Voting is convenient and flexible when you make a plan.
Two easy actions will help you create your voting plan. First, register to vote or verify your voter registration. Second, decide to vote in-person, by absentee ballot, or by traveling board.
Action 1: Register and verify
This is easy to do on your phone or computer. Go to indianavoters.in.gov. Click on “Register to Vote’ or “Check Voting Status.” Ask someone to help you get this information if you’re not familiar with the internet. You can also ask the Johnson County Election Board to send you a Voter Registration Application at 317-346-4467.
Action 2: Decide how to vote
Vote in-person
Voters have the option to vote at any vote center location in Johnson County and can vote on Primary Day, May 2, or during the two weeks prior to the election.
You can pick a date, time, and location that is convenient. Make a plan to share a ride if you don’t drive. Children are welcome to be with you at the voting location.
Remember, you must show a valid photo ID when you vote in person. Many people use their Indiana driver’s license. If you don’t drive, there are other valid IDs, such as a passport or a state ID card. A state ID card can also be obtained at BMV locations.
Vote absentee
If you want to vote absentee via mail, you must ask for an absentee ballot before 11:59 p.m. on April 20.
Call or visit the clerk’s office to get an application or download an application from indianavoters.in.gov.
After receiving your absentee ballot, carefully follow the directions to complete it. Remember to put your signature on the back of the ballot envelope and put your completed ballot in the security envelope. Your completed absentee ballot must be in the physical custody of the county election board by 6 p.m. on May 2.
There are two ways to submit your voted and sealed absentee ballot: mail your ballot or deliver your ballot to the Johnson County Courthouse at 5 E. Jefferson St, Franklin. The county clerk’s office is in the basement of the building.
Vote by traveling board
This option is available to persons, and their caregivers, who are confined to their residences. The county clerk recommends submitting this application well before the official deadline, which is noon, the day before May 2, so a team can be scheduled to visit the voter’s residence.
Encourage others
Congratulations and hooray; your voting plan is complete! Please share this information with your family and friends. Encourage them to make a voting plan. All registered voters have the right to decide which candidates are qualified to serve the needs of people who live in Johnson County. For more information on voting plans visit vote411.org/
Early ballots safe and secure
We’d also like you to know election workers are trained and follow policies and procedures to keep ballots secure. Clerk’s office personnel enter security envelope information into voter software that is used by all Indiana counties. The election workers staple every security envelope to the corresponding vote-by-mail application. The board receives daily printed reports for each batch of security envelopes. The security envelope reports must match at the end of each workday.
Security is high! Workers are in a secured room under 24-hour surveillance. The room is always occupied by at least two persons with equal representation from the Democratic and Republican parties and ballots are kept in locked boxes.
On Election day, the security envelopes are removed from the locked boxes. With a Republican and a Democrat sitting across from each other, the ballots are given to a team that runs the ballots through a scantron machine. The ballots are read by the computer and tabulated. State law requires the ballots to be kept for 22 months. To read more about election security visit indianavoters.in.gov/MVPHome/ElectionSecurity.
LWVJC members Margaret Sheets and Mary Kooi wrote this column. To learn more about LWVJC, visit lwvjcin.org. Send comments to [email protected].
