An election like no other that shattered voter turnout records in Johnson County and around the country meant some races — including the presidential race — were not called by press time Tuesday night.
It could be days before we know the final results of some local races, too, including Indiana House of Representatives District 93, and Indiana Senate District 36, both of which overlap with Marion County, where election officials expected results to be delayed due to a high volume of mail-in ballots. Marion County officials said by roughly 5 p.m., they had counted about 57,000 of the 213,612 votes cast early by mail and in person.
Though the race for State Rep. District 65 showed incumbent Republican Chris May significantly ahead, Brown County and Monroe County had not reported results to the The Associated Press by press time.
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Delayed counts in several states, such as Pennsylvania which allows mail-in ballots to be counted well after Election Day, had the potential to delay the naming of the next U.S. President for an extended period of time.
By about 8 p.m. Johnson County reported its first results, with all but about 2,600 early votes included in that tally. By 8:30 p.m. all of the early votes were reported. The first Election Day totals were reported about 8:50 p.m., and final results came in at 10:50 p.m.
Voters in Johnson County turned out in droves, with 70% of registered voters casting a ballot, shattering the previous voter turnout record set in 2008, when 64% turned out. This is the highest ballot count in recent memory, possibly in history, said Reagan Higdon, first deputy clerk.
More than 16,600 voted in-person today, but the bulk of votes were cast early this election, Higdon said.
The highest vote count, at 48,288, came from early in-person voting. Nearly 13,300 cast mail-in ballots, 133 sent their votes via email and 29 voted via travel board, according to data from Johnson County Clerk’s Office.
Early voting — both by mail and in-person — shattered previous records as well, as many voted early to avoid long lines on Election Day. However, in a turn of events this election, early voters experienced longer lines than those who waited until today.
Absentee by mail ballots counted Tuesday also shattered a record set in the June primary, when 10,377 voted by mail, and it blew past the 2016 record of 38,255 by nearly 10,000 votes, according to clerk’s office data.
Vote centers throughout the county reported long lines for about the first hour or two of Election Day voting, but did not see lines again until shortly before the polls closed at 6 p.m. Most vote centers did not have any new voters sign-in after about 6:15 p.m., a sign that lines dispersed quickly, Higdon said.
Aside from a few minor issues, it was smooth sailing for poll workers and voters. All of the county’s 21 vote centers opened on time and had plenty of staff to keep things moving along, she said.
“It went really smooth. Nothing crazy to be noted,” Higdon said. “Any issues were mostly just user error that was worked out quickly.”
With so many turning out early, the clerk’s office expectation of a quieter than normal Election Day came to pass.
“We hoped it would be more of a quiet day since we had already seen such a big percentage,” Higdon said.
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Here is a look at voter turnout this election compared to past presidential elections:
2020;70%
2016;63%
2012;61%
2008;64%
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