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Key things to remember before heading to the polls on Election Day

As the polls open on Election Day, here's what voters need to know before arriving at the polls.

INDIANAPOLIS — Early voting wrapped up at noon Monday. More than 1.5 million voters in Indiana cast their ballots by the end of early voting.

Hoosiers waited in line for hours on Monday to cast their ballots on the last day of early voting.

"It's really good that young people are taking notice. They're coming with their parents and they're voting. That's really good, that they see it's necessary for them to do so," said voter Michael Coleman.

Tuesday's turnout could be even larger.

"In Marion County, the voters, they got opinions," said Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell.

That's why county officials are reminding voters to make sure they bring everything they need with them to polls to help make the process go smoothly.

Credit: WTHR
Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell speaks with 13News during early voting hours on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024.

Starting with your ID. Indiana law requires voters to present a government-issued photo ID when casting a ballot.  If you don't have a valid ID you may still cast a provisional ballot. However, the Marion County Clerk said there are some extra steps involved.

"But then they have to come to us within ten days to prove that they have that ID and had it just left it at home. So you're going to slow your process down and every other process down if you don't bring your ID" said Bell.

You can visit vote.indy.gov to take a look at your sample ballot and find which of the 186 vote centers are nearest to you. Voting centers will be open from 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. Any voter who is still in line at 6 pm will still be able to vote.

"Election season is so exciting because people are getting their say," said Bell.

Credit: WTHR
Voters wait in line to cast their ballot at the Indianapolis City-County Building on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024.

If you're voting with an absentee ballot, your ballot must be received by the Election Board before 6:00 p.m. on Election Day.

To make sure you get it there on time, you may also hand deliver it to the City-County Building or to a vote center before the polls close.

The Marion County Director of Elections Patrick Becker says they're ready to open and start counting those ballots on election day.

"All absentee ballots, everything that is voted before Election Day gets reviewed by our team. It gets audited. It gets recorded into the statewide voter registration base," said Becker.

Then once you've done your part, it's a waiting game for the results.

"Energy is high. Turnout is trending towards high turnout. What that means for us on Election Day is a lot of work here to count absentee ballots. So we are expecting that to potentially take more than one day. So we may not be finished counting at 11 or 12 on Election Night," said Bell.

So they ask everyone to be patient.

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