As the polls opened Tuesday, the Vanderburgh County Election Office began counting ballots that were cast before Election Day. WNIN’s John Gibson explains:
Vanderburgh County Clerk Carla Hayden says state law allows workers to start counting early ballots on Election Day, instead of having to wait until the polls close.
She says it would be nice if they could start even sooner:
"That would be my wish. I think that's most clerks' wish is that we didn't have to wait until Election Day to start processing these."
Hayden says there’s a reason the state requires waiting until Election Day:
"In case somebody passes away after they have cast their early vote, then that vote is not supposed to count."
Hayden said more than 17,000 residents voted at early polling places like public libraries and Old National Events Plaza. More than 4,600 voted by mail.
She says early voting was down from the 2018 midterm election, especially the in-person balloting.