Porter County voters are flooding the Elections and Registration Office with requests for absentee ballots before the June 2 primary as election officials prep for shortened in-person early voting and other changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of Friday morning, the office had mailed out 7,054 applications for ballots, mailed 5,234 ballots and received 1,563 ballots back, Clerk Jessica Bailey said during an election board meeting held Friday via Zoom and broadcast live on Facebook.
“These numbers are huge compared to other primaries,” she said, adding in 2018, the office received 2,045 requests for mail-in ballots, and 941 in 2016.
Her office, she added, is working with reduced staff and is “very busy” given the circumstances.
State election officials lifted the strictures on mail-in ballots to encourage that mode of voting because of the pandemic. They also tightened the window for in-person early voting to one week before the primary from four weeks, as it has been for past elections.
The last day to request an absentee ballot, Bailey said, is May 21, and it must be returned by noon on Election Day. Voters can check the status of their absentee ballot, including when it was mailed out, by going to indianavoters.com.
She doesn’t yet know what form poll worker training will take, which will depend on what happens with the the state’s stay-at-home order, extended through May 1. Training could be virtual or by recorded video, she said, with limited in-person training for those who prefer it.
All but two polling locations can accommodate the primary change date, Bailey said, adding officials are awaiting final word on those places.
The county’s facility maintenance department is making Plexiglas barriers for voter check-in, which represents the longest point of contact between voters and poll workers, Bailey said, adding she is waiting to see what personal protection equipment the Secretary of State’s Office will send.
With social distancing, Bailey expects in-person voting will take longer than it has in the past.
“We want to encourage all voters to be patient,” she said.
Early voting times also have changed because of the voting schedule shift.
Early voting takes place 8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. May 26 through May 29; 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. May 30; and 8:30 a.m.-noon June 1. That takes place at the Chesterton Town Hall meeting room; the Hebron Community Center; Porter County North County Annex in Portage; Suite 102 A of the Porter County Administration Center in Valparaiso; and Union Township Fire Station No. 2.
The county’s mobile voting unit, making its election debut for hauling election equipment and casting ballots, will rotate around the county on the following schedule: 4-7 p.m. May 26, Jamestown Apartments, Valparaiso; 4-7 p.m. May 27, Oak Tree Village, Portage; 4-7 p.m. May 28, Kouts Public Library; 4-7 p.m. May 29, Lakeland Park, Burns Harbor; and 10 a.m. -2 p.m. May 30, South Haven Public Library.
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
