Plan to add early voting hours in Marion County blocked by Republican

November 2, 2024 Vaseline blog 0

Long lines for early voting across Indianapolis this week led the Marion County Election Board to propose adding two extra morning hours to the eight early voting township satellite locations this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But the lone Republican on the Marion County Election Board blocked the change at a public meeting Thursday.

Jennifer Ping, the GOP member and vice chair of the Marion County Election Board, voted against adding 9 to 11 am hours at the eight township early voting centers. The Friday, Saturday and Sunday hours at these locations will remain 11 am to 6 pm

State law requires the election board to have a unanimous vote to change its vote center plan. Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell and Anne O’Connor, a stand-in Thursday evening for the election board chair, voted in favor of the additional hours at the township sites. Sweeney Bell also proposed picking one north side and one south side satellite location to add morning hours to this weekend, which also failed due to a “no” vote from Ping.

Sweeney Bell said the extended hours would give more options and make it easier for voters ahead of Election Day, especially as some people might seek to avoid downtown due to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour wrapping up its US leg here this weekend. The City County Building in downtown Indianapolis is open 8 am to 10 pm on Friday, Nov. 1, and 11 am to 10 pm Saturday, Nov. 2, and Sunday, Nov. 3.

“I think it is a common-sense approach to this problem of people waiting and waiting and waiting to cast your ballot,” Sweeney Bell said.

Why the Republican member voted no

In remarks at the meeting, Ping said she was against extending the hours in the middle of the election and after voting has already started. The first day of early voting in Indiana was Oct. 8. She also highlighted the number of early voting locations in Marion County this year, which she said is the most the county has made available during a presidential election.

Election 2024: Early voting is underway in Indiana. Where to vote and what not to wear or bring to the polls

“In all fairness for everybody who’s actually on the ballot, too, I believe that it’s important not to change the rules for people in the middle of an election mid-voting,” Ping said at the meeting.

Joe Elsener, the Marion County Republican Party chairman, in a statement also said he viewed it as “wrong” to change the guidelines for early voting that Democrats and Republicans agreed on. Elsener said in 2022 he advocated for two early voting locations per township, but Democrats said it “would be too many to staff.”

“While we understand that staffing is a concern and a serious challenge, we are eager to analyze the data after this election and work with our Democrat counterparts to determine what we need to do in future elections to continue to make it easy to vote and harder to cheat,” Elsener said.

Indiana Democratic Party Chairman Mike Schmuhl in a statement condemned the move and said Republicans in Indiana are “becoming experts at disenfranchising voters.”

“This is something voters want — they do not want to wait in lines, or can’t afford to, even in the best weather,” Schmuhl said.

Where to vote early in Marion County this weekend

Nine early voting locations are available in Marion County this weekend. You can check the wait times for each voting location at this website, provided by the Marion County Election Board.

  • Indianapolis City-County Building
  • Decatur Township Government Center
  • Franklin Township Government Center
  • International Marketplace Coalition
  • MSD Lawrence Education & Community Center
  • Perry Township Government Center
  • St. Luke’s United Methodist Church
  • Thatcher Park Community Center
  • Warren Township Government Center

Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at [email protected] or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter/X@CarloniBrittany.