St. John's Catholic Church had a line of about 100 people waiting to vote at 6 a.m.
(Isabella Vesperini/WTIU News)
Over 100 people lined up to vote at 6 a.m. Tuesday at St. John’s Catholic Church in Ellettsville. More than 1,000 people voted at the site on Election Day, including Indiana University graduate student Kelsey O’Hair.
“I voted because I feel like my rights and the people I care about rights’ depended on it,” she said.
O’Hair would like to see more gun reform, and also thinks Roe v. Wade should be reinstated.
“I would like to have kids, and I would like to safely have kids,” she said. “Having the right to safe care if something were to go wrong, is something that's really important to me and the people I care about, and I just don't want to see women in danger because of procedures that aren't available.”
Beth Smith, a Republican election site judge at St. John’s, has been working the polls for years.
“My dad, many, many years ago was the Republican treasurer for the Republican Party, and I've just always been interested and voted,” she said. “I’ve worked all the elections since I was in high school, so I’ve done this a long time.”
Smith said there are two Republicans and two Democrats serving as judges at St. John’s; normally there is only one from each party. They work in a bipartisan fashion, scanning voters into ballot machines and helping voters with disabilities.
“Well, we usually only have two one from each party, and this is the first time that multiple precincts have had four, I think just because they anticipated a lot of extra people voting, and so it spreads us out a little bit better,” she said.
Even with four judges present, O’Hair is still worried about election integrity and security. She mentioned an incident in Oregon.
“I know there's already been ballots burned and stuff and stuff like that, so I just hope that there's security in our votes and that votes are getting counted correctly,” she said.
Ellettsville Christian Church was one of the busiest polling locations in the county. As of noon Tuesday, over 1,100 people had come to vote in person. They expected to see at least double that by the end of voting hours.
Some voters like Kathy Shields say they would like to see former president Donald Trump in office again.
“He's got his ways, and doesn't always say nice things about people, but it's not a personality contest,” Shields said.
Amy Easter homeschools her kids. She is also a Trump supporter.
“You might have been able to tell by the garbage bag that I'm wearing. I didn't really appreciate being called ‘trash’ as a Trump supporter by President Biden,” she said. “But you know, hey, if he's going to call us trash, then I'm willing to show up. I’m not ashamed; I'd like to take out the trash in Washington right now.”
Easter would also like to see inflation come down, more secure borders and a better education system.
“Our education system is one that's become more about indoctrination than about actually teaching the basics of reading, writing, math, the basics that we need to survive and be knowledgeable citizens that can participate in the democratic process,” Easter said.
Easter thinks people should be as involved as possible in the election process.
“It's our civic duty,” she said. “We live in a constitutional republic, and the Constitution says, ‘We the People.’ In the Declaration of Independence, it says that we are the ones that have the power in this country, so I think we have an ethical responsibility to vote.”
Gina Benson, a poll worker at Sherwood Oaks Christian Church, said turnout was not as big as expected.
“We expected a crowd,” she said. “We expected lines, a crowd. Oh, it's going to be busy…but it's been really smooth.”
Benson wants housing to be more affordable and for education to be more accommodating.
“The workforce, for it to come back, maybe not in manufacturing, but something for people who, who don't have some other skills, that aren't in education, they may need something else to do,” she said.
Benson is passionate about voting and her volunteer work at the polls.
“It's my right and my responsibility. And there were people who fought for me as a woman, as a Black woman, who fought for me hard to be able to vote,” Benson said. “I have that right to be able to vote as a US citizen, and I feel strongly about that. I'm not going to give up my right ever to vote as long as I'm alive.”
