Absentee Ballots Slow Voting At Many Marion County Sites

INDIANAPOLIS -- Many voters across Marion County experienced long lines at the polls Tuesday morning.  Some people even reported a delay in voting because workers were receiving poll books, showing the names of people who voted an absentee ballot. That made the voting process longer than usual due to the increased number of people who voted absentee.  

Russell Hollis of the Marion County Clerk's Office said couriers were out delivering updated absentee voter lists to the polling places.

"When they were doing that voting would halt while they would update the list," Hollis said.

Hollis says that’s one of the downfalls to counting absentee ballots at one central location.

"It’s one of the inefficiencies of this new central count process that impacts Marion County,” he said.

Due to a state law that took effect in 2013, Marion County election workers have to transport absentee ballots from the county’s precincts to the City-County building for a centralized count. Early voting in Marion County concluded at noon Monday.