Voters go to polls Tuesday
Political signs have been springing up in yards around Marion County like mushrooms during the past couple weeks.
To Marion County Election Officer Carol Maggard that indicates a renewed interest on the part of voters as Tuesday's general election looms on the horizon.
"Voter registration was fairly heavy during the last week books were open," Maggard said. "Before that, there seemed to be very little interest."
As of the close of registration Oct. 21, 31 percent or 8,903 eligible Marion County voters had registered, Maggard said.
Many who registered came in during the last day.
"I stayed open until 9 p.m. Oct. 21 and had quite a few come in," she said.
Of the 8,903 registered voters, 1,711 are Democrats, 59 are Libertarians, nine are Reform Party members, 5,217 are Republicans, and 1,907 are unaffiliated.
"We always have a pretty heavy unaffiliated contingent," Maggard said. "Younger voters seem to be more on the unaffiliated side."
Increased media advertising on the part of state governor and attorney general candidates seemed to fan the flames of interest in this particular election, Maggard said.
Locally, the only county position up for election is District 1 county commissioner, a position currently held by Bob Hein, a Republican from Hillsboro. He is running unopposed.
However, Maggard expects to see at least one hot race in the area — the one for the District No. 9 seat on the State Board of Education.
"The incumbent Republican Val DeFever was defeated in the primary, but she is now actively running as a write-in candidate," Maggard said.
The name of primary election winner Iris M. VanMeter of Thayer will appear on the ballot. There is no Democratic contender for the position.
As of Friday, a total of 242 advanced voting applications had been mailed out to Marion County registered voters. Seventy-three of those have already been returned to the county clerk's office.
Walk-in advanced voting at the clerk's office ends Monday at noon. An election booth has been set up in the courthouse for use by advance voters.
"Advance voting ballots must be back in this office by 7 p.m. election day," Maggard said. "So, people mailing in their ballots from Hillsboro, for instance, need to get them mailed by Saturday."
Even though election interest has increased in recent days, Maggard said she doesn't expect a large turnout at the polls.
"It will probably be better than August since things have picked up lately, but there's really no way of predicting ahead of time," she said.
Polls will open at 7 a.m. Tuesday and close at 7 p.m.
