Early voting in municipal election down so far; absentee ballot requests double

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Early voting for this year’s Indianapolis mayoral and City-County Council elections is down so far this year overall, but got a boost over the weekend when early voting centers opened.

The Nov. 7 mayoral election pits incumbent Democratic Mayor Joe Hogsett and self-funded Republican businessman Jefferson Shreve.

Through Sunday, 7,766 voters had cast early votes, according to the Marion County Election Board, a 34% decrease from the 11,862 voters who voted during the same period of the last municipal election in 2019, when Hogsett faced longtime Republican state senator Jim Merritt. Early voting began at the City-County Building on Nov. 11.

The City-County Building and the city’s eight satellite early-voting locations saw 5,467 voters over the weekend—the first in which the satellite locations were open—up from 4,202 during the first weekend in 2019.

Excluding the City-County Building, there were four early voting sites in 2019. Now there are eight.

The number of absentee ballots mailed out by Marion County Voter Registration has doubled. In 2019, just 6,085 ballots were mailed, but 12,288 were mailed during this election cycle. The deadline to request an absentee ballot was Oct. 26.

Shreve has self-funded his campaign to the tune of $13.5 million, with a large portion paying for mailers and ads that frequent Indianapolis airwaves. His heavy spending might help drive up voter turnout when compared to Hogsett’s previous opponents.

Early-voting sites  are open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays through Nov. 3. They will be open from 8 a.m. to noon on Nov. 6, the day before the election. All vote centers will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Election Day.

The sites are listed below:

Decatur Township Government Center

5410 S. High School Road

Franklin Township Government Center

6231 S. Arlington Ave.

MSD Lawrence Education & Community Center

6501 Sunnyside Road

Perry Township Government Center

4925 Shelby St.

Pike Library Branch

6525 Zionsville Road

Warren Township Government Center

501 N. Post Road

St. Luke’s United Methodist Church

100 W. 86th St.

Thatcher Park Community Center

4649 W. Vermont St.

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5 thoughts on “Early voting in municipal election down so far; absentee ballot requests double

  1. We received mail in ballots and did not even request them, which we found very odd. We always vote in person so it seems like a waste of money to send it without being requested.

    1. Are you sure it was not just the application form for an absentee ballot, which was mailed out by the GOP?

      We received that.

    2. To be technical, it was sent by “The Indiana Republican State Committee”.

      It also clearly stated it was unsolicited mail.

  2. another conspiracy story gone with the wind. for a moment there, I’m sure all sorts of folks on the R side of the aisle were preparing to go crazy over Mayor Hogsett’s efforts to steal the election with fraudulent absentee ballots. People in combat clothes carrying “semi-automatic” assualt rifles would soon be patrolling the streets near mailboxes, hoping to catch mail box stuffing. Trump would fly in between trials to denounce the widespread election fraud and rigged and stolen election (and while here no doubt take the opportunity to whip on Mike Pence some more). And then, Joe B. would come forth and solve the problem…it was the Rs who did it, and its clearly marked “unsoliticted mail.” That wouldn’t stop the fraudulent, rigged, and stolen election claims, though, as the proponents of those claims have never been required to actually provide real evidence. Except in court, where such suits were met with dismissal and sanctions against the lawyers…

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