Early voting concludes

On the final day voters could cast their ballot before Election Day, the line stretched around the courthouse and voters waited for two hours or more.

The scene was unreal, and something election officials had never seen before, Johnson County Clerk Susie Misiniec said.

Robyn Buck arrived to the Johnson County Courthouse at 11:59 a.m., just before the polls closed at noon. A poll worker and Johnson County Sheriff’s Office deputy got in line behind her to make sure no one else slipped in after the noon cutoff.

After waiting for more than two hours, she was the last of 34,959 people to cast their ballot in Johnson County prior to Election Day.

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With an early voting turnout of 32 percent, this year has far exceeded any other year, officials said. Misiniec initially predicted 15,000 early voters, but revised that estimate to 25,000 last week. The previous record for early voting in Johnson County was 10,000 votes in the spring primary.

“We thought we would have a good turnout, but I did not dream we would have the turnout we have had,” Misiniec said.

“We are thrilled. We didn’t necessarily plan for this big of an early turnout.”

Lengthy lines were commonplace at polling locations across the county over the last few weeks, leading election officials to add more poll workers at different locations to try to address the long waits. Monday — the final day of early voting — was no different. A line of several hundred people stretched out the door to the courthouse basement, snaked through the courthouse lawn, down the sidewalk of East Court Street and to Monroe Street.

One voter exiting the building at about 12:30 p.m. said his wait lasted more than 2 hours.

For many of the voters waiting in line, their goal of coming out the final day of early voting was to avoid the long lines expected today. But even though there was still a wait, people remained in a good mood, and no issues were reported, Misiniec said.

Aaran Paunwar of Greenwood thought the line would be long, but not as long as the more than two-hour wait he faced to cast a vote for Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson.

Danielle and Jarrett Helton said they came out to vote on Monday because they were concerned about even longer lines on Election Day.

“Figure it is better than tomorrow,” Jarrett Helton said.

Even though she had to wait, Lorena Seitz of Greenwood thought coming out to vote on Monday was a better option than waiting until today.

She is studying to become a midwife, so health care is a key issue for her, and she hadn’t been able to make it to a polling place any other time during early voting, she said.

“Tomorrow is going to be even crazier,” Seitz said.

Maria Davila was a bit caught off guard by the long line. She wanted to avoid long lines on Election Day, and figured everyone that was going to vote early likely had already done it in the weeks before the final day, she said.

But she didn’t mind waiting, because she wanted to have her say in this election, she said. She has also been encouraging her two daughters, both who live out of state, to get out and vote, she said.

“You can’t complain about what happens or who gets elected if you don’t vote,” she said.

A stay-at-home mother with a part-time job, Buck has to work today, which is why she made the trip from Edinburgh to Franklin on Monday morning, she said.

“I thought I’d be able to get in real easy,” she said.

This was the first time Buck has voted. She and her husband are splitting their votes; she is a Democrat and he is a Republican, she said.

“This election has got me excited about voting,” she said.