This morning I stopped by the Allen County Election Board and spoke with Deb Morrone who actually is the Democratic Board Member of the AC Voter Registration Board. Â They were pretty busy at the Election Board so I didn’t bother them. Â The above photo was taken this morning of the line waiting to vote early. Â Last evening when I arrived for the City Council meeting – at 5:15 pm mind you, the line stretched back almost the entire length of the downstairs area.
Anyway, Deb said they have indeed been busier than normal. Â Yesterday, they had just over 950 voters which was a one-day early voting record for the county. Â They have had a couple of 900+ days, but not one as busy as Tuesday. Â Early voting is a good thing, as Deb said, “…to spread it out over 29 days is great for all of us!”
As of 10:30 am this morning, here’s the early voting breakdown:
   6,007 Citizens who had voted early
   4,823 Mailed Ballots still in the field
   5,373 Mailed Ballots returned
    443 Traveling Board Appointments for Confined Voters
  16,646 Total Absentee Ballot Activity
253,164 Total eligible voters (includes active and inactive) with another 300 pending
One of the interesting things I learned today is that the Poll Books are printed in-house. Â When you go to vote on Election or Primary day, the poll book is the book that has eligible voters listed along with their signatures and information. Â To print all of the poll books for the various precincts costs around $800.00 which is a cost of approximately $0.003 per voter. Â Deb shared that they’ve recieved bids for doing this that ran between 10 and 20 cents per voter which at an average of .15 cents would make the bill just under $38,000. Â That’s a savings!
If you would like to examine the ballot to see what decisions you’ll need to make on Election Day, there are some steps to finding your ballot. Â No, one ballot does not fit all. Â Ballots will differ from precinct to precinct. Â Follow these steps to find your ballot.
- Visit the Indiana Voters website and look for the “Polling Place” link at the top of the screen, just under the logo/photo. Â Fill in your information and click the “Find” button.
- Once the results are displayed, look under the Search Results tab for your precinct number and write this down.
- Visit this pdf to find your Ballot Style Number.
- Visit this page and click on your Ballot Style Number
In my case, Ballot Style 29 is the ballot I will see when I vote. Â Special thanks to Deb for taking the time to speak with me!
The important thing is to vote – even if your candidate(s) don’t win. Â It’s important for everyone to exercise their rights that many have sacrificed for. Â With everything going on, it’s more important than ever to let your voice be heard!
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