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

On By Littum

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

Jennifer Ping, the GOP member and vice chair of the Marion County Board of Elections, voted against adding 9 to 11 a.m. hours at the eight township early voting centers. Friday, Saturday and Sunday hours at these locations will remain 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m

State law requires the Board of Elections 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 night for the chairman of the Board of Elections, voted for the extra hours at the township seats. Sweeney Bell also proposed selecting a northside and a southside satellite location to add morning hours to this weekend, which also failed due to a “no” from Ping.

Sweeney Bell said the extended hours would provide more options and make it easier for voters ahead of Election Day, especially since some people may be looking to avoid downtown because of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which wraps up its American leg here this weekend. The City County Building in downtown Indianapolis is open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, and 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Saturday 2 November and Sunday 3 November.

“I think it’s a sensible approach to this problem of people waiting and waiting and waiting to cast your vote,” Sweeney Bell said.

Why the Republican member voted no

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

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“In all fairness to everyone who is actually on the ballot, I also think it’s important not to change the rules for people in the middle of an election in the middle of voting,” Ping said at the meeting.

Joe Elsener, the Marion County Republican Party chairman, also said in a statement that he considered it “wrong” to change the early voting guidelines agreed upon by Democrats and Republicans. Elsener said in 2022 that he favored two early voting sites 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 Democratic counterparts to determine what we need to do in future elections to continue to make it easy to voice and harder to cheat,” said Elsener.

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

“This is something voters want — they don’t want to stand in line or can’t afford it, even in the best of 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 waiting times for each polling station on this websiteprovided 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.