Polls closed in St. Joseph County, wait begins for midterm election results
After another cycle of strong advance voting, St. Joseph County thousands of residents cast their in-person midterm election ballots Tuesday as contests from county government to local school boards have sparked interest from voters.
Though this year is not a presidential election and likely didn’t see the same turnout as 2020, election workers across the county said they saw steady streams of voters Tuesday morning that were on par with, or slightly better, than what they’ve come to expect in a typical mid-term cycle.
Mail-in and early voting totals in St. Joseph County
A little more than 22,000 people participated in advance voting this cycle — either through mail-in or early voting — which is around the same number of residents who voted early in 2018, according to the county clerk’s office. The 2018 cycle also saw a record number of voters for a midterm election with 49% of registered voters in the county casting a ballot. Maintaining a turnout rate near 50% would be a good sign for St. Joseph County, said Elizabeth Bennion, director of voter services and education for the League of Women Voters of the South Bend area.
“If we have close to half of the people turning out to the polls in a midterm election, that would be considered a very robust turnout,” Bennion said. While St. Joseph County’s turnout rate was 49% in 2018, only 29% of registered voters cast a ballot in 2014, per state statistics.
Indiana polls closed at 6 p.m.
Given the high number of advance voting ballots, it's possible all the votes won't be tabulated until later this week. The results of the election will be certified to the state on Nov. 18.
2022 Indiana election:How (and where) do St. Joseph County residents vote on Tuesday?
Before polls opened at 6 Tuesday morning, there was a crowd of more than 20 people lined up outside Mishawaka High School, said poll inspector Matthew Johnson.
“When we opened it was loaded, ready to go,” he told a reporter in-between his duties helping voters who had changed their name or address since they last registered.
Voters selecting Jackie Walorski's successor
A little over an hour after the polls opened, the vote center had seen 131 ballots cast as a small line began forming by 7:20 a.m. Some voters at the school said they woke up early to beat the crowds, but others said they came out early because of the importance they placed on voting, even in years with no presidential race.
“We are given this right, we have an obligation to exercise that right or we have no right to complain,” said Tim Balko.
Balko said he didn’t have an interest in any particular race, but Dale Nagel, who also voted at Mishawaka High School, made an effort to vote in the 2nd U.S. Congressional District contest, which will determine who succeeds the late congresswoman Jackie Walorski. Walorski died in a car crash in Elkhart County in early August.
“Filling Jackie Walorski’s seat was very important to me,” Nagel said.
Indiana races in this election
Even in midterm elections when there’s no vote for president, top-of-the-ballot races are one of the biggest factors influencing voter turnout, Bennion said. For Indiana voters, the contest atop the ballot is the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Todd Young and Democratic challenger Thomas McDermott, which recent polling suggested maybe closer than expected a few months ago.
However, voters on Tuesday expressed more interest in local races than statewide ones. At the St. Joseph County Public Library in downtown South Bend, Megan Urbaniak said she researched and voted in each local race.
“It’s important to me to participate in the city and the state and my faith encourages me to participate fully,” Urbaniak said.
Meanwhile, outside the Charles Black Center, 39-year-old Tiffany Gills said she felt compelled to vote in the midterm election based on the recent trajectory of the county.
“These past years, it’s very, very vital to vote. Because it affects the house, it’s not just the big elections that matter,” Gills said.
Lines were nonexistent for most of the morning at the library and the Charles Black Center, but some vote centers saw larger crowds.
South Bend and Mishawaka area school board races
At the Harris Branch of the Mishawaka-Penn-Harris Public Library in Granger, a line of about 35 people stood waiting around 8 a.m. The Penn-Harris-Madison school board races seemed to be of particular interest there as numerous signs for school board candidates littered the outside of the building. Just down the road at Northpoint Elementary School, the lines were short, but supporters still stood outside the vote center holding school board signs.
The PHM school board races have seen record amounts of spending, while some other local contests, like the 1st District county commissioners race, have been marked by heated partisan rhetoric.
Bennion hypothesized that local elections could begin drawing more voters since the pandemic, as residents became more aware of issues, like mask mandates or health grants, that county governments control.
“A lot of these discussions about what’s happening in the county level are capturing headlines statewide and nationwide and it will be interesting to see if people actually turn out for some of those races in a way they generally do not,” she said.
Polling locations visited by reporters Tuesday all reported smooth processes and only minor technological issues.
David Smith, who manages voting technology for the St. Joseph County Election Board, was stationed at the county library in downtown South Bend on Tuesday morning, but was in communication with techs from all the county’s vote centers. Other than a few of the machines being damaged and a few volunteer techs forgetting set up procedures, Smith feels the day was going smoothly.
“I’m fighting fires, but it’s starting to quiet down,” he joked.
Email Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@sbtinfo.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marek_mazurek
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: St. Joseph County and South Bend voting: 2022 Indiana midterms underway
