Wanda English Burnett, Editor

The election room in the clerk’s office at the Ripley County Courthouse has been buzzing with activity for the past several weeks. While a larger than usual voter turnout is expected on Tuesday, November 4, already there have been more voter requests than ever.

According to Clerk Ginger Bradford, as of Monday, October 27, there were 1,391 applications sent out for absentee voters. Already, 1,017 have came back into her office. “In the last presidential election, there were 782 altogether,” she noted.

There are a variety of ways to vote. Bradford noted that 902 have voted by mail; 462 voted in person; 119 voted by traveling board; and two by fax. She said a special form is signed when voting by fax, because it’s not private. And, of course, you can go to the polls on November 4, Election Day, to cast your ballot.

The deadline for absentee voting is Monday, November 3 at noon. The clerk’s office has had extended office hours to accommodate voters and have been busy. One additional part time staff person has been hired to help with the election, something Bradford hasn’t had to do in the past.

She reported Johnson Township having the most absentee voting with lots of applications sent to Batesville.

If the record number of applications for new voter registration is anything to go by, this election will see one of the highest voter turnouts ever in our country, with Ripley County being no exception.
Secretary of State Todd Rokita has released information noting that Indiana has 4,512,817 registered voters. In 2008 there was an overall increase of 817,916 voter registrations - 345,494 new and 472,422 updated. There has been an increase of 204,173 voters registering since the 2004 General Election. As of 5 a.m. on October 28 over 424,372 Indiana voters requested absentee ballots.

Rokita has been in touch with all 92 counties making sure the voting system has been tested and making sure all systems are “go.” Ripley County is one he has visited on a pre-election preparedness tour. He also traveled oversees to inspect the absentee ballot process for military personnel serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait and Germany.

Photo identification is required for all voters. All Bureau of Motor Vehicles will be open Monday, November 3 from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and on Election Day from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.

All polling places are handicap accessible. This is a requirement through the Help America Vote Act.
For election results you can log onto: http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/voters/usefulllinks.html. Of course, locally, the Ripley County Courthouse located on the square in Versailles, will be open on election night for those wanting to be a part of the process and watch the results on the screens in the downstairs lobby. A New York film crew will be on hand that day and evening filming for a documentary on the voting process in America and more specifically, Indiana.

Editor’s note: See complete listing of polling places and sample ballots inside today’s paper.