Early voting ends today, primary election Tuesday

Tuesday is primary election day in Indiana, but there are still a few hours this morning to vote early in person. 

The primary election, normally held in May, was delayed a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Donner Center on 22nd Street in Columbus is the only early voting location open in Bartholomew County this primary. You can vote early between 8 a.m. and noon today. 

Polls at eight vote centers across the county are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday. County Clerk Jay Phelps has said that the number of polling locations have been reduced this election because of a shortage of poll workers. Many of the normal poll workers are elderly and have opted not to participate this election due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, Bartholomew County has had 18 vote centers.

The vote centers will be: 

• Hope Moravian Church
• Flintwood Wesleyan Church
• Donner Center
• Terrace Lake Church
• Elizabethtown Fire Station
• Ogilville United Methodist Church
• German Township Fire Station
• St. Johns Masonic Lodge

The three seats on the Hope Town Council by wards are up for election this year, however there are no contested primaries for those seats this election. Democrats incumbents Ed Johnson (Ward 1), Nellie Meek (Ward 2) and Republican incumbent Ohmer Miller (Ward 3) are all running unopposed in the primary. Republican John Walstad will be running against Meek for the Ward 2 seat this fall.

Republican voters in northeastern Bartholomew County will also be casting ballots in the contested race for State Representative in District 57. Longtime Rep. Sean Eberhart, R-Shelbyville, is being challenged for that seat by Edward K. Comstock II. No Democrat has filed to run this fall for that seat. 

There are several crowded countywide races on the Republican ballot. Four Republican candidates are running for Superior Court judge with Scott Andrews, Dominic Glover, Joe Meek and Jon Rohde. No Democrats have filed for that race.

Three candidates are running for County Commissioner District 3 seat, Dan Arnholt, Jo Flohr and Tony London. Although County Commissioner candidates must live in the district, they are elected countywide.

Seven Republican candidates are running for the three at-large seats on the Bartholomew County Council: Andrew Brunni, Laura DeDomenic, Bill Lentz,  Matt Miller, Derick Olson, Evelyn Pence and Bill Read. Lentz, Miller and Pence are all incumbents holding the three seats currently. DeDomenic is also a current council member, holding the District 2 seat that represents northern Columbus and northeastern Bartholomew County. However she elected to run for an at-large seat so she could continue to serve on the council if she moves out of her district.

County Commissioner District 1 Larry Kleinhenz, Coroner Clayton Nolting and Surveyor E.R. Gray are all running unopposed on the Bartholomew County Republican ballot.