Early voting in Marion County sees a surge, long lines remain - Indianapolis News | Weather Indiana

(SPIEGEL INDY) – A week before election day, the line to vote on St. Luke’s United Methodist Church swung around metal barricades. Claudia Trefz held a flag indicating the end of the line.

“I tell people to plan for two hours and hope it’s shorter,” said Trefz, a church volunteer. That was for the afternoon crowd; she said the line was even longer when the voting center opened.

After hearing this, three people turned around and walked back to their car.

But several Marion County residents interviewed by Mirror Indy said they opted to stand in long lines during early voting rather than wait until the uncertainty of Election Day. They wanted to make sure nothing stood between them and their right to vote.

Initially this year, when residents had access to just one voting center in the City-County Building, Marion County election turnout was lagged behind in the last presidential election of 2020. But turnout is now rising after eight additional voting centers opened on October 26. More than 30,000 voters used the additional locations in the first three days, according to data from the Marion County Election Board.

Nowhere is this more evident than St. Luke’s Church on the north side. It was the busiest location during the first three days of expanded early voting, followed closely by MSD Lawrence Education and Community Center.

That’s not surprising: Those two voting centers are in parts of the city that saw that some of the highest turnouts during last year’s mayoral elections.

“I saw a few walk away, not too many,” Trefz told Mirror Indy. “Some people just don’t have that much time in the day, so they come back.”

Marion County expanded early voting sites after a 2017 lawsuit accused the county board of elections discriminating against African-American voters. After former Democratic President Barack Obama took control of the state in 2008, the state Legislature passed a law requiring a unanimous vote from county election boards before a county could establish satellite voting locations. In Marion County, Republican members of the election board blocked these measures. according to an IndyStar investigation.

So in 2016, Indiana’s most populous county had just one early voting site: the City-County Building.

In 2020, following the expansion of early voting, more than 130,000 Marion County residents took advantage of the new options. This represented an increase of more than 180% compared to 2016.

If voters continue to vote in large numbers this year, Marion County could match or even surpass the number of residents who voted in early 2020.

Long lines and extended opening hours

At the Lawrence Township voting center, 81-year-old Gloria Garriott and her husband were told to wait 90 minutes. The couple tried to vote twice on Monday but were deterred by the long lines.

“We came back today and I guess we just have to wait,” Garriott said. “My sister was here on Saturday and she had to wait two hours.”

Doretha Buckner’s wait time was only 90 minutes. She purposely arrived 20 minutes before the voting center opened at 11 a.m. and said there was already a line.

“There’s someone telling you from every spot how long it will take, so it wasn’t that bad,” she said.

Buckner said she likes being able to vote early after having to wait a long time for Election Day in the past.

On Election Day, residents can vote at more than 180 locations across the province. But Dan Goldblatt, a spokesman for the Marion County Clerk’s Office, said longer lines are still a possibility.

“There are 642,000 registered voters in Marion County,” Goldblatt said. “If they all come out on Election Day, we’ll be ready. But when they all come out, there will be some rows.

As for the long wait during early voting, Goldblatt said he believes people are excited about the opportunity to vote early in the presidential election. He said long waits are expected this weekend, when more people will have a chance to vote.

He also encourages people to take advantage of the extended hours until 10 p.m. Nov. 1-3 at the City-County Building. Officials extended the hours because they hoped more people would come downtown for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour.

Where and when to vote early

City-County Building, 200 E. Washington St., W122

8am to 6pm October 30-31
8am to 10pm November 1
11am to 10pm November 2-3
8am to 12pm November 4

Other voting centers are open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. through November 3:

Decatur Township Government Center, 5410 S. High School Road
Franklin Township Government Center, 6231 S. Arlington Ave.
Global Village at International Marketplace, 4233 Lafayette Road
MSD Lawrence Education and Community Center, 6501 Sunnyside Road
Perry Township Government Center, 4925 Shelby St.
St. Luke’s UMC, 100 W. 86th St.
Thatcher Park Community Center, 4649 W. Vermont St.
Warren Township Government Center, 501 N. Post Road

Westside awaits, but ‘not that bad’

On the west side, Anita Broadus knows about early voting.

The Avon resident already voted in Hendricks County, but felt casting a ballot was so important that she brought her family to the polls. She took her daughter to the Global Village at the International Marketplace voting center on Monday.

On Tuesday, she waited at the reception with her 24-year-old grandson, Isaiah Sparks Thatcher Park Community Centre. Sparks, who is from Speedway, said he doesn’t think he voted in the last presidential election, but he decided to this time because “my grandmother talked me into it.”

They decided to vote early, fearing the wait for Election Day could be long. Broadus said she has encountered long lines, but some have ebbed and flowed and become much shorter after the initial rush when polls opened at 11 a.m.

Thatcher Park manager Will Hollowell said wait times have been around three hours since the voting center opened this weekend.

In the Global Village, some residents said they showed up as early as 9 a.m. expecting the polls to open earlier than they actually did.

Others drove by to ask about wait times, but moved on after seeing the lines so they could get to work on time.

Chariya Nam-Arsa, events manager at Global Village, said wait times there range from 90 minutes to two hours. She encouraged voters to bring water and a chair if they need it.

Regardless of the wait, Broadus said it was worth it. She is especially concerned that young people, like her daughter and grandson, are turning out to vote because the elections affect their future.

“It’s not too bad,” Broadus said from the line. “You feel good after you do it. I feel good because my grandson said yes.”

Mirror Indy reporter Darian Benson covers east Indianapolis. Contact her at 317-397-7262 or [email protected]. Follow her on X @HelloImDarian.

Mirror Indy reporter Carley Lanich covers early childhood, K-12 education. Contact her at [email protected] or follow her on X @carleylanich.

Reach Mirror Indy reporter Emily Hopkins at 317-790-5268 or [email protected]. Follow them on most social media @indyemapolis.