During the April 28 Monroe County Council meeting, all seven members agreed, despite a hiring freeze, to approve a part-time employee for the 2026 election season to balance out the politics.
Election Supervisor Kylie Farris was allowed to hire a part-time Republican clerk to replace an employee who moved into a full-time job. The clerk’s job is to be at voting headquarters in the Showers Building alongside a Democrat clerk in order to maintain a bipartisan election staff.
“This is just us trying to make sure we have the bipartisanship in all of our roles,” Farris said.
Marty Hawk, the council’s lone Republican member, said she had gone to vote early and noticed there were two Democratic clerks and no Republican.
She said the county has to be careful to follow election guidelines.
Election Day is Tuesday, May 5, 2026.
Here are some things to know about this year’s primary election.
How many people in Monroe County have voted so far?
Through Wednesday, 3,324 Monroe County voters had already cast their ballots, up nearly 50% from 2022 and up about 15% from 2018.
That means nearly 4% of the county’s 90,403 registered voters have already made their voices heard.
At least 128 people have voted every day since early voting began on April 7. More than 250 people voted on April 29. “It’s an average of 200 a day,” Farris said.
During the recent county council meeting, Farris said she was encouraged by the number of early voters thus far.
She reported that as of that day, there was a 63% increase from 2022 to this year’s primary in the number of people casting ballots before Election Day.
You can find out more at the county’s election dashboard: tinyurl.com/2026PrimaryDashboard.
Early voting continues on Saturday, May 2, 2026, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Voters’ last chance to vote early? From 8 a.m. to noon Monday, May 4.
All early voting takes place at Election Central, at the Monroe County Government Center, 501 N. Morton St., Suite 101.
When can you go vote on Election Day in Monroe County?
On Tuesday, May 5, 2026, you can vote from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Make sure you bring a federal or state-issued photo ID.
Where is your polling location?
Nearly 12,000 Monroe County voters will need to go to a different polling location if they vote on primary Election Day.
County officials said they reassigned voting locations for registered voters in 20 precincts for logistical and efficiency reasons tied to equipment limits and voter distribution.
The county mailed postcards to all registered voters to notify them of polling locations, but only 11,657 voters across 20 precincts were assigned a new Election Day location.
You can find information about Election Day polling locations at tinyurl.com/MC2026Primary.
People with concerns about their Election Day polling location can call Election Central at 812-349-2690.
Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com. Laura Lane can be reached at llane@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Monroe County election sees early voting surge
Reporting by Boris Ladwig and Laura Lane, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
