Early in-person voting is underway in Brown County, with the first ballots cast Tuesday in a general election that officials expect to have heavy turnout.
Brown County Clerk Pearletta Banks said that with a ballot featuring a presidential race between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, as well as a slate of contested federal, state and local races, early voting could surpass the last presidential race in 2020.
“I think there will be greater turnout,” Banks said. “I have looked at the numbers, discussed that with my election board, and early voting turnout was somewhere around 3,000-plus people at that time (2020). I anticipate that we are probably going to have greater than that.”
Voters can cast a ballot for 28 days leading up to Election Day, Nov. 5. The early voting center at Eagle Park, 1750 E. State Road 46, Nashville, will be open at varying hours Mondays through Saturdays, with the exception of Oct. 14. There will be no early voting that day in observance of the Columbus Day holiday.
“We have adjusted our early voting schedule to try to capture some of those people that work outside of the county and don’t get back here until … 4:30, 5 o’clock in the evening, so on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we are going to open later, but we are going to stay open later to try to accommodate those folks.”
On Tuesdays and Thursdays until Election Day, early voting will be available until 6 p.m.
As of Oct. 1, six days before the voter registration deadline, Banks said there were 12,823 registered voters in the county, a slight increase compared to the 12,622 voters eligible to cast ballots in the 2020 race.
“I don’t think there’s going to be a large increase in that number just given the fact that I’ve seen a lot of transfers to other counties, so people who are moving, selling homes — for whatever reason it takes them out of Brown County — they’re coming off our voter rolls, so it’s kind of a balance between the new ones coming in and the ones that are leaving,” Banks said.
Voters will need to bring a photo ID with them to the polling location, whether voting early in person or on Election Day. Acceptable forms of ID include a driver’s license, passport, military ID or picture ID from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Banks said before the registration deadline that a few people had come in during the final days who had moved into the county but hadn’t yet registered to vote. She said she also advises newcomers that they need to change their driver’s license because Indiana requires a valid form of ID to vote, and without one matching their new address, voters might have to cast a provisional ballot.
“And we try to avoid that at all costs,” she said. “We don’t want that to happen.” Provisional ballots are reviewed after the election at a meeting of the Election Board, consisting of Banks, chairman and Republican representative Mark Williams, and Democratic member Rick Kelley. Provisional ballots are subject to possible rejection after review.
Last precinct election?
Brown County voters will cast their ballots on Election Day at one of 11 precincts, and Banks said this could be the last general election under that system.
“That’s what our hope is. … It will be back on the table after this presidential election.”
She noted Brown County is one of only five in Indiana that have yet to implement voting centers, allowing people to vote at any of a reduced number of polling places.
“It would be more cost-effective, it would be more convenient for the voters of Brown County,” she said. “In the grand scheme of things, I think it makes a whole lot more sense, not to mention that out of 92 counties in Indiana, we now have 87 that are vote center counties. They have to be doing something right. … I would rather us do it on our own than to have the Secretary of State’s Office tell is it’s a mandate.”
Banks said she is open to proposals to have five vote centers — one in each corner of the county and one centrally located. The Election Board would have to unanimously agree to any such proposal after a public hearing, and county commissioners also would have to approve the plan.
“It might wait until after the first of the year” before the Election Board sets a hearing on vote centers, she said.
Absentee deadline nears
Meanwhile, voters have until Oct. 24 to request an absentee ballot to vote by mail. Valid criteria for voting by mail include having a reasonable expectation you will be absent from your county of residence on Election Day, being an election official, having an illness or injury that will confine you from being able to vote at the polls on Election Day, being 65 or older, being a caretaker of a confined person, being a member of the military or a public safety officer, or being physically unable to complete the ballot on your own.
