Hoosiers have been voting early and by absentee in droves for this fall’s election, and the numbers show Kosciusko County residents are part of the wave.
Kosciusko Clerk of Circuit and Superior Courts Ann M. Torpy said that as of 3:30 p.m. Thursday, “We have 4,011 ballot by mail requests. In the primary, we had 3,381 ballot by mail requests.”
In the 2016 general election, there were 1,101.
Torpy said, “I have never seen anything like this in the 24 years I have worked with the election process!”
Voters had until 11:59 p.m. Thursday to submit their application for a ballot by mail, and Torpy said she’d have a final request total by today.
A news release Thursday from the Office of the Indiana Secretary of State states that more than 1 million Hoosiers have requested an absentee ballot or voted early in the 2020 general election.
With 12 days (as of Thursday) remaining before the Nov. 3 election, 553,270 absentee by-mail ballots have been requested across the state, and 477,217 voters have voted at an early voting location, with a total of 1,042,319 ballots requested or submitted, according to Secretary of State Connie Lawson’s news release. In the 2020 primary election, a total of 640,225 Hoosiers voted absentee in-person or by-mail. In 2016, during the entire period of absentee voting for both in-person and by-mail, 977,239 ballots were submitted.
“Hoosiers are eager to vote and are voting early in record numbers to make sure their voice is heard,” said Lawson. “Election officials across Indiana have worked tirelessly to make sure each voter is safe and secure, and I’m pleased to see this level of turnout heading into Election Day.”
The increased volume of absentee ballots means that final election results may not be immediately available on election night. Voters wishing to work in their county as absentee ballot counters are encouraged to contact their county clerk’s office as soon as possible, the release states.
Hoosier voters can track their absentee ballot, look up early voting sites, and contact their county clerk using www.IndianaVoters.com.
