Voting Locations Saw Unusually High Morning Turnout
KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — Poll workers in Etna Green, Mentone and Silver Lake were busy this morning, Tuesday, May 3, as unusually high numbers of voters turned out at several locations for the primary elections.
By 11 a.m., workers at the Heritage Park building, Etna Green, had tallied roughly 150 individual voters, with more arriving. Many of those were new voters making their voices heard for the first time. To give an idea of the turnout, workers said, turnout for the last primary election was 119 voters all day.
Manning the polls is something Cassia Richardson has enjoyed for several years. She, her mom and three of her sisters are working at various polling locations today.
“It’s fun,” Richardson said. “You meet a lot of people. Some people are friends and you get to catch up and others are new faces.”
In Mentone, roughly 170 people had voted at the town hall location, covering Harrison Township second precinct, by 11:30 a.m.
“It’s been an excellent turnout,” Ed Rock said. “There have been a lot of elections where we haven’t had 170 people for an entire day.”
This year’s turnout in Mentone, Rock added, was large, even for a Presidential primary.
Nearby, at the Bell Memorial Public Library, 77 had voted for Franklin Township precinct one and 85 for precinct two, for a total of 162 before 11:45 a.m. More were arriving even as poll workers were attempting to eat a quick lunch.
“We’ve had around 20 percent,” Wayne Landis said of Franklin Township precinct one. “Usually we feel if we get 30 percent for the entire day, we’re good and we’re not even halfway yet.”
A little after noon, workers at Silver Lake’s town hall reported around 38 percent turnout, roughly 150 voters out of 648 registered, for Lake Township precinct one and 29 percent, or about 107 out of 350 registered, for precinct two. By then, voting had slowed down a bit.
This is just a sampling from the many locations throughout Kosciusko County open for voting. Those still wishing to vote have until 6 p.m. today to do so. For a list of precincts and polling locations, click here.