A working group for Monroe County met this week to discuss managing primary elections, which have been postponed to June 2.
The Indiana Election Committee has passed an order this month allowing precinct-based counties to combine precincts adjacent to one another in the primary elections.
This means multiple polling sites could be centralized in one location – for instance, Perry 1 and Perry 2 could be combined.
The decision to allow precincts to combine was made in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hal Turner chairs the Monroe County Election board and was on the working group. He says the group discussed consolidating precinct locations in the county.
He says poll workers tend to be older adults, who make up a majority of COVID-19 deaths in Indiana.
By limiting the number of voting stations, Turner says numbers of volunteers needed are also limted, which he hopes will protect vulnerable groups.
“We’re looking at five locations scattered throughout to county to minimize the difficulty of finding locations and to minimize the amount of travel people need to take,” he says.
The working group will meet again Monday to decide on exact precinct locations.
He adds that Monroe County registered voters can expect an absentee ballot application for primary elections to come in the mail in coming weeks.
Because of COVID-19, anyone can register for an absentee ballot in this year’s primary.
Turner says voting by mail is th preferred option for June.
The working group also discussed best ways to sanitize polling stations between voters and how to keep volunteers safe, he says.
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This story has been updated.
