More voters cast ballots early, overall turnout down slightly

More Columbus voters cast ballots early for Tuesday’s municipal election compared to the previous election four years ago, according to figures from the Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office. At the same time, turnout was slightly lower in Tuesday’s election than in 2019.

A total of 3,326 people voted early in-person, absentee by mail or via the travel board — representing 47% of all votes cast in Tuesday’s election and up from 2,144 voters, or 29% of all votes, in 2019.

Overall, 7,089 people voted in Tuesday’s election, or 23% of registered voters, down from 7,306 votes cast in 2019, or 24.65%. Nearly 70% of all votes cast in 2019 were cast on Election Day, compared to 53% on Tuesday.

Bartholomew County Clerk Shari Lentz said she expects the trend in early voting to continue, with elections becoming more of “a voting season than a voting day.”

“I think were just going to see that more and more with each election that passes, that the voters do take advantage of early voting and appreciate that opportunity,” Lentz said.

Lentz also said that holding early in-person voting at NexusPark may have also made a difference. In 2019, early voting was held at the Bartholomew County Courthouse, where parking is more limited.

However, Lentz also said that she believes more voters are aware that they can vote early.

Early in-person voting got off to a faster start that four years ago, with 2.5 times more people casting ballots during the first four days of early voting than four years ago. Overall, 2,876 people voted early in-person at NexusPark or the Bartholomew County Governmental Office Building. An additional 56 people voted via the travel board.

Straight-ticket voting also declined in Tuesday’s election, with 1,523 local residents voting straight ticket, or 21% of all votes cast. By comparison, 2,248 people voted straight ticket in 2019, or nearly 31% of all votes cast.

Absentee-by-mail voting, which had become more popular over the past couple elections, was slightly higher this year than four years ago, with 394 people voting absentee-by-mail in Tuesday’s election, compared to 353 people in 2019.

Bartholomew County Democratic Party Chair Ross Thomas said it is tough to get local voters engaged in municipal elections, which do not fall on presidential or midterm election years, but was not surprised in the uptick in early voting.

“It’s always tough for both sides to get people focused on a municipal election,” Thomas said. “We’re in such a polarized time. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who watch national news from one side or the other and follow national issues and they really don’t get engaged at the local level. It’s a struggle to get folks engaged.”

Bartholomew County Republican Party Vice Chair Josh Burnett, for his part, said he was a little more suprised that Election Day turnout was not higher. He said not having a Democratic candidate on the ballot for mayor may have played a role in lower Election Day turnout.

“I was really interested in seeing the changes since 2020 with COVID,” Burnett said. “…I saw people taking advantage of (early voting) in 2022, and I really thought that more people would take advantage of early voting just because it’s convenient with the central location of NexusPark. …I was a little bit more surprised that Election Day voting wasn’t as high, but I understand it, too.”

Lentz, for her part, said voting went smoothly throughout the day without any major issues. However, she said she “always likes to see a higher number in our turnout.”