Vanderburgh Co. election results expected to come in quicker for May primary, officials say

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (WFIE) - Waiting to find out the results of an election is stressful for any candidate. It’s even worse when the results take more than five hours to come in.

That was the case for Vanderburgh County candidates in last November’s general election. The polls closed at 6 p.m., but the winners weren’t announced until after 11 p.m.

Vanderburgh County Clerk Carla Hayden says next week’s Evansville primaries won’t face the same problem.

“The main reason we expect it to be faster is because voter turnout appears to be very low,” Hayden said.

Hayden says typically, about half of voters cast their ballots early. So far, she says just over 1,500 people have voted early. That’s way down from the numbers in last November’s general election.

“That is fairly normal,” Hayden said. “Primaries are less than general elections. Municipal primaries are going to be less than a county-wide or federal election.”

The turnout is also down from the 2019 primary, the last time these offices were on the ballot. In 2019, just under 5,000 people voted early.

With only a few days of early voting left, less than a third of that has come out for the 2023 primaries.

Hayden says she expects the final results to come out around 8-9 p.m. on Tuesday. One reason is the lower turnout, another is the lack of competitive races. She says there are no competitive races in the Democratic primary.

“The only races that we have at all are mayor, city clerk, city council,” Hayden said. “The only contested race we have is the mayoral race on the Republican ballot, no other races are contested in the primary.”

Early voting ends Monday and the polls close Tuesday.

We will be checking with Hayden on Election Day to get the final tally on early voting. That will be an indication on expected turnout.

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