Menu
Ballots already cast by 22 percent of local voters
With each voter who casts a ballot between now and Monday, Nov. 2, Putnam County will set a record for the number of early votes cast in an election.
As of Thursday morning, a total of 5,469 ballots had already been cast in the general election in the county, more than 1,200 more than the previous record of 4,245 early votes cast in 2016.
This represents 22 percent of Putnam County’s 24,835 registered voters.
It also exceeds the 4,852 total ballots cast in the June primary by more than 600.
And this was with nine days of early in-person voting to go until Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
In total, 4,032 votes had been cast in person at the Putnam County Courthouse, while 1,437 mail-in absentee ballots had been returned, according to Putnam County Clerk Heather Gilbert.
Gilbert reported that a total of 1,974 absentee ballots had been requested in the county, meaning that the number could jump by 500 voters in mail-in ballots alone. While processing all these paper absentee ballots on Election Day could be a challenge, the Clerk’s Office was able to tabulate more than 1,500 without a delay in results in the June primary election.
Of course, the majority of voting is still expected to take place on Election Day at one of Putnam County’s eight vote centers (see below). Therefore, it remains to be seen what the overall voter turnout will be in the county. In 2016, 60 percent of the county’s registered voters cast ballots, while the number was 59 percent in 2012 and 61 percent in 2008.
We will also find out after Election Day what percentage of the overall ballots cast the absentee vote represents, though if upward trends in recent elections and turnout so far suggest anything, it will be a higher number than at any point previously.
The high-water mark in that category was in 2016, when absentee votes represented 28 percent of ballots cast in the county. Prior to that, 21 percent of votes were cast early in 2012 and 23 percent in 2008, the first year that local voters really started taking early in-person voting seriously.
The trend toward early in-person voting in recent elections has made the process run more smoothly in spite of the increase in numbers and changing voting habits in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. While there have been lines at the courthouse at times, they’ve been nothing like those early Putnam County voters experienced in the last three presidential election years.
In the primary, the total of 2,163 early ballots (in-person and mail-in) cast represented 45 percent of turnout, though that number was boosted by greater pandemic restrictions on gatherings and relaxed standards for voting by mail in the primary.
“I think we’re better prepared,” Voter Registration Clerk Stacia Hathaway said. “In 2008, that was the worst because we didn’t see it coming.”
While the deadline to apply to vote by mail was Thursday, any registered Putnam County voter may still vote early in person at the courthouse from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Thursday, as well as the next two Saturdays, Oct. 24 and 31, from 8 a.m.-3 p.m.
The final day to cast an early in-person ballot is Monday, Nov. 2, from 8 a.m.-noon.
The second floor of the Putnam County Courthouse is the lone early polling place in the county.
For those choosing to go the more traditional route and cast a ballot on Tuesday, Nov. 3, eight vote centers are available in Putnam County:
• Putnam County Courthouse, 1 Courthouse Square, Greencastle.
• Reelsville Fire Department, 7748 S. CR 625 West, Reelsville.
• Floyd Township Fire Department, 6901 E. CR 380 North, Fillmore.
• Greencastle American Legion, 1401 Indianapolis Rd., Greencastle.
• Cloverdale American Legion, 501 S. Main St., Cloverdale.
• Bainbridge Community Building, 201 N. Grant Ave., Bainbridge.
• Putnam County Fairgrounds Community Building, 191 N. U.S. 231, Greencastle.
• Wellspring Christian Church, 3256 S. CR 725 East, Coatesville.
These polling places will be open from 6 a.m.-6 p.m. on Election Day.
Under the vote center model, polling place is no longer determined by precinct. A registered Putnam County voter who hasn’t already cast a ballot may do so at any one of these locations, regardless of place of residence.
Whether voting early or on Election Day, voters are reminded to bring government-issued identification and that election-related materials (including masks, buttons, hats, shirts or signs) are not permitted inside polling places.