In Indiana, Every Vote Matters
The state of Indiana is synonymous with a wealth of American staples: high school basketball, Indy car racing, rock legend John Mellencamp.
But it’s been more than a generation since the state has mentioned in the context of another American tradition as being an influential player: the presidential primaries. Yet, with this presidential race, every vote in every state does indeed matter. And in this state, election officials and voters alike are excited to once again have an impact on the presidential nominating process.
Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita told reporters who gathered for his pre-election briefing Monday, that his greatest concern is a “good one” to have: long lines.
“Hoosiers are ready to make their mark on national, state, and local politics during the 2008 Primary Election, an election that may have an impact on national presidential politics for the first time in 40 years.”
Already, the high stakes of this election have resulted in unprecedented absentee turnout, with more than 167 thousand absentee ballots cast statewide. That’s nearly triple the number the Hoosier State usually sees in a primary. And it almost equals the number of early ballots cast in some recent general elections.
Traditionally, Indiana, with its May Primary, has been too late to dance to have an impact in the presidential primaries. In the past 10 presidential races, each party’s nominee had been selected before the state’s spring primary.
This time around, because the Democratic race is so close, the state’s 30,000 poll workers have gotten hours of extra training. And every first-time voter in Indiana, a total of about 160,000 Hoosiers newly registered to vote since the state’s November municipal election, has received a voter tip-card in the mail from Indiana’s Secretary of State.
One of the top election officials in Indiana’s most populated county says the excitement surrounding this election is unlike anything she’s ever witnessed.
“It’s going to be an election we haven’t seen. Not only the increased interest in voters. But also you the media. We have national exit polling companies coming to our community that we have never seen in my lifetime,” Marion County Clerk Beth White told me.
Polls for most of the state stay open until 6 pm eastern. But some of the counties in the heavily populated northwestern part of the state near Chicago, which are on central time, don’t close until 7 eastern. Pollsters say these urban counties could be significantly influential as to who wins Indiana.
But at the end of the day, many political observers say it won’t be Democrats deciding whether Senator Obama or Clinton take this state, but Republicans and Independents. The reason: Indiana has an open primary, meaning Republicans and Independents can cross over and cast a Democratic ballot.
