In the middle of Tuesday afternoon, a line out the door was forming at Election Central in Bloomington.
Citizens have been coming in to vote early in the election since Oct. 12. The main location to participate in early voting, Election Central, located at 401 W. Seventh St., allows citizens to vote early until Nov. 7.
“We’ve been busy. We’ve reached over 900 people per day since we’ve opened,” said Charles Berhman, a volunteer election official at the site. “It’s a good turnout.”
Behrman, a Bloomington resident since 1984, said he has been working as an election official since President Obama’s first campaign in 2008. He said early voting is a way to make it more difficult for people not to vote.
“There’s no reason to just sit on the couch and not get out,” Behrman said. “They’ve got plenty of time to do it. And they need to do it.”
The Monroe County Election Central office is open for early voting from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Saturday, with the exception of Nov. 7, with hours from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. The office is offering rides to Monroe County citizens, who can access the service by calling a number listed on the office’s website. A free shuttle bus is also offered between 1 and 5 p.m. that leaves from the Indiana Memorial Union parking lot.
Early voting is the same process as voting on election day with the exception of filling out an early voting form or application at the early voting station.
Amanda Barge, candidate for county commissioner in District 3, said she sees a lot of community members excited for the top ticket of Clinton and Trump, but also others angry about issues happening locally.
She said she was standing outside of the Election Central office to campaign for county commissioner but also to encourage people to vote and become more informed on local issues in Monroe County.
“People are feeling frustrated with some of the county offices,” Barge said. “I see people really passionate about that when they come here.”
She said she noticed many people were coming in simply to get their vote in and not have to think about the election anymore.
“I think people are tired of hearing about politics at this point,” Barge said. “They just want to get their vote done.”
IU junior Arielle Moir is one of these people. A Bloomington resident studying at IU, she said she saw no need to postpone her vote when she had already made her decision.
She said as a student she was also worried about making the time to vote on Nov. 8 when she knew she had classes and other commitments.
“I learned about the early voting station through posts on my Facebook feed from Bloomington natives,” Moir said. “I decided to vote early to avoid the long lines on election day.”
Michael Impicciche, a freshman at IU, said he voted early absentee because he knew he would not be able to get back to his home county in Zionsville, Indiana.
“I had to send in a form in order to get a ballot sent to me, and then I filled out the ballot and sent it back to my hometown’s town hall,” Impicciche said. “Pretty simple.”
Barge said she noticed as a counselor working with students in the community that many students still do not know early voting exists in Bloomington.
“I think it would be fabulous to have a site on campus,” Barge said.
Early voting will continue at the Election Central office until Nov. 7.
Behrman said it is important to vote, early or not, in order to make one’s voice heard.
“Everyone needs to get out and vote,” He said. “It gives them bragging or complaining rights.”
