This story will be updated.
Election Day is here and the polls will be open until 6 p.m. for voters to cast their ballots.
The Brown County Democrat requested credentials for 10 people to act as media watchers for the 2022 general election today (Nov. 8). Most will be our runners tonight, gathering election results as they are printed from the ballot-scanning machines and driving them back to the newspaper office so we can report totals as they come in.
Reporter-photographer Corbin Parmer and Editor Abigail Youmans are also gathering information today as voting is taking place. We have rules to follow about who we can talk to and when. We are acting as watchers, though, so, voters, we could use your help in reporting what you’re experiencing as you vote. Email [email protected] or call us at 812-988-2221.
We’ll be posting running vote totals on bcdemocrat.com and on our Facebook page tonight sometime after polls close at 6 p.m.
Early voting, Salmon Room
11 a.m. Early voting closed at noon on Nov. 7, the day before Election Day.
There are about 11,500 registered voters in Brown County, and roughly 2,400 people turned in their ballots early, either in person or by mail.
In the primary in the spring, there were only 808 early voters total. Walk-in voting was more than twice that amount for the fall.
There were 1,990 Brown County voters who made the decision to cast their ballot early and in person in the Salmon Room at the county office building, Absentee Voter Board member Deb Noe said on Nov. 8.
As of 11 a.m. on Nov. 9, roughly 400 ballots had been mailed in by local absentee voters.
The ballots were being organized into stacks of 50 after members checked the signatures on each ballot to ensure they had been signed by an election board member or their proxy before given to a voter, as required by election law.
Signatures are compared at least three times, Noe said, and added that no ballots had been discovered that were not signed by an election board member.
At this point, she added, the process is moving like clockwork.
Brown County Election Board member Kevin Fleming said that they had not seen any particular signs of problems with ballots.
The largest task at hand was scrambling to get enough ballots to precincts and checking the large volume of ballots that were cast early.
“It’s going to take a good portion of the day,” Fleming said.
All ballots cast early and in person along with those that were mailed in will be ran through the voting machine when polls close at 6 p.m.
Absentee Voter Board member Donna Kelp Lutes was making phone calls to precincts to ensure each precinct had enough ballots.
Around 11:15 a.m., Jackson 4 had already distributed 120 ballots and had 30 left.
Once a precinct gets down to 100 ballots, they call the board to request more to be sent.
Noe said the voter turnout of the general election is going to be “phenomenal.”
She added that there more walk-in voters for this election than there were in the 2020 presidential election.
Noe said that many voters cannot make it to their designated precinct between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Election Day. For most voters, she said, the choice to vote early was made because of convenience.
As far as early voting goes, Noe said there were no major problems with machines or equipment.
Sprunica Baptist Church
12 p.m. Poll workers reported strong numbers of voters coming in and out of the precinct since it opened. The doors opened at 6 a.m., and a line had formed of voters waiting to cast their ballots.
Michelle Havlin is working at the polls and said the location has been “booming” all day, which is very surprising.
“I’m shocked to see that its been this busy already,” she said.
“Every spot to park was filled.”
She added that last year’s turnout was much lower than this year’s.
“I was flabbergasted. This time is completely different.”
Ken Wendling was welcoming voters at the door. He said the flow of voters has been very steady all day.
He also worked the primary election in May. Comparing this election with the spring primary, he said there is a lot more voter interest this time around.
Sharlene Wall, the inspector at the Sprunica location, says they have already seen half of the voters in the precinct.
“For it not being a presidential election, it’s up more than normal,” she said.
Wall said she predicted it to not be as busy as it is, since there are not many Democrats on the ballot.
She added that some of the precincts have been begun to run low on ballots, so more are being delivered to the polling locations.
Brown County Clerk’s update
12:30 p.m. With a little less than half the day to go before polls close, more than 40% of registered voters in the county have cast their ballots.
Brown County Clerk Kathy Smith said that 2,392 people had voted in person at their precincts as of 12:30 p.m.
“It’s crazy at all of them,” she said.
They even had to start printing more ballots on their ballot machine.
“That’s unheard of,” she added.
She said that she expected some of the turnout to be related to the Brown County School Board office, but she thinks that voters in general want to see a change.
“It’s crazy, really,” she said.
“It’s going to be neat to see.”
Everything is running smoothly at precincts, she said, but some voters may just have to wait in a little bit of a line.
With less than half the day to go before polls close, the number of voter turnout in each precinct is as follows:
- Hamblen 1: 228
- Hamblen 2: 219
- Hamblen 3: 264
- Jackson 1: 214
- Jackson 2: 130
- Jackson 3: 155
- Jackson 4: 155
- Van Buren: 346
- Washington 1: 339
- Washington 2: 169
- Washington 3: 222
Fruitdale Volunteer Fire Department
2:30 p.m. Jackson precincts 1 and 2 both reported steady numbers of voters as the day continues.
Brad Stogsdill, the unopposed Brown County Sheriff candidate, was waiting outside to meet people and thank them for voting.
“It’s a very important thing for our county, our nation, our state,” he said.
He said he felt very fortunate to be running unopposed in this election, and described meeting new members of the Brown County community and hearing their concerns with the county government as a highlight of the election season.
“I am looking forward to getting in and keeping this community safe,” he said.
Jackson 2 inspector Duane Parsons said the number of voters has increased to around 160 for the precinct.
He added that they have seen a lot of first-time voters in the crowd today, both younger and older voters, but said they never wanted to vote until now.
Despite the large number of voters, Parsons said the day has gone without issue.
The machines have been working well and any questions that arise have been answered smoothly.
“Our clerk’s office has answered everything, and we’ve made 15-20 calls to them,” he said.
Kevin Sebastian, a voter leaving the location, said the voting process went well.
Sebastian said he votes in every election he can, and out of personal preference, he votes on Election Day, just in case anything happens before then which might sway his vote.
“Everybody get out and vote,” he said.
“It’s important.”
Brown County Clerk’s update
4:45 p.m. The polls close in 75 minutes, and numbers are still strong, with 30% voter turnout in person and more than 50% of all voters.
The precinct with the lowest voter turnout is Hamblen 2, which has still seen a quarter of all registered voters in the area.
The highest voter turnout has been at Hamblen 3, which has had 40% of registered voters in the area cast a ballot.
Smith reported the latest numbers as follows:
- Hamblen 1: 304 out of 1,077 voters (28%)
- Hamblen 2: 311 out of 1,224 voters (25%)
- Hamblen 3: 384 out of 967 voters (40%)
- Jackson 1: 297 out of 953 voters (35%)
- Jackson 2: 185 out of 607 voters (30%)
- Jackson 3: 238 out of 718 voters (33%)
- Jackson 4: 211 out of 701 voters (30%)
- Van Buren: 495 out of 1,396 voters (35%)
- Washington 1: 532 out of 1,729 voters (31%)
- Washington 2: 248 out of 956 voters (26%)
- Washington 3: 331 out of 1,172 voters (28%)
Southern Brown Volunteer Fire Department
5 p.m. A large, end-of-the-workday crowd of voters gathered in the Van Buren precinct.
Outside, Kevin McCracken stood with a sign, greeting voters as they entered. He said the day had been going well – full of good conversation with old acquaintances – but also exhausting.
“I have a lot of respect for people that run for office because it is a lot of work,” he said.
McCracken, who is running for Dist. 2 school board, mentioned a League of Woman Voters town hall event as a highlight of the election season for him.
“As a candidate, you look for those opportunities to share your thoughts and ideas, and it was just a great forum to be able to do that.”
Gavin Steele, principal of Brown County Middle School, was also outside representing the Political Action Committee for the Vote YES campaign. He greeted voters as they entered and informed them about the referendum.
Steele also said the day had gone well, with the only real problem he had overheard was this location running out of “I Voted Today” stickers.
“I’ve been really shocked at the number of folks that have been coming out,” he said.
Inside, a lined had formed of voters ready to cast their ballots. Poll workers cheered for a new voter as she presented her ID.
Jacob Moore, inspector at this location, said the crowd had been very steady all day at this location as well. The machine counted 543 votes, and at least 20 more people in line.
“Maybe we’ll get to 600, who knows,” he said.
