Early voting nears 2016 levels throughout Indiana

Early voting is skyrocketing statewide—and in Marion County, it has outpaced the level seen in the 2016 presidential election.

Across the state, a total of 518,891 ballots have been cast, as of the end of Wednesday. That’s more than double the number seen at this point in the last midterm election in 2014, when 228,467 individuals had voted.

And with 3-1/2 days left for early voting, the state is inching toward 2016 early voting figures—it’s only off by about 71,500, or 12 percent, as of the end of Wednesday.

Voter turnout is historically lower in midterm elections than presidential elections. Indiana had record low turnout in 2014.

Marion County voters have already outpaced 2016 early voting. Through Wednesday, nearly 51,600 early votes had been cast this year in Marion County, compared to about 36,000 at this time in 2016.

And the satellite early voting centers have proved to be popular: More than 26,000 votes were cast at the six different locations from Oct. 26-Oct. 31. The most popular spot has been the Washington Township Government Center where 6,624 people voted there in that time period, compared to 4,644 that voted at the City-County Building.

In Hamilton County, early voting has significantly increased from 2014 and is more on par with 2016. Through Wednesday, a total of 26,244 votes had been cast. That’s up from just 2,303 at this time in 2014. It’s only down about 10 percent from 2016, when 29,147 had voted at this point.

Hamilton County also opened three additional early voting centers on Oct. 24. The Carmel location has been the most popular with 2,754 voters as of the end of Saturday, the most recent day those figures were available. More than 2,107 individuals have voted in Fishers and 1,472 in Westfield, also as of the end of Saturday.

In Monroe County, which is included in the 9th congressional district, more people have already voted early this year than voted overall in the 2014 midterm election.

Early voting ends at noon Monday. In Marion County, early voting hours are offered today, Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning, and in Hamilton County, early voting is available today, Saturday and Monday. Election Day is Tuesday.