Mike Wolanin | The Republic A view of the vote center at Donner Center during the primary election in Columbus, Ind., Tuesday, May, 2, 2023.
Nearly as many voters cast ballots in early voting as on election day in Tuesday’s primary in what was a stark departure from voting behavior in the previous municipal primary four years ago.
At the same time, turnout was slightly higher in Tuesday’s primary than in 2019.
A total of 2,353 people voted Tuesday, while 2,329 people cast ballots early in person or absentee by mail — a difference of just 24 voters, according to the Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office.
By comparison, 2,748 people voted on election in the 2019 municipal primary and 1,262 people voted early in person or absentee by mail, local records show.
Overall, 4,684 people voted in Tuesday’s primary, or about 15.43% of registered voters. A total of 4,010 people voted in the 2019 primary, or 13.73% of voters.
Bartholomew County Clerk Shari Lentz said she was pleased that turnout was a little higher this year compared to 2019 and said early voting is becoming increasingly popular among local voters.
Lentz also said 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.
“We’re seeing that more and more (early voting) as voters realize that is an option,” Lentz said.
Early voting quickly got off to a much faster start than four year ago. Overall, a total of 1,995 people had cast ballots in person at NexusPark or the Bartholomew County Government Office Building, compared to 1,051 people who voted early at the courthouse in 2019.
Bartholomew County Democratic Party Chair Ross Thomas said he was somewhat surprised about the amount of early voting compared to election day voting, adding that it “also reflects the kind of electorate that votes in an off-year election.”
“We were surprised,” Thomas said. “Just conventional wisdom would say where we live, same-day voting is going to be significantly higher, and it certainly wasn’t in this race.”
Bartholomew County Republican Party Vice Chair Josh Burnett said he wasn’t entirely surprised by the increase in early voting this year.
“I don’t think it really surprised me,” Burnett said. “…I think that NexusPark really since 2020 has been such a comfortable and convenient place for people to go and vote.”
Now, the attention shifts to the Nov. 7 general election, which will include a number of contested races for the Columbus City Council. And both major parties say their candidates and supporters are energized.
Thomas said he anticipates that the Democrats will be competitive in every city council race this fall.
“We feel like we’re going to be competitive in every race, and we feel like we’ve got a pretty clear advantage in several of them,” Thomas said. “We’re not conceding any of them. I fully anticipate filling out our slate for the city council. We’re ready to compete in all of those races and keep our majority.”
Bartholomew County Republican Party Chair Luann Welmer said the candidates “are ready to continue on right now” and are “excited” for the general election.
“I think the Republicans came out strong,” Welmer said. “They really have a lot of momentum right now, and we’re going to keep that going forward for sure. The numbers were very, very good for Republicans.”
Overall, local election officials said they are anticipating “heavy turnout” this fall for the general election.
“A lot of voters prefer to vote in a general election as there are many voters that don’t want to declare a party,” Lentz said. “I think we’ll see a heavy turnout this fall, as we’ll have contested races. I feel like we can look forward to an exciting general election this year.”
