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The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to giving Hoosiers a comprehensive look inside state government, policy and elections. The site combines daily coverage with in-depth scrutiny, political awareness and insightful commentary.

You can read the original version of the story here.

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Republican senators killed two flashy election proposals and significantly scaled back a third after letting the trio languish on the chamber’s daily calendar for more than two weeks.

Legislation slashing early in-person voting days and closing primary elections to unaffiliated voters garnered mixed committee testimony in early February before moving to the Senate for consideration. But both died quietly on Wednesday when their authors declined to call them down before a key deadline.

Numerous amendments had been filed on both of the bills.

Hoosier voters can currently cast ballots in person for 28 days ahead of elections. Sen. Gary Byrne’s Senate Bill 284 would’ve cut that timeframe to two weeks.

Spokespeople told the Capital Chronicle that the bill “didn’t have enough support” to move forward and that Byrne, R-Byrneville, “is not going to pursue it any further this session.”

At a Feb. 3 committee hearing, a Secretary of State’s Office representative — the only supportive witness — spoke of low participation in the first two-week period and said Indiana should instead grow the number of early voting locations. At the time, Byrne told the Capital Chronicle that he hoped to add provisions redirecting savings toward that effort. Voter-rights advocates and local election officials, meanwhile, worried the change could worsen already-long and -slow early voting lines.

Another effort would’ve ended Indiana’s current “open” primary election system.

Voters currently can ask for either a Democratic or Republican Party ballot and don’t need to “register” with a party to do so. Author Sen. Mike Gaskill, R-Pendleton, indicated he’s not done trying to change that practice.

“It’s a different concept for people in Indiana,” Gaskill told the Capital Chronicle. “It’s pretty common around the country. And it’s just going to take people some getting used to before they warm up to it.”

His Senate Bill 201 would have added text to voter registration forms asking Hoosiers to choose their political parties and warning that affiliation is required to vote in a primary election. It also would’ve required county election officials to affiliate registered voters with either the Democratic or Republican Party based on their last primary election votes, and would’ve created a way for voters to change their affiliations.

Municipal elections move scaled back

Legislation moving municipal elections to the same even-numbered years as presidential elections got major edits Wednesday.

Senators accepted Gaskill’s amendment limiting Senate Bill 355‘s changes to towns — minus the 200-person town of Vernon. Legislative bodies for towns of more than 10,000 residents could vote to opt out and keep their elections on odd-numbered years, while city councils could vote to opt into the change.

Gaskill said cities and large towns already hold primary elections, but many smaller towns use conventions instead. He called those “difficult to run, confusing to voters and typically (with) very, very low turnout, even less turnout than primary elections.”

“This will improve voter turnout and it will simplify things for the voters as well,” Gaskill continued. “But then it will also save money because we won’t be running town conventions in the primaries.”

Vernon, however, would keep its unique status quo. Its 1851 town charter — from when it was incorporated by the state of Indiana — allows it to have a mayor serving two-year terms, without primary elections or other partisan restrictions. Vernon holds elections “unlike any others in the state,” the town’s website boasts.

“There was no desire on my part to interfere at all with a piece of history that Indiana could be proud of,” Gaskill said.

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The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to giving Hoosiers a comprehensive look inside state government, policy and elections. The site combines daily coverage with in-depth scrutiny, political awareness and insightful commentary.

You can read the original version of the story here.

The post Senate kills early voting cuts, closed primary bills, backtracks on city election changes appeared first on News Now Warsaw.

WARSAW — Significant early voting in recent weeks in Kosciusko County does not seem to have eased turnout today at voter centers as Americans weigh in on the much-anticipated presidential election and other races.

One anecdotal case could be seen at the Zimmer Biomet Center Lake Pavilion in Warsaw where a line of people waiting to vote extended out the door — something that normally does not happen there.

"There was 29 people waiting in line at 6 a.m. and the line has not gotten any shorter," said Paul Schmitt, the election inspector at the pavilion.

He's worked elections for 20 years and said today's traffic has been "overwhelming" compared to the normal pace.

Regardless, he said he's happy to see the strong turnout.

One poll worker said they thought early voting would slacken the pace but added they had not had a break yet as of 9:30 a.m.

Kosciusko County Clerk Ann Torpy reports the county experienced record-setting early voting ahead of today’s election.

“Early voting walk-in voters, we had 13,674,” Torpy said Monday afternoon.

The pre-election day turnout comes after officials saw a strong increase in voter registration.

Voter centers are scheduled to close at 6 p.m.

[caption id="attachment_101211" align="aligncenter" width="983"] Voters wait to sign in at the Zimmer Biomet Center Lake Pavilion on Tuesday morning. News Now Warsaw photo by Dan Spalding.[/caption]

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WARSAW — Kosciusko County Clerk Ann Torpy reports the county experienced record-setting early voting ahead of today's election.

"Early voting walk-in voters, we had 13,674," Torpy said Monday afternoon.

The pre-election day turnout comes after officials saw a strong increase in voter registration.

Torpy said she believed figures tabulated on Monday represent an all-time record, "at least since 1996."

Early voting wrapped up at noon Monday, and election workers were busy preparing for Tuesday’s vote. Torpy expressed confidence that they were ready for a day in which most interest seemed focused on a heated race for U.S. president between the top two choices former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Local ballots have only one contested race — a Warsaw Community School Board race for District 4 between incumbent Randy Polston and challenger Emerson Poort.

Otherwise, the state ballot features congressional races as well as contests for governor, Indiana Attorney General, a US Senate race and several Supreme court decisions.

Nationally, 78 million people have voted by mail and in person.

Polls in Indiana are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. 

Overnight lows hovered in the mid-sixties, and those heading to the polls in northern Indiana can expect windy conditions, a good chance of rain, and high temperatures near 70.

Hoosiers can text ‘IN’ to 45995 with election-related questions, and more information is available at IndianaVoters.com.

Tune in to the News Now Warsaw and 107.3 WRSW for live election results tonight.

The following is a list of Kosciusko County vote centers.

Vote centers:

Amazing Grace Community Church, 202 W. Arthur St., Sidney.

Atwood Community Center, 213 Hovey St., Atwood.

Center Lake Pavilion, 119 E. Canal St., Warsaw.

Christ’s Covenant Church, 2090 E. Pierceton Road, Winona Lake.

Claypool Lion’s Building, 205 W. Calhoun St., Claypool.

Community Life Center, 825 N Harrison St., Warsaw.

First Christian Church, 115 Park Ridge Drive, Warsaw.

Heritage Park Building, 338 S Walnut St., Etna Green.

Ivy Tech Community College-Warsaw Campus, 2545 Silveus Crossing, Warsaw.

Leesburg Lions Community Building, 114 W School St., Leesburg.

Mentone Fire Station, 201 W Main St., Mentone.

North Webster Community Center, 301 N. Main St., North Webster.

Pathways Church, west entrance, door 6, 2402 West Old Road 30, Warsaw.

Mount Tabor Hall, 8424 N 800W, Etna Green.

Pierceton Community Building, 105 W. Walnut St., Pierceton.

Shrine Building, Kosciusko County Fairgrounds, 1400 E. Smith St., Warsaw.

Syracuse Community Center, 1013 N. Long Drive, Syracuse.

Town Hall Meeting Room, 604 N. Jefferson St., Silver Lake.

Valley Springs Fellowship, 345 N CR 175E, Warsaw.

Wawasee Community Bible Church, 2035 E. 1300N, Milford.

Winona Lake Senior Center, 1590 Park Ave., Winona Lake.

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WARSAW — Today is the final day to register to vote if you intend to participate in the fall election.

You can register online at www.indianavoters.com or do so in person at the Kosciusko County Clerk's office.

Those two places are also the starting point if you intend to vote by mail or intend to use the Travel Board.

The deadline for ballots to be mailed to voters is Oct. 24. The deadline to submit an application to vote by travel board is noon, Nov. 4.

Early voting begins Tuesday at the Clerk's office in the Kosciusko County Justice Building. Hours are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, through Nov. 1.  

Expanded hours for early voting are available Saturday, Oct. 26 and Saturday, Nov. 2 in the Justice Building or at the North Webster Community Center from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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WARSAW — Kosciusko County Clerk Ann Torpy reminds voters of the upcoming deadlines for the May 7 primary.

The final day to register as a voter or update your name and/or address as a current registered voter, for the primary election, will be April 8.

The first day to vote early in the Clerk's Office, located on the first floor of the Justice Building, is 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 9. Hours then are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, with the last day at noon May 6.

To vote early in the North Webster Community Center or the clerk’s office, hours are 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 27 and May 4.

Voters who are confined to their homes or nursing homes may call 574-372-2337 to receive an application and set up an appointment to vote by travel board. Final day for that will be May 6.

To vote by mail, applications will need to be delivered/mailed to the Clerk's Office by April 25. Call 574-372-2337 for information. Applications are also available online at www.indianavoters.in.gov.

As a reminder to all voters, Torpy said Kosciusko County is a vote center county, which gives voters more flexibility on where they may vote on election day. They may choose from any of the 21 vote centers open on election day. This list is available on the county website at www.kosciusko.in.gov or the state's website www.indianavoters.in.gov.

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