The number of Hoosiers voting early – whether in-person or by mail – is down this fall compared to past elections.

The percentage of people who voted early in Indiana has been on the rise for a decade, when you separate out midterm and presidential elections – which is usually a good idea, considering far more people vote in presidential elections.

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But this year, that early vote is down with just days to go before Election Day – and that’s because of in-person voting. More than 600,000 people voted early, in-person in the last midterm, 2018. This year, it’s less than 400,000 so far.

But the number of people who’ve voted by mail is already higher this year than 2018. Mail-in voting became considerably more popular during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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