Voter Turnout For General Election Nears 43%Lynn Howie was hungry early Tuesday afternoon.
That was due to the election inspector at the vote center at Christ's Covenant Church in Winona Lake not getting to eat since the center was busy with voters.
"I stood at the door since four minutes ... until we opened at six and I have not left that door until right now when I'm talking to you," she said about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
"Nothing to eat, no coffee, no breakfast and we sent somebody to get us lunch, one of the precinct committeemen ... and hopefully, he'll come back with it and who knows when we'll be able to eat it because it's been like this crazy all day long," Howie continued.
The church was one of 20 vote centers in Kosciusko County where people could cast their votes as part of the 2022 General Election. Voter turnout ended up being at 42.84%, with Kosciusko County Clerk Ann Torpy noting that was actually lower than the last midterm election in 2018.
Then it was 51% turnout, with "a little over 3,000 more voters," said Torpy.
"It did seem busier to the poll workers, but that was because they were vote centers and in 2018 they were not," she said.
Howie said Christ's Covenant had approximately 700 voters come through as of 1:30 p.m. She praised the vote centers, the second time the county's had them for an election. They allow voters to cast their votes at any of the locations regardless of where they dwell in the county.
Over at First Christian Church, in Warsaw, the vote center's turnout had already surpassed its total 2022 primary election numbers by about 1 p.m. Tuesday, said Inspector Lois Bishop.
About 550 had voted there as of that time.
"It's definitely an improvement," she said.
She also commented on the positives of having vote centers.
"A lot of people are liking it," she said.
As of a little after 1 p.m. Tuesday, the vote center at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds' Shrine Building had been busy all morning, said Inspector Constance Dawson. The building had seen 622 people vote as of that time.
"It's been very busy. From 6 a.m., we have had a line, so it's probably the slowest it's ever been right now," she said.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church vote center Inspector Marta Dunwell-Klotz said there had been 260 voters as of around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday.
"Everything's been going well. We haven't had any problems," she said of the vote process.
The church was unique in that people could see a paper roll of their vote choices on their machines before they cast their votes, one of only a few centers in the county with that option.
The feature, known as the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail, is one that all voters in the county will eventually experience in the future as Indiana is making it a requirement by 2024.
"People are happy they can see what they voted for," said Dunwell-Klotz.
Tuesday's election may have filled many leadership positions, but it also left a few vacant.
As officials cannot hold more than one elected position in Indiana, three newly elected officials will have to leave their current roles. Those are: Kosciusko County Coroner Tony Ciriello, Kosciusko County Treasurer Rhonda Helser and Winona Lake Councilman Denny Duncan, who were elected to Kosciusko County Council District 3, Kosciusko County auditor and Warsaw Community Schools Board District 5 respectively.
With all being Republicans, the Kosciusko County GOP will need to have caucuses to fill their spots. Kosciusko County GOP Chair Mike Ragan said he's planning on having a caucus at 6 p.m. Dec. 1 at the Kosciusko County Courthouse's Old Courtroom to fill the two county positions.
For Duncan's, as well as two other smaller elected positions that Ragan preferred not to state on the record, the GOP will have smaller caucuses at other times.
"It's a lot at one time," said Ragan, noting there would have been nearly 50 caucuses in his tenure as chair by Jan. 1.
