When the polls closed on Tuesday, voter turnout was more than double what county election officials predicted a day earlier.
More than 16 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the general election, up significantly from what it was during the last municipal election in 2015 when the county experienced one of the worst voter turnouts in the state.
Voters were determining who will lead their cities and towns for the next four years. The candidates who won office this year manage local budgets, determining if more police officers and firefighters are hired, which businesses get tax breaks and which streets to pave.
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“I’m very, very excited, but I know that the referendum had a lot to do with that turnout,” said Trena McLaughlin, county clerk.
About half of the 14,706 voters, many of whom would not typically vote during a municipal election, came out for the Center Grove schools referendum, which failed to pass.
She predicted an 8 percent turnout due to an exceptionally low early voter turnout. Only about 3 percent of registered voters cast ballots early in the two weeks leading up to the election.
About 10,000 people waited until Tuesday to vote, but still, lines were practically non-existent. That had a lot to do with the county’s new equipment, which it rented from a central Indiana vendor for this year’s elections.
Voters were able to walk right into a polling place, check in and vote, all in a matter of minutes.
“Honestly, I had a lot of good workers and that is what makes an election,” McLaughlin said. “I am eternally grateful for them.”
The scene on Tuesday was a far cry from the election exactly one year ago, when malfunctioning electronic poll books and insufficient cloud storage led to hours-long waits for thousands of voters, some of whom did not get a chance to vote.
Johnson County has been notorious for low voter turnout, especially during city and town elections. In both the 2015 primary and general elections, fewer than 10 percent of registered voters cast ballots, making it one of the worst in the state. Johnson County had the fifth lowest voter turnout of Indiana’s 91 counties in the 2015 municipal election. About 11 percent of registered voters cast ballots during this year’s primary.
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Here is a look at what percent of voters turned out for the last few municipal general elections:
2019;16%
2015;9.7%
2011;23.4%
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