite different.”
Johnson County is notorious for low voter turnout, especially during city and town elections. In both the 2015 primary and general elections, fewer than 10 percent of registered voters cast ballots, making it one of the worst in the state. Johnson County had the fifth lowest voter turnout of Indiana’s 91 counties in the 2015 municipal election.
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Here is a look at what percent of voters turned out for the last few municipal primary elections:
2019;10.9%
2015;7.9%
2011;15.3%
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