Hoosiers Must Return Absentee Ballots By Noon On Election Day

Nearly 550,000 Hoosiers requested absentee ballots for the 2020 primary – a huge increase from prior years after the state expanded vote-by-mail to anyone who wanted it.

But there are reports of people not getting their ballots until weeks after requesting them – leading many to wonder if they’ll have enough time to return them.

Hoosiers who want to vote by mail in this year’s primary election have to get their ballot to their county election office by noon on Election Day – Tuesday, June 2. But the Indiana Secretary of State’s office cautions that the U.S. Postal Service is overloaded during the pandemic.

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Still, there are options. For one, Hoosiers can bring their absentee ballots directly to their local county election office. They can also vote in person: just take the unmarked absentee ballot to your polling place to delete it.

But what if you already mailed your absentee ballot and are worried it won’t get there on time? There’s an option for that, too. Hoosiers can go to the polling place and vote in person while filling out a form that voids the absentee ballot if it comes in later. And if that absentee ballot was already received, the system should show that.

Democrats on the Indiana Election Commission tried to extend the deadline by which absentee ballots could be returned to local county election administrators. But Republicans rejected those efforts.

Contact Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.