INDIANAPOLIS — The general election is less than 50 days away. Thousands of absentee ballots are being sent to Hoosiers who are choosing to vote by mail because of COVID-19 concerns.
Jill Engel says her choice to vote by mail was an easy decision.
"The primary reason is concern about contracting COVID-19," Engel said. "I anticipate a very large turnout for this presidential election and I just don't want to stand in line with people who won't wear a mask or people that show up ill, determined to vote."
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The increase of people voting by mail was expected. Elections boards have been preparing for this since the primary election.
Marion County has received around 43,000 absentee ballot applications which is more than double the 21,000 requests they received for the 2016 general election. They've mailed out around 6,000 ballots as of this story being published.
With more mail-in ballots than usual, they're making plans to accommodate the increase to get votes counted in a timely manner.
Spurred on by the political back and forth about mail-in voting, some people, like Engel, have concerns about their ballot getting counted if it's sent back through the mail.
"I trust our local mail carrier," Engel said. "It's just what's coming out from Washington that concerns me."
If you have concerns like Engel, you can turn in your mail-in ballot in person to your county's election board, at early voting sites, or on election day at any voting site before noon.