Hamilton County Clerk
As the city and town elections draw near here on Tuesday, Nov. 5, I want to encourage all city and town registered voters to cast their vote.
The cities of Noblesville, Fishers, Carmel and Westfield, along with the town of Cicero will be voting Tuesday, Nov. 5. If you live outside of the corporation of any of the cities, with the exception of Carmel, or outside a town you will not be voting because this is strictly a municipal general election. If you live in Clay township, all precincts will be voting due to the school safety referendum for Carmel Clay Schools. The towns of Atlanta, Arcadia and Sheridan will not be voting on Tuesday because they do not have any challenged races. All candidates in these three towns that were selected in the May primary will be sworn in to begin their terms on the first day of January 2020.
If you need information on if you are registered, where your polling location is or who is on your ballot, you can go to indianavoters.com.
Municipal elections seem to have a much lower turn out than other election cycles. In the primary, we only had an 8 percent turnout. This means only 8 percent of your individual communities selected your elected officials.
As of Friday, voting at the Government and Judicial Center had just passed the 1 percent mark. I really wish you would look at the many ways local government can affect your daily life. It is important to select your local officials and be a part of the process.
A couple things to remember on Tuesday, Nov. 5: Be sure and take your Indiana driver’s license or passport. Polls are open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
A provision in Indiana election law pertaining to straight party voting change in 2016: If you chose to cast a straight party vote remember the straight party button does not include the referendum question in Carmel precincts or the at-large position for city council. You must mark the city council office individually.
Hamilton County is a pilot for the new voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT). This is a concept that is being dealt with in all areas of the county that have an electronic voting system. The VVPAT equipment was used in all machines for early voting and will be used in 23 precincts on election day throughout the county.
The State of Indiana, through the secretary of state’s office will allot enough money to purchase enough VVPATs for 10 percent of our voting machines. For Hamilton County, that is currently 55 machines at a cost of $99,000. The law continues to say all voting machines must have a VVPAT by the year 2029. The remaining cost for Hamilton County to complete our machines is $879,000 to be compliant with state law.
If you have any election questions, you can contact the election office at (317) 776-8476 or the voter registration office at (317) 776-9632.