If the number of people who have already voted in-office, by mail and from overseas is any indication, a large number of voters will be at the polls on Nov. 3 at the general election.
As of Wednesday afternoon, a total number of 827 people had already come into the Marion County Circuit Clerk’s office, Janette Nolan said. There have also been 366 mail-in, 35 certified permitted disabled and 18 overseas ballots received for a total 1,246 ballots already collected in Marion County as of Wednesday afternoon.
Voting in the courthouse will continue Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. until Oct. 31. The courthouse will be open on Saturday, Oct. 24 from 8 a.m. until noon and Oct. 31 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
In order to accommodate the guidelines for social distancing with the coronavirus, special precautions have been implemented. The north door of the courthouse has been closed off to allow one of the desks from the circuit clerk’s office to be moved there to assist with the voting, and along the south hall are voting booths for individuals to cast their ballots. There is a second desk set up in the hallway as well to assist voters.
Nolan said the voting booths are thoroughly cleaned after they have been used. The Marion County Board of Supervisors approved hiring part-time workers to help with all the necessary cleaning and extra precautions.
With back-to-back court terms, an out of county trial going on and voting, there is a lot of action inside the circuit clerk’s office creating the need to be more spread out, Nolan said.
As more voters are coming in, Nolan said a voter might experience some wait time. Lunchtime is when they are the busiest, she said. However, the longest anyone has had to wait has been around 10 minutes.
With a trial currently taking place at the courthouse and other offices conducting business, Nolan said there is no guarantee that people will always be able to maintain the 6-foot social distancing recommendation. While she said they cannot require a mask be worn, it is strongly encouraged. If the poll worker does not recognize the voter while wearing the mask, the voter will have to lower the mask long enough for the poll worker to confirm the identity of the voter. All voters must provide identification in order to cast a ballot.
Nolan said she is anticipating the general election will have a very large turnout.
In the C-P’s Thursday Mass Mailer on Oct. 29, check out the election previews, a breakdown of the initiatives and also a sample ballot.
