Early voting is underway as Indiana prepare for its May 5 primary election
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Hoosiers across the state participated in early voting ahead of the May 5 Indiana Primary.
It's that time of year where people walk around with an "I Voted" sticker and pat themselves down, double checking for a photo ID. It all started Tuesday, April 7 when early voting began at 8:30 a.m.
Amy Rolfes, Clerk of the Circuit Court in St. Joseph County is ready for the next few weeks ahead of her.
"The flexibility of 28 days of early voting. Voters can make it convenient whenever they want to. That's the good part about early voting, is to check it off your list," said Rolfes.
If you live in St. Joseph County, you can check early voting off your to-do list at the County City Building in South Bend or the Mishawaka County Services Building.
"Our hours are the same Monday through Friday, from 8:30 to 4:30 and all the voters have to do is bring their photo ID. That's all they need to vote," Rolfes shared.
The choice is yours for nearly four weeks, up until May 4.
"We go all the way till noon on Monday, May 4, so the day right before election day. We do shut down early voting at noon on Monday, May 4 so that we can get everything ready for our big election on Tuesday, May 5.
Participating in the democratic process and exercising your right to vote has become a hot topic in recent years. Concerns of voter fraud spreading nationwide has some questioning if they should even vote at all.
However, Rolfes says the only hard decision you have to make is at the voting booth.
"The good news is, is that in 2024 St. Joseph County volunteered to have a post-election audit of the presidential election, which was one of our largest elections, and St. Joseph County scored the highest possible score on the post-election audit. That means that the auditors were looking at the actual ballots, paper ballots that voters cast, and they compared that to the machines and what the machines recorded. And again, we scored the perfect score on that audit, and so that should reassure our voters that the machines line up exactly with what's on the ballot," she explained.
She says you can make sure everything is done right.
"Our voting equipment has what's called a voter verifiable paper audit trail, and that is your ballot. After you make your selections, you hit print, and it prints out your ballot, and the voter is able to look at that and make sure that those are the candidates that they voted for. So, it is the voter's responsibility to take a look at their ballot and make sure that they voted for whoever they wanted to vote for. That ensures election integrity as well, where the voter can actually take a look at making sure that the machine recorded their votes correctly."
She stressed the importance of sharing your voice through your vote, especially in primaries. Perry Sanders says he understand the importance and that's why he was out today.
"To be able to participate in opportunity to voice my opinion, and I'm voting for a lot of different issues and concerns. If I don't do that, I can't say much if I don't get out and, you know, participate in it. So that's why I'm voting."
Hoosiers across the state are taking to heart the saying your vote, your voice and they're carrying that with hem to the polls.
The Indiana primary election isn't the only election to keep in mind.
On Wednesday, April 8, ABC57 Anchor, Brian Conybeare, will be moderating the Elkhart County Sheriff GOP primary debate between Mike Culp and Brian Holloman.
The hour-long debate starts at 7 at IU South Bend's Elkhart Center.
You can attend the event in person; room doors open at 6:30 and voters are asked to arrive by 6:45 p.m. If you can't make it in person, you can watch the livestream on the ABC57 Facebook page or on our website.
A recording of the debate will be uploaded to the ABC57 Youtube channel.
To find your polling place, click here.