By Jessica Karins
HANCOCK COUNTY — Michael Pettygrove stood in line to cast his vote in person on Monday, Oct. 19, but he wasn’t happy about it. He had turned out to vote against the politicians who made voting in person, for some Hoosiers, a necessity.
“I’m not at all happy with Eric Holcomb,” Pettygrove said as he waited in line to cast a ballot at the Buck Creek Township Fire Department, which was open for the first time for early voting. “This never should’ve happened… It’s disgusting for us to have to be here. And it’s the governor’s fault; the Republican Party’s fault; the president’s fault; and (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell’s fault.”
Election Day is still two weeks away, but the election is already in full swing. With thousands of Hancock County voters having already cast ballots, hundreds more streamed into five available polling places on Monday — four of them open for the first time — to cast their ballots.
Long lines were reported Tuesday as well. At the Hancock County Public Library in Greenfield, voters were lined up from the door to the sidewalk on W. McKenzie Road before the doors opened. The voters at the front of the line had arrived about 30 minutes early. At the Sugar Creek branch, voters were lined up far from the entrance to the polling place shortly after voting began.
At the Hancock County Annex, election inspector Sharon McClarnon said traffic was not slowing down Tuesday even though more polling places were open. Every day, she said, the vote center has seen between from 440 to 480 voters. She estimated that voters typically wait in line for about 25 minutes.
Compared to previous elections she’s worked, it’s an unprecedented experience.
“We have not had a time when we didn’t have voters here,” she said of the polling center since it opened two weeks ago.
Unlike the primary election, she said, almost every voter has brought a mask with them, though she’s had to ask some to turn theirs inside out to hide a political message, because apparel supporting candidates isn’t allowed inside the vote centers.
The library’s two locations, along with Buck Creek Township Fire Department and the Fortville Community Center, joined the Hancock County Annex in offering early voting. At least one early-voting center will be open every day until Election Day, Nov. 3.
Five more polling places will be available on Election Day for those who wait until then.
For Pettygrove, the number of people voting in person was an indictment of state and national leaders who, he said, could have ensured that every Hoosier voter was able to cast a mail-in ballot and avoid the risk of exposure to COVID-19.
“They’re hypocrites. They say they care about Hoosiers’ health? They don’t,” he said of Holcomb and President Donald Trump. A registered Republican, Pettygrove voted a straight ticket for the Democrats.
Not everyone in line was unhappy to be there, however, with many voters saying they preferred voting in person to casting a ballot via the mail.
“I can come out here and stand,” said Melvin Mace, who voted at Fortville Community Center. “That’s not a problem with me.”
Mace said it was important to him to vote in every race because, as an employee of the Indiana Department of Corrections, government decisions directly affect his work.
County Clerk Lisa Lofgreen said the county is continuing to see high turnout in early voting. Unlike mail-in ballots, which were limited to voters who could provide one of a number of valid excuses to request an absentee ballot, in-person early voting is available to any Hancock County registered voter.
At Fortville Community Center on Monday, 286 total votes were cast; 356 were cast at the Buck Creek Township Fire Department, 375 at the Greenfield library location, and 313 at the location in New Palestine.
A total of 4,395 votes have been cast at the Hancock County Annex, where voting has been open for two weeks.
In fact, polls have been so busy that the local political parties are recruiting additional poll workers, according to local Republican chair Janice Silvey and local Democratic chair Randy Johnson. The two each said they expected to be able to add enough workers to provide an additional pair of hands at each polling place.
“They’re so busy that I’m going to the people working Election Day that I know are retired and asking if they’d be willing to work some extra hours,” Johnson said.
Silvey said she has been surprised by the turnout for in-person early voting, especially the lines that formed at the library locations as people waiting for the doors to open.
“I thought we had lines at the annex, but these were huge,” she said.
Election inspector Marybeth Sears said she wasn’t having any trouble getting voters at the Fortville Community Center to adhere to social distancing and other COVID-19 precautions. Most, she said, came with masks and were happy to stay 6 feet apart.
Each vote center also has “sanitizers” on hand to make sure each pen, booth, and poll pad is cleansed between uses.
“I cleaned for two weeks at the annex prior, so I’ve got it down pat,” Sears said.
At Buck Creek, poll worker Larry Studebaker said he was pleased with voters observing health protocols and wearing masks.
Compared to previous years he had worked the polls during early voting, Studebaker said he was “slammed” with voters on Monday. People were waiting in line before the vote center opened.
“People are backed up and, like I said, there’s a lot of people here,” he said. “We’ve been able to move them through pretty quickly, but there’s been a steady line ever since 8 in the morning, even with the weather being like it was.”
Despite the increased work of having more than the usual amount of voters, Studebaker said he was happy to see more people getting out to participate in the election.
VOTE CENTER SCHEDULE
Here is where you can vote before Election Day:
Hancock County Annex — 111 American Legion Place, Greenfield
Weekdays, Oct. 6-30, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 24, and Saturday, Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 2, 8 a.m. to noon
Hancock County Public Library — 900 W. McKenzie Rd., Greenfield; and 5731 U.S. 52, New Palestine
Weekdays, Oct. 19-30, 2-7 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 24, and Saturday, Oct. 31 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 25 and Sunday, Nov. 1, 1-4 p.m.
Fortville Community Center, 400 W. Church St., Fortville; and Buck Creek Township Fire Department 5809 W. Airport Blvd., Greenfield
Weekdays, Oct. 19-30, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 24, and Saturday, Oct. 31 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 25 and Sunday, Nov. 1, 1-4 p.m.
All of the above locations will be open on Election Day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. These vote centers also will be open on Election Day:
-NineStar Connect North, 2331 E. County Road 600N, Greenfield
-Nameless Creek Camp and Event Center, 2675 S. County Road 600E, Greenfield
-Wilkinson Church of Christ, 7293 State Road 109, Wilkinson
-McCordsville Town Hall, 6280 W. County Road 800N, McCordsville
-Cross of Grace Lutheran Church, 3519 S. County 600W, New Palestine
