INDIANAPOLIS — Early voting started Tuesday in Indiana. In Marion County, that meant a busy day at the City-County Building downtown.
The doors opened at 8 a.m. and — by 4:30 p.m. — the Marion County Clerk said 1,250 people cast their ballot on day one of early voting in Indiana.
“This is the ultimate election, a general election in a Presidential year,” Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell said.
“I talked to voters today who had never voted before. A man in his 50’s came with this father in his 70’s, and it was important enough for them to come and their opinion,” she added.
Election officials expect the trend of long lines to continue with each day getting busier, as Election Day, Nov. 5 gets closer. In Marion County, the City-County Building will be the site for early voting right up until Election Day, but it won’t be the only early voting site.
Starting Oct. 26, eight other locations will open across the city where people can cast their ballots early.
“Every voter who comes to vote, even if they’ve voted all of their life, still has to present a valid ID and by valid, I mean an ID, if it is expired, it’s issued by the state or federal government, it cannot be expired any later than Nov. 8, 2022,” Sweeney Bell explained.
“If they’re eligible to vote, we’re going to count it,” she added.
A lot of first-time voters cast their ballots Tuesday, including Delany Duffy who said the process was easier than she expected.
“It was kind of surreal. It didn’t really feel real, that this was my first time,” said Duffy.
“It kind of felt natural, like I’ve always done it. It felt really cool to be able to finally do it and say that I did it,” she added.
Some, like Lora Teagarden, called it the most important election of her lifetime.
“We got to get it done,” explained Teagarden.
She and her wife Betsy were in line to cast their ballots early. Tuesday was a big day for them for many reasons. Both voted in hopes of electing the first woman President of the United States.
But the couple had an even bigger reason for voting early. Tuesday night, the couple was having their first baby.
“We are getting induced today,” Teagarden explained.
“It’s just more important, not just protecting ourselves and our marriage, but our children,” said Teagarden’s wife Besty.
“I always get excited when I come to vote because I get emotional,” said Adam Wilson, tears coming to his eyes.
The voting experience never loses its meaning for Wilson, who grew up in Cuba.
“Growing up abroad, voting rights are not the same,” Wilson explained.
Wilson was up at 4 a.m. Tuesday to be one of the first voters through the door.
“I tell everybody to vote. No matter what they think, they should vote. That is a right that we have and a civic duty,” Wilson said.
“I flew in from California,” David Michael Carrillo said, as he left after casting his ballot.
Carrillo lives in Indianapolis but was out of town for work and flew home to vote. Carrillo had to cast his ballot absentee before, but not this time.
“I woke up with the purpose that I was going to get here, no matter what. No matter what, even if the line was long, I was going to get here,” he said.
Voters’ stories and reasons for voting early are different. Their purpose though, the same, to have a voice in their country’s future.
For Lora Teagarden and her wife Betsy, that future will soon be about more than just them. It’ll be about their child’s future too.
“Obviously being a mom is first and foremost. But part of being a mom is protecting your kid, and that means doing your civic duty,” Teagarden said.