INDIANA — Election Day is in less than ten days.
Early voting has been underway for weeks here in the Hoosier State, but for some counties, it was their first day of satellite voting.
Many braved the long lines and took advantage of the convenience of early voting.
“I like to see people voting and doing their civic duty. It's important, especially in this election, it's important that your voice is heard,” said Andrea Smith, who voted Saturday.
“She’s [her daughter] a college student at Purdue so we wanted to make sure she got her vote in,” added Sarita Crabtree.
She took her daughter, Asia, to vote for the first time on Saturday, the first day satellite sites opened in Marion County.
“I just came home on the weekend, drove about two minutes from my house and now I’m standing in this long line, but I’m standing very excitedly,” said Asia who goes to Purdue University.
Lines wrapped around the corner at some of the eight sites in Marion County, with Hoosiers waiting hours.
“This is actually small compared to what it’s going to get. A couple of years ago they were all the way out on Holiday drive,” explained Mona Dowdell.
RELATED | What Hoosier voters need to know ahead of the 2024 election
She works for St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, a satellite site on the north side of Indianapolis that often sees a lot of traffic.
It was a slightly similar scene up in Hamilton County at their satellite sites.
“As of yesterday, we were a little lower than we were in 2020 but we’re voting so many people, I think that we’re going beat our early voting for 2020,” said Hamilton County Election Administrator Beth Sheller.
As turnout ramps up across central Indiana, more clerk training was also held Saturday in Marion County to make sure everyone is ready on November 5.
“This is a quick class for those folks who are going to work on Election Day, everyone who is working at one of our satellite sites or early vote sites has already gone through this training,” explained Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell.
The county is still taking poll worker applications to make sure every voting center is fully staffed.
Early voting in most counties goes until November 4. Voting centers are open Monday through Saturday in Hamilton County and Monday through Sunday in Marion County.
More information on voting times can be found here.
