Forums canceled
The League of Women Voters of Brown County was to host two nights of candidate forums at the County Office Building later this month to allow the public to ask questions. However, because of concerns about COVID-19 virus, those forums have been called off.
Primary election day in Indiana is Tuesday, May 5.
Registration deadline
In order to vote in the May 5 primary, voters must register by midnight Monday, April 6 in one of the following ways:
Text “Indiana” to 28683. You will receive a link to the Indiana Voter Portal.
Register online or check to confirm your registration at https://indianavoters.in.gov.
Call the Brown County clerk’s office at 812-988-5510.
Check your status
The Indiana Secretary State recently sent out postcards to verify voter registrations. The Brown County Election Board says it is imperative that everyone check their status, as some local voters were unaware that they had been made “inactive” by not responding to (or receiving) those mailings.
Visit this website: https://indianavoters.in.gov.
If you do not find your name, this means that your voter registration is not active. Contact the Brown County clerk’s office between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday at 812-988-5510. You can also register at that website.
The deadline to fix a problem with your voter registration is 4 p.m. April 6.
Where to vote
Take note: Some polling places have changed since the last election.
Hamblen 1: Sprunica Baptist Church, 3902 Sprunica Road
Hamblen 2: Hickory Ridge Community Center, 2314 Hickory Ridge Lane
Hamblen 3: Church of the Lakes, 8844 Nineveh Road
Jackson 1 and 2: Fruitdale Volunteer Fire Department, 5200 State Road 135 (Bean Blossom)
Jackson 3 and 4: Jackson Township Volunteer Fire Department, 4831 Helmsburg Road
Van Buren: Southern Brown Volunteer Fire Department, 4040 State Road 135 South
Washington 1: The Pentecostals, 60 Mt. Liberty Road (corner of Mt. Liberty and State Road 46 East)
Washington 2: Parkview Church of the Nazarene, 1750 State Road 46 East (inside the church, not the Family Life Building)
Washington 3: New Life Community Church, 1450 State Road 135 North
Washington 4: County Office Building, 201 N. Locust Lane
Not sure?
To check which precinct you live in and where you should go to vote, visit https://indianavoters.in.gov or call the Brown County clerk’s office at 812-988-5510.
Election day voting
Polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 5. On election day, you must visit the polling place for the precinct in which you live to vote.
Absentee voting
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. For details, visit vote.org/absentee-ballot/indiana or contact the Brown County clerk’s office.
Mail-in absentee ballots must be RECEIVED in the county clerk’s office by noon Tuesday, May 5. Ballots can be hand-delivered to the clerk’s office (on the first floor of the courthouse), mailed, faxed or emailed.
Early voting
The location for in-person absentee voting has changed since the last election. It will now take place in the lower level of the Veterans Hall building at Deer Run Park, 902 Deer Run Lane.
Starting April 7, any Brown County voter can vote in-person absentee during the following dates and times:
Weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Tuesday, April 7 to Monday, May 4 (closing at noon May 4)
Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., April 25 and May 2
ID requirements
All walk-in absentee and election day voters need to present a government-issued photo identification prior to voting. The ID must state the name of the voter; contain his or her photograph; have an expiration date and still be valid, or expired after Nov. 8, 2018; and be issued by Indiana or the United States government.
The traveling board
A bipartisan team will take a ballot to a person in a few circumstances:
the voter expects to be confined, due to illness or injury, or the voter expects to be caring for a confined person at a private residence, on election day; or
the voter has disabilities and believes their polling place is not accessible to them; or
the voter is physically unable to complete the ballot and sign the affidavit on their own.
The absentee voter board can visit people in one of those situations and help them with their ballot.
Voters voting by traveling board are not required to show photo ID.
For more information about absentee voting options, visit in.gov/sos/elections/2402.htm.
Who’s on your ballot?
All primary election voters will have the option to take a Democrat or Republican ballot. Candidates registered with those parties are the only ones who will be on either ballot; you cannot vote for candidates from both parties in the primary, only in the general election.
The following candidates will be on 2020 Brown County primary ballots:
BROWN COUNTY RECORDER
(D) No candidate
(R) Mary E. Smith
BROWN COUNTY TREASURER
(D) No candidate
(R) Andy Vasquez Bond
(R) Kyle Clark
(R) Carlos Lopez
BROWN COUNTY SURVEYOR
(D) David K. Harden
(R) No candidate
BROWN COUNTY COMMISSIONER DIST. 1
(D) Tracey Callahan Burnett
(R) Chuck Braden
(R) Blake Wolpert
BROWN COUNTY COMMISSIONER DIST. 3
(D) Ronald E. Fleetwood
(R) Jerry Lee Pittman
BROWN COUNTY COUNCIL AT LARGE
Voters can choose up to three candidates per party.
(D) Kevin G. Fleming
(D) Melissa K. Parker
(R) David Critser
(R) Jim Kemp
(R) Scott Rudd
(R) Judith “Judy” Swift Powdrill
REPUBLICAN PARTY PRECINCT OFFICIALS
One to be elected per precinct.
(R) Cindy Rose Wolpert (Hamblen 1 only)
(R) Mark Bowman (Hamblen 2 only)
(R) Phil Stephens (Hamblen 3 only)
(R) Karen Raub (Washington 1 only)
(R) Dave Redding (Washington 1 only)
(R) Michael J. Magner (Washington 2 only)
(R) Larry Voris (Washington 2 only)
(R) No candidate (Washington 3)
(R) Tracey Yeager Stogsdill (Washington 4 only)
(R) Deborah Newlin Goodrich (Jackson 1 only)
(R) Diana McDonald Biddle (Jackson 2 only)
(R) Greg S. Smith (Jackson 2 only)
(R) Sandra K. Higgins (Jackson 3 only)
(R) Larry L. Gardner (Jackson 4 only)
(R) Ben Phillips (Van Buren only)
DEMOCRATIC PARTY STATE DELEGATES
Democrat voters can choose up to six.
(D) Kevin G. Fleming
(D) Linda C. Lawson
(D) Melissa K. Parker
(D) Paula Staley
(D) Larry “Levi” E. Voils III
(D) MK Watkins
(D) Linda Welty
REPUBLICAN PARTY STATE DELEGATES
Republican voters can choose up to six.
(R) Diana McDonald Biddle
(R) Heather Nicholson
(R) Ben Phillips
(R) Kathy Grimes Smith
(R) Greg S. Smith
(R) W. Clint Studabaker
(R) Larry Voris
(R) Jennifer Voris
(R) Laura A. Wert
(R) Cindy Rose Wolpert
GOVERNOR
(D) Woodrow “Woody” Myers
(R) Eric Holcomb
STATE SENATOR DIST. 44
(D) No candidate
(R) Eric Koch
STATE REPRESENTATIVE DIST. 65
(D) Paula Staley
(R) Chris May
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, 9TH DISTRICT
(D) D. Liam Dorris
(D) Brandon Hood
(D) James C. O’Gabhann III
(D) Mark J. Powell
(D) Andy Ruff
(R) Trey Hollingsworth
U.S. PRESIDENT
(D) Joseph R. Biden
(D) Michael R. Bloomberg
(D) Pete Buttigieg
(D) Tulsi Gabbard
(D) Amy Klobuchar
(D) Bernie Sanders
(D) Tom Steyer
(D) Elizabeth Warren
(D) Andrew Yang
(R) Donald J. Trump
(R) Bill Weld
More choices in November
Before the Nov. 3 general election, other candidates may appear on the ballot.
Republicans Democrats and Libertarians can choose other candidates by June 30 if they had any vacant ballot spots during the primary. Independent and minor-party candidates also have until June 30 to file their paperwork. Write-in candidates have until July 6 to file their declarations of intent.
School board seats will appear on the ballot for the first time this year in November. School board is a nonpartisan office.
The first day that school board candidates can file their petitions with the county voting office is July 22, and the last day they can do so is Aug. 21.
The two school board seats that will be on the ballot this fall are at-large seats, meaning that candidates don’t have to live in specific districts. However, no more than two people from the same district can serve on the five-member board at the same time, so the two at-large candidates who are elected this fall cannot be from the same district, since there are already three members on the board who come from each of the three districts.
For more information on candidacy, call the Brown County clerk’s office at 812-988-5510.
