Officials approve election districts, precinct changes: Candidacy filing begins this week

Districts have been finalized for local county council and commissioner races this election after an ordinance was formally approved last week by the Brown County Commissioners.

And if you are interested in running for office this year you can head to the Brown County Clerk’s office to file your candidacy this week.

Jan. 5 is the first day anyone interested in running for a state or local office can file to run. The deadline to get your name on the ballot for the May primary election is Feb. 4 and any candidate who wishes to withdraw their name has until Feb. 11.

Positions up for election locally this year are: Assessor, auditor, coroner, clerk and sheriff. County council district seats 1, 2, 3 and 4 will also be elected this year along with the District 2 commissioner seat.

The county sheriff’s race took off last year when three Republicans — Brad Stogsdill, Chad Williams and Scott Bowling — began campaigning. Nashville Police Chief Ben Seastrom also tossed his name into the hat for sheriff on the Democrat ticket, but recently withdrew from the race due to accepting a job as a deputy in Jennings County.

All township trustees and their boards will also be elected this year.

School board districts 1, 2 and 3 seats will be elected in the general election in November. Anyone who is interested in running for school board can put their name in the hat beginning July 27. The deadline to get on that ballot is Aug. 26.

The District 1 seat on the Gnaw Bone Sewer District Board will also be elected this year. The deadlines for that seat are the same as school board.

District changes

During a special meeting of the commissioners on Dec. 29 an ordinance establishing the districts for commissioners and county council was formally approved following a precinct change in Washington Township and the recent release of Census data.

The commissioners decided early in October to look at the precincts that make up the county council districts after approving changes to the Washington Township precincts and Census data showed a population deviation gap between the districts with the highest and lowest populations.

But after more than a month of discussing new district map proposals for district county council seats, the commissioners voted to not make any changes to the district maps ahead of this year’s election.

Beginning with this year’s election, the four voting precincts in Washington Township will be condensed to three with the current Washington 4 being renamed Washington 3. All in-town Nashville voters will cast their vote at the Washington 2 precinct now.

The precinct change happened after Nashville Town Council decided to elect all of its members at-large from among in-town residents instead of requiring three of them to live in specific areas of Nashville.

The county now has 11 precincts to make up the four county council districts.

Under the new ordinance, the districts cover the same areas, but there are some changes to the precincts in the county council districts. District 4 is now made up of Jackson 4, Washington 3 and Van Buren precincts. District 3 will include only Washington 1 and 2. District 2 is made up of Hamblen 2, Jackson 1 and Jackson 3. District 1 now consists of Hamblen 1, Hamblen 3 and Jackson 2.

County council member Gary Huett is the District 1 council member. Art Knight is from District 4. Darren Byrd represents District 2 and Dave Redding is the District 3 council member.

The commissioner districts also changed with the precinct adjustments in Washington Township.

District 1 will include all of Hamblen Township as it had before. District 2 will be made up of all of Jackson Township and the new Washington 3 precinct. The new Washington 3 precinct includes Annandale Drive and other roads to the west of Nashville.

District 3 will be made up of the new Washington 2, which is all of Nashville, Washington 2 and Van Buren precincts.

Commissioner Diana Biddle currently represents District 2.

Looking ahead

Primary Election Day will be May 3 this year. The general Election Day will be Nov. 8.

The state will also have an election for the secretary of state, auditor and treasurer. The U.S. House of Representative District 9 seat is also up for election this year. That seat is currently held by Rep. Trey Hollingsworth.

The new congressional map that Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law last year kept Brown County in the same U.S. Congressional district.

The county’s state Senate district is also still 44, but now the county is in House District 62 under Rep. Jeff Ellington. Previously the county was in House District 65. The District 65 seat is also up for election this year.

April 4 is the deadline to register to vote in the primary election. The first day of early voting will be April 5.

For this year’s election, all early voting will happen in the Salmon Room at the County Office Building, 201 Locust Lane.

During the 2020 general election, voters cast their vote ahead of Election Day in the bottom level of the Veterans Hall at Deer Run Park. That space is now being used by Brown County Parks and Recreation.

On Dec. 8, the Brown County Commissioners approved a recommendation from the Brown County Election Board to move absentee voting to the Salmon Room in the County Office Building for the 2022 primary and general elections.

Picking voting locations is the responsibility of the county commissioners.

The commissioners also approved on Dec. 8 to allow the absentee voter board to use the conference room space next to the commissioners’ office in the County Office Building. The absentee voter board would move into that space around March to start administering absentee voting, which includes mailing out ballots to those who requested one before in-person voting starts in April.

Anyone who will be out of the area for work on election day, has a disability, is 65 or older, can’t get to the polls, or meets other specific requirements can apply for a ballot by mail. The deadline to request an absentee ballot be sent to you by mail is April 21.

Another meeting area will be set up for commissioner, county council, election board, zoning boards and others who would need to use the Salmon Room during that time. The room will have to remain locked while being used for absentee voting, so meetings will not be able to be held in there.

The conference space next to the commissioners’ office will also have to be deadbolted while being used by the absentee voting board.

To verify your voting status visit and get more information about this year’s elections visit www.indianavoters.in.gov.

More information for anyone interested in running for office can be found at www.in.gov/sos/elections/candidate-information or by calling the county clerk at 812-988-5510.