A few wrinkles but mostly a smooth primary

May 7—Despite some morning showers, the primary election appears to have gone without a hitch. Daviess County Clerk Lauren Milton says everything appeared to operate smoothly from the moment the polls opened at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

"This has been a good day. Everything is going smoothly. The machines worked properly from the very beginning," said Milton. "We had 1,200 absentee votes and by mid-morning 986 people had voted. Those are pretty good numbers considering it is a primary. I feel good about it. I feel pretty positive."

Milton felt pretty good about the early numbers.

"Every election is different and that makes it hard to compare," she said. "For instance, four years ago, we had more early votes, but that year we had a lot more candidates for president on both sides and people had more to vote for. That was also the COVID year and we had a lot more mail in ballots that year. We don't have a lot of mail ballots this year."

This is the first county-wide election where people cast ballots at vote centers instead of the traditional precincts.

"There are still people who do not understand that they can vote anywhere at any location," said Milton. "We had a few calls from people who were unsure about voting, but overall, the response has been positive. A lot of the people who voted early at the Kiwanis Building said they were glad that we had switched to vote centers."

One of the vote centers was at the National Guard Armory.

"It's been steady traffic. When we opened at 6 this morning, the first group of people came in and we had four people in line. People were getting out early and voting," said Election Inspector Bill Turner. "I think the vote centers have worked well. We still have people coming in and asking if this is the right precinct and we have to tell them they don't have to go to a precinct and that they can vote anywhere. It just makes it easier for people to vote in the county."

Action at the polls stayed pretty steady even through a couple of hours of rain in the late morning.

"I want to make sure we got the right people in office. We try to get the best people for our community and for the United States. That's why I chose to vote, to try and make a difference," said voter Martin Austin.

"Tracy Cook is my brother's son-in-law," said Daniel Gines. "I always vote but I got up this morning so that I could be certain I got my vote in for Tracy. I always vote anyway but this time I am excited about it."

The ballot in Daviess County, like almost all of those in Indiana, included candidates for everything from county council to President of the United States and voters wanted to weigh in on that decision.

"This is an important election. We need a strong government and no monkeying around and I voted for who I thought was strong," said voter Pat Thompson.

"We noticed that a lot of the voters have done their own research on the ballot, so they know who it running. That's been good," said Turner.

While the primary sets the ballot for the election in the fall, it still managed to generate some passion from voters.

"I voted because of the condition of the country and the change that needs to come," said Jane Bahler-Hurt. "The vote center is nice. It was quick and easy."

"I never miss a vote. It's a duty. If you want things to change or you want them to stay the same then you vote. Rather than complain about things you need to vote and do something about it. It's not just your duty but it is your constitutional right," said voter Jack Miles. "I don't know if it was necessary to do away with the precincts. I know you have to show a photo ID and I think that is good."

One thing that did put a wrinkle into this election was the construction at the courthouse, making this the first time in nearly a century where the building was not part of the election process.

"The closing of the courthouse has added some challenges to this election," said Milton. "Early voting was all at the Kiwanis Building across town instead of just downstairs. We had people come to the government center and try to vote, and we had to explain to them we didn't have enough room here and had to send them across town. It wasn't a huge problem but it was still a bit of a problem."