Published: October 07, 2008 11:02 am            

Hundreds register to vote at the last minute in Floyd County

At 39 years old, Teresa Young has never voted.

That’s about to change.

On Monday, she was among the hundreds who flocked to the Floyd County Clerk’s Office to register to vote before the 4 p.m. deadline.

“If you don’t vote, you don’t have a voice,” the New Albany resident said just after turning in her registration form. “So, I decided to get my voice out there so maybe I’ll make a difference.”

She isn’t the only new voter either. This will be the first presidential election Vanessa Haycraft, 37, will vote in.

“My instinct tells me I need to [vote],” Haycraft, of New Albany, said after registering to vote. “The way life is, something has got to change.”

Linda Moeller, Floyd County clerk, believes issues facing this year’s election will bring record numbers to the polls. Just Monday, Moeller said anywhere from 500 to 600 people registered to vote and 74 cast their ballots with early voting, including herself.

“I’m afraid I’m not going to get to the polls on Election Day, because of being here, so now I know it’s done,” Moeller said.

Nancy Tierney will be having eye surgery toward the end of the month and she’s not sure how long it will be until she feels better. So, she was one of those who went ahead and voted Monday.

“I don’t want to take any chances that I won’t be able to go out on Election Day,” Tierney said.

The turnout to register or vote even surprised voter registration workers.

“This is unbelievable!” Binky McGloshen said, as she watched a steady stream of people come to fill out voter registration forms. “I’ve never witnessed a day like this in my life and I’ve been here five years. It’s overwhelming.”

Moeller said she expected it to be busy, but this year’s first day of voting and last day of registration is the busiest the office has seen that she knows of. She’s predicting a voter turnout of around 65 percent by the time it’s over, compared to 40 percent or so in past presidential election years.

Tierney said she believes the increase is because Indiana has become a battleground state that may go either way.

“I think it’s wonderful,” she said. “It’s about time.”

With Tierney and many others voting early, Moeller said the polling locations will reap the benefits. She said early voting helps relieve traffic and lines at the voting sites.

She said all votes cast early remain sealed until Election Day. At that time, they are taken to the respective polling locations to be counted along with the ones cast that day.

Early voting continues in Floyd County until Nov. 3, the day before the election, at noon.

As of Saturday morning, more than 4.4 million Hoosiers have registered to vote, according the Indiana Secretary of State’s Web site.

        

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