A sign directing voters is set up outside the Johnson County courthouse during the 2022 primary election. Voters must be registered by April 3 to vote in this year’s primary election, which will take place May 2.
DAILY JOURNAL FILE PHOTO
Hoosier voters have until April 3 to submit their voter registration for the May 2 primary election.
The deadline applies to unregistered voters, voters who want to transfer their registration and may also apply to residents who didn’t cast their ballots in the previous two federal elections, Johnson County Clerk Trena McLaughlin said.
The last two federal elections include the 2022 congressional election and the 2020 presidential election.
“If they haven’t voted in the last two federal elections, they should contact our office and we can check if they’re registered,” she said.
Voters can also check the status of their registration on indianavoters.in.gov.
To register, voters need to be at least 18 years old by the general election, which will take place Nov. 7. Voters need to be U.S. citizens, not currently be in prison after being convicted of a crime and live in the precinct they’re registering to vote in. Voters can provide proof of their residence with a valid Indiana driver’s license or state identification card. First-time Indiana voters may also need to provide a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or government document to prove their address, according to the Indiana County Voter Registration Application.
Residents can go online to register at indianavoters.in.gov by 11:59 p.m. April 3 to be eligible to vote in the May election, with early voting starting April 17. They can also register in person at the county’s voter registration office, located in the Johnson County Courthouse, by 4:30 p.m. April 3, the same time mail-in applications must arrive at the courthouse. Mail-in applications can be sent to the Johnson County Voter Registration Office, 5 E. Jefferson St., Franklin. Residents can also register to vote at any license branch, but should check with the voter registration office to make sure their application went through, McLaughlin said.
Only Johnson County residents who live within municipal boundaries can vote this year, as there are no federal, state or county seats up for grabs. Candidates are running for office in Franklin, Greenwood, Bargersville, Edinburgh, Whiteland, New Whiteland, Trafalgar and Prince’s Lakes for positions including mayor, city and town council, clerk-treasurer, city judge and city clerk.
There are contested races for city council in Greenwood and Franklin and for town council seats in Bargersville, Whiteland, Trafalgar and Prince’s Lakes. Greenwood also has contested races for mayor and city judge, while Bargersville has a contested race for clerk-treasurer.
Registration has increased since the last city and town elections in 2019. There were 69,332 Johnson County voters registered for the primary election in 2019. That number has since grown to 80,904. Including residents of unincorporated areas not eligible to vote this year, there are 116,622 registered voters in Johnson County, First Deputy Clerk Amy Briggs said in an email.
Johnson County’s population stood at 161,765 during the last official census in 2020, while the population of the county’s cities and towns totaled 111,508.
The number of people requesting mail-in ballots has also increased. There were 14 absentee ballots mailed out on the first day of mailing in 2019, compared to 37 mailed out Wednesday. The uptick in registered voters is likely because of population increases, McLaughlin said.
“Our cities and towns have more people moving in,” she said. “Housing additions are going up everywhere and more people are registered to vote because more residents are moving to this county.”
People with further questions about voter registration, early voting and voting centers can call 317-346-4466.
