Record turnout forecast

Indiana voters began casting their ballots this morning, and early signs indicated the presidential primary race between Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton may produce a record turnout.

Election officials braced for a busy day.

Carolyn Hurt of the Jackson County Voter Registration Office said all precincts were up and running with no problems this morning.
"We've had the usual question or two about ‘How do I start this machine,' but that's it," Hurt said.

She added voting at the two precincts in the courthouse lobby - Brownstown 2 and Brownstown 4 - had appeared steady.

In Marion County, the state's most populous, there were no early reports of any major problems, county clerk Beth White said.

"No major mechanical problems, no indications of any sort of widespread problems accessing locations," she said.

"We're feeling very good about where we are," White added.

White, whose county includes Indianapolis, said more than enough ballots had been printed to make sure polls did not run out.

"We've printed tens of thousands of ballots more than we even have registered voters," she said. "In a primary we can't always predict who wants which ballot, Democrat or Republican, but we have done contingencies, we've looked at trending and I think we've planned appropriate for that."

Early voting concluded Monday at levels triple those of the 2004 presidential primary.

Some of the heaviest early voting over the weekend came in counties where Obama is strongly favored, but his campaign downplayed that as a possible advantage as Clinton's campaign promoted mail-in absentee ballots to voters 65 and older.

On Monday, Hurt estimated the number of absentee ballots were up by about 50 percent.

The Indiana Secretary of State's office reported today that 1,038 absentee ballots had been requested in Jackson County.

The record turnout for an Indiana primary came in 1992 with slightly more than 1 million votes cast. Election officials around the state, however, say their preparations have been more like that of a general election, such as when about 2.5 million people voted in November 2004.

Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita, the state's top elections officer, said he believed all 92 counties were prepared for Tuesday's turnout. He said his office was also prepared to respond to any complaints of misconduct by candidates or their campaigns, although he would not specify places of concern.

"We are going to have several teams in several counties," he said.

Mitch Stewart, the Obama campaign's Indiana director, said the campaign would have a network of poll watchers across the state to monitor for any voting troubles and to keep tabs on activity by Clinton supporters.

"I'm sure we'll be keeping a close eye on each other," Stewart said. The main priority, he said, will be answering questions of voters and making sure supporters make it to the polls.

The Clinton campaign planned to have election watchers in all 92 counties today to address any problems, Clinton spokesman Jonathan Swain said.

"We are going to have people throughout the state at polling sites to help ensure that everyone who wants to vote has the opportunity to vote," he said.

More than one-quarter of the 32,215 absentee ballots received Friday through Sunday were cast in three counties - Marion, Monroe and Lake - where political analysts expect Obama to win.

State officials reported Monday that 159,462 absentee ballots had been cast across the state through Sunday. Strong voter interest in the presidential contest has fueled the early voting surge as about 75 percent of the absentee ballots requested through Sunday were Democratic ballots.

In-person voting at county clerk's offices ended at noon Monday and any mail-in ballots have to be received by 6 p.m.