Clerk’s office inundated with absentee ballot applications months before election

With nearly three months to go until the November election, the county clerk’s office is already inundated with absentee ballot applications.

Johnson County Clerk Trena McLaughlin told the Johnson County Election Board Tuesday more than 2,000 Johnson County residents have already requested applications to mail in their ballots in the fall due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and she expects several thousand more.

So far, the state has not said anyone can vote by mail, as it did during the primary. Still, the county is accepting ballot applications knowing that if the state does not act, local voter registration employees will have to reach out to any applicants who did not provide a reason for voting absentee, a requirement that was waived for the postponed primary in June, McLaughlin said.

“We’ve had a lot of calls in regards to the application, questions like, ‘What if I’m not 65?'” McLaughlin said. “A lot of the clerks are saying they need to change that again for this election because they did it in the primary … and they haven’t done that yet.”

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Indiana is among a handful of states where residents need to have a valid reason why they can’t vote in-person. A registered voter can also get an absentee ballot if they will be gone or working during all 12 hours that the polls are open. Thirty-four states have no-excuse voting by mail.

The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is still more than two months out, and local election officials aren’t sure what exactly the November election will look like. But that hasn’t deterred voters, who have until Oct. 22 to apply.

“Don’t delay; sent it in now,” McLaughlin said. “That’s really what we want people to know is please, go ahead and send it in now so that we can ensure enough ballots are ready.”

Voter registration staff will begin mailing out ballots the first week of September, once the ballot is set later this month.

During the primary, 10,377 voters cast ballots by mail — compared to about 1,000 or less typically — and 12,360 voted in person. Local election officials anticipate this year’s presidential to break turnout records, even amid the ongoing pandemic.

“I think it’s going to be big even with a lot of mail-ins,” said Diane Lindley, an election board member.

McLaughlin agrees.

To that end, the county plans to operate 22 vote centers on Election Day, more than double what was available on Election Day during the primary, and two more than were available on Election Day during the 2016 general election, when nearly 68,000 residents — or 63% of registered voters — cast ballots.

So far, election officials have secured 20 of those vote centers, and are working to secure two more. Officials at Johnson County REMC, a proposed polling place, said they would only allow 18 people inside at a time, so election officials want to replace that vote center with a new location at the Johnson County fairgrounds that would accommodate more voters, McLaughlin said.

Officials at Mt. Pleasant Christian Church, which raised concerns during the primary, have not confirmed they will allow the county to operate a vote center there in the fall, but McLaughlin is optimistic they will as it is one of the county’s largest vote centers.

The Johnson County Board of Commissioners on Monday approved the purchase of an additional reader from MicroVote, the county’s vendor, to count ballots on Election Day. It will cost about $1,000, said McLaughlin, who requested it due to the thousands of absentee ballots she expects will need to be counted on Election Day.

“In the primary, we did have an extra one that our MicroVote vendor brought, so we thought, you know, we got them all done that day, and we want to be prepared so that we make sure we get them all done again,” McLaughlin said.

Indiana law prohibits processing mail-in ballots before Election Day, so votes can’t be counted until Nov. 3.

The election board is set to meet again Sept. 8 to approve the list of vote centers and consider any additional changes that may need to be made at that time.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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Here is a look at directions to obtain an absentee ballot:

Apply online at indianavoters.com.

Contact the Voter Registration office at 317-346-4466 for an application to be mailed.

Completed applications can be sent by email to [email protected], by fax to 317-736-3798, or by mail to Voter Registration, P.O. Box 451, Franklin, IN 46131.

Completed applications must be received by Oct. 22.

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