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Marion County voters will continue to have only have one option for early voting—the clerk’s office.
Officials for the Marion County Election Board said they can’t establish any additional voting locations because the Republican Party wouldn’t approve them.
State law requires a unanimous vote of the bipartisan Election Board to open satellite locations for early voting. Republicans voted down additional locations, which means early voters will have to go to the Marion County Clerk’s Office to cast their ballots before the Nov. 6 general election.
“I am disappointed that we could not reach an agreement today,” Marion County Clerk Beth White said. “Since early voting began on Monday, we have broken records each day and expect this trend to continue. We are doing everything we can to make the City-County Building welcoming to all voters but these additional sites would have made early voting accessible to more voters throughout our county.”
Had the resolution passed, the Election Board would have opened satellite sites at the Washington Township Trustee’s Office on the north side and the Beech Grove Community Center on the south side. Those locations would have opened on Saturday, Oct. 27.
Marion County residents began voting on Monday, October 8. Election officials said they’ve seen a 26-percent increase in voters compared to the 2008 presidential election. By contrast, absentee voting by mail is down 23 percent compared to the 2008 election.
A look at the remaining early voting hours:
- Friday, October 12: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Monday, October 15 to Friday, October 19: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Saturday, October 20 & Sunday, October 21: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Monday, October 22 to Sunday, November 4: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Monday, November 5: 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. (last day for early voting)
Voters can use the Delaware Street entrance to the City-County Building to reach the clerk’s office. Voters will get reimbursed for parking at lots just east of the building directly north and south of Market Street.