GET TO KNOW YOUR BALLOT
Harris served as California’s attorney general and U.S. Senator before becoming vice president under Joe Biden. She received the Democratic nomination in August after Biden dropped out of the race.
Trump was elected president in 2016 against Democrat Hillary Clinton, working in business and TV beforehand. He lost his bid for reelection in 2020 to Joe Biden.
JENNIFER MCCORMICK Democrat
McCormick is running for governor as a Democrat, hoping to flip the office from Republican control. Once Indiana’s Republican superintendent of public instruction, winning would make her Indiana’s first Democratic governor in nearly two decades.
MIKE BRAUN Republican
Braun is now one of Indiana’s U.S. senators and is running for governor as a Republican. He’s from Jasper, where he was a small business owner. He later worked in the state house until he ran for Senate in 2018, beating incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly.
DONALD RAINWATER Libertarian
Rainwater is running for governor as a Libertarian. His bid in 2020 was unusually successful, in which he got 11% of the vote. Rainwater is from Indianapolis and spent eight years in the U.S. Navy. He spent much of his time afterward in management positions and in software engineering.
SHELLI YODER Democrat
Shelli Yoder is running for Indiana’s 40th State Senate District, where she’s been since 2020. She lives in Bloomington and earned two master’s degrees in counseling and human services and divinity from IU South Bend and Vanderbilt University respectively. She’s a senior lecturer at the Kelley School of Business.
MATT PIERCE Democrat
Matt Pierce is seeking reelection for Indiana’s 61st State House District, a position he’s held for more than two decades. He previously served on Bloomington City Council and teaches at IU’s Media School.
VALERIE MCCRAY Democrat
McCray is looking to become Indiana’s first Democratic Senator since Joe Donnelly left office in 2019. She is from Indianapolis and earned a doctorate from the University of Michigan in psychology. She’s held a variety of positions in clinical psychology, including working with military, prison and youth programs.
JIM BANKS Republican
Banks is looking to take over Mike Braun’s senate seat, after serving as a representative for seven years. He’s from Columbia City and graduated from IU with a degree in political science. After that, he worked in the state senate from 2010-16.
ANDY HORNING Libertarian
Horning is running for senator as a Libertarian. In 2004, he unsuccessfully ran to represent Indiana’s 7th congressional district as a Republican. Before entering politics, he worked in a mostly clinical background.
DESTINY WELLS Democrat
Wells is running for Attorney General in hopes to become the first Democrat serving in the position since 2001. Wells enlisted in the Army National Guard at 19, after which she served in the military for two decades. She worked as Indiana deputy attorney general from 2018-19. She ran unsuccessfully for Indiana secretary of state in 2022.
TODD ROKITA Republican
Editor’s note: This section references instances of sexual
Rokita is seeking reelection as attorney general, a position he’s held since 2021. Rokita is from Munster and graduated from Wabash College. He’s seen a fairly controversial term. At one point, he was reprimanded by The Disciplinary Commission of the Indiana Supreme Court for comments he made about Caitlin Bernard, a gynecologist who went public about her experience performing an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim.
THOMAS HORROCKS Democrat
Horrocks is running as a Democrat in what’s expected to be one of the Indiana legislature’s most contested seats. He’s worked as a pastor for nearly eight years and previously served in the Indiana Army National Guard.
DAVE HALL Republican
Hall, a Republican, is looking to retain his seat in what is expected to be one of Indiana’s closest races — he won in 2022 by less than 100 votes. He owns a crop insurance company and previously served in several government positions in Jackson County.
Braun, McCormick, Rainwater square off
By Adelyn Rabbitt adrabb@iu.edu
The final Indiana gubernatorial debate of 2024 between candidates Republican Mike Braun, Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Donald Rainwater took place Thursday, highlighting three different plans for Indiana’s economy and other state issues.
The debate was presented by the Indiana Debate Commission in Indianapolis and moderated by Laura Merrifield Wilson, an associate professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis.
On the economy, McCormick said she aims to step up human capital and ensure that the workforce is “healthy and educated.” Braun emphasized the need to spread economic development throughout the state and foster growth for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Rainwater argued that there is a worker shortage, rather than job shortage, and creating more jobs is hurting small businesses.
Braun pinned the job of creating affordable housing on businesses, not the government. Rainwater said he supports the rehabilitation of vacant houses to create affordable housing for families.
McCormick negated Braun’s tax plan and said it did not return money to Hoosiers as it should have.
McCormick also brought up Braun’s previous votes against child tax credit and highlighted her focus on fair lending and renter protec-
Indiana’s gubernatorial candidates held a final debate Oct. 24 in Indianapolis.
MIKEBRAUN
tion.
Braun agreed with McCormick on her position of supporting parent and student choice over school’s choice so that all kids have access to “world class education.”
Rainwater said he is in favor of universal school choice and the public school system has brought down its quality while driving up its cost.
“We have a lot of work to do to rethink education completely from the ground up,” Rainwater said during the debate Oct. 24.
On reducing property taxes, McCormick described her plan as well-received, saying it will give relief to every Hoosier.
Braun undercut McCormick, calling her plan “unchecked” while saying his plan will put a lid on property tax so it cannot go up more than 2% for vulnerable taxpayers or 3% for average
taxpayers. Rainwater called his opponent’s comments “word salad” and said his plan will keep property taxes static until they are ended.
Braun sparred with McCormick on her public service record. She condemned Braun for omitting her 25 years of teaching in his definition of public service.
On the topic of gun laws, McCormick critiqued Braun’s lieutenant governor nominee Micah Beckwith’s views, saying he would aim to repeal red flag laws. Red flag laws allow firearms to be temporarily taken from individuals who pose a risk to themselves or to others.
Braun said he hopes to improve red flag laws to keep criminals and people with mental illnesses from possessing guns. McCormick said officials must listen to state police and maintain red flag laws. Rainwater stood in direct opposition
JENNIFERMCCORMICK DONALDRAINWATER
of red flag laws, claiming that “criminals don’t follow laws.”
Braun stood in defense of Indiana’s current near-total abortion ban, saying it was vetted, passed with a large majority and has reasonable exceptions. Abortion is currently illegal in Indiana with the exception of providing abortion care if the mother’s health or life is at risk. Additionally, if a lethal fetal anomaly is detected, abortion is allowed before 20 weeks and up to 10 weeks in cases of rape or incest.
Rainwater said voters need to contact legislators if they want to make a change in abortion laws. McCormick, known for her pro-choice values, criticized Braun for calling Indiana’s abortion laws a “good product,” saying that women’s health is being put at risk with the current state of abortion rights in Indiana. She also said the ban is
not vetted, but she will fight for a citizen’s initiative ballot because “Hoosiers deserve to have a voice.”
All candidates voiced support for some form of legalized cannabis. Rainwater expressed his belief that all forms of cannabis should be legalized, McCormick said she will help legalize medical cannabis use followed by adult recreational use and Braun stuck to only legalizing medical use of cannabis, saying that recreational use laws can be decided later.
McCormick brought up Beckwith again in her response to a question about downsizing state agencies. She mentioned his comments about firing employees who include pronouns in their signatures.
She highlighted her plan to not cut salaries and not spend more but prioritize healthcare, education and a strong economy. Braun focused his response on
Meet the 3 circuit court judges running unopposed for re-election
his experience as a business owner and plan to not increase spending. Rainwater attacked both Democrats and Republicans, saying both parties take and spend, highlighting his goal of holding bureaucracy accountable.
The final question sent in by voters was about the current political landscape and how Hoosier’s political views will affect the candidates’ treatment of them. Rainwater called Braun the “ultimate insider” and claimed the government wants citizens to depend on them and the government “is the enemy.”
McCormick said she opposes extreme policies, calling Beckwith divisive, and said she is focused on restoring balance. Braun suggested being entrepreneurial, balancing budget and getting things done, undercutting McCormick’s policies.
in Monroe County this year
The court has nine divisions and jurisdiction over cases filed in Monroe County, with judges serving six-year terms.
By Adelyn Rabbitt adrabb@iu.edu
Three candidates are running for re-election in the Monroe County Circuit Court this November. Each incumbent candidate is uncontested. The court has nine divisions and jurisdiction over cases filed in Monroe County. The judges serve six-year terms. Each candidate began their term Jan. 1, 2019, and will conclude their term Dec. 31, 2024. If re-elected, each candidate will maintain their current case docket. The following are the three candidates running for re-election:
Catherine Stafford
Catherine Stafford began her undergraduate studies at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota but transferred to IU Bloomington partway through her sophomore year. She graduated from IU with a bachelor’s in English and a certificate in medieval studies.
As the judge of Monroe County Circuit Court Division IV, Stafford has a civil law docket which includes family law, small claims, evictions, name and gender marker changes, order of protection for domestic violence and stalking, among other miscellaneous cases.
Stafford said one of her priorities as a circuit court judge is to ensure the court processes are straightforward for people who come into court without an attorney, since in civil cases, there is not a legally required right to an attorney.
She is a member of the Indiana Supreme Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, the Indiana Domestic Relations Benchbook Committee and the Indiana Family Law Taskforce. Stafford also edited the custody chapter for the Domestic Relations Benchbook, which allowed her to develop guides for judges without a background in family law to use as an aid in conducting trials.
During her first term, Stafford helped to create the Eviction Prevention Program, which is a local group of non-profits who provide free mediation and legal advice to people going through eviction court.
Stafford has taught as an adjunct professor at the IU Maurer School of Law since 2002, teaching one class each semester. Every couple of years she teaches a Family Trial Practice course. She currently teaches a course called “Mediation.”
“In every case you should try these things: negotiate, mediate, then litigate,” Stafford said.
Stafford said it is important for people who are interested in law to know courts are open to the public.
“I’d like to end with an invitation to any readers to come in and watch court,” Stafford said.
After taking a year off, Stafford said she attended the University of Minnesota Law School and graduated in 1997 with a law degree. She worked as the program director for the Minnesota Justice Foundation for two years before moving back to her hometown of Bloomington, where she worked at Indiana Legal Services. In 2004, she opened her law firm, Stafford Law Office, LLC, where she worked until she was elected a circuit court judge in 2019. At her law firm, Stafford practiced family law. Stafford has also served as a guardian ad litem: investigating child abuse and neglect cases and giving recommendations to the court based on the child’s best interests.
Christine Talley Haseman
Christine Talley Haseman attended Purdue University for one year of her undergraduate studies but transferred to IU Bloomington for her remaining three years of studies. She graduated from IU with a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the Kelley School of Business and worked at General Electric in Bloomington for two years before completing a master’s in marketing.
Haseman then worked with students with developmental disabilities at Bloomington High School North for a year before beginning law school. She graduated from Maurer with a law degree in 1995.
Haseman said her path to becoming a circuit court judge was not straightforward. She entered law school intending to become a prosecutor. When she graduated, she took an estate planning role at a large law firm in Louisville, Kentucky. Haseman then returned to her hometown of Bloomington to work for Ferguson and Ferguson, where she continued to do estate planning as an associate attorney.
Around the same time, Haseman became a guardian ad litem, meaning she represented children in child abuse and neglect cases. The court is not bound to a guardian ad litem’s opinions but often gives its opinions a significant amount of weight, according to Haseman.
In 2000, she opened her private practice, Haseman Law Office, in Bloomington, where she continued estate planning and being a guard-
ian ad litem.
From 2004-06, Haseman served as a juvenile court referee in the Lawrence County Circuit Court.
In 2008, Haseman became the judge of Monroe County Circuit Court Division VIII, hearing family law, protective order and small claims cases. She served in that position for a year before returning to Lawrence County to fill a deputy prosecutor position for two years. In 2011, Haseman returned to her private practice as an attorney at law.
She has also served as an Indiana Supreme Court Hearing Officer and a Judge Pro Tempore multiple times.
Haseman eventually ran for Monroe County Circuit Court in 2018, when she was elected to her current position. She serves as the Judge of Monroe County Circuit Court Division III.
As a circuit court judge, Haseman presides over criminal cases, including topics anywhere from traffic infractions to murder.
In addition to hearing cases, Haseman is a member of the Indiana Child Welfare Improvement Committee and on the board of directors for Stone Belt, a local chapter of a nonprofit organization serving people with developmental disabilities. She also is an adjunct instructor at the IU O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, where she teaches the Law and Public Affairs course.
Throughout her first term, Haseman worked closely with Monroe County Jail’s mental health care providers and staff to understand the needs of incarcerated individuals with mental illnesses.
“I try to make sure that people feel like they’ve been heard,” Haseman said. She also prioritizes treating everyone in her court with dignity, respect and fairness.
A primary concern of Haseman’s when it comes to criminal court is the significant mental health and substance abuse issues that many defendants face.
“Unfortunately, the treatment is either unavailable or inaccessible to people that need it,” Haseman said.
She said she aims to maintain a delicate balance between keeping the community safe and getting people in the criminal justice system the treatment they need. She hopes to create a program in Monroe County with services in which a case manager, mental health provider and psychiatric medication provider would be provided for people in the criminal justice system struggling with mental health issues.
Darcie Fawcett
Darcie Fawcett completed her undergraduate education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology and education and a certificate in women’s studies. She earned her law degree from the Maurer School in 2001.
“Raising awareness of these challenges within the criminal justice system, both to individuals working in the system as well as the general public, is a critical step in continuing to improve our ability to meet the needs of individuals suffering from mental illness who are involved in the criminal justice system,” Haseman said. Haseman’s judicial philosophy involves allowing both parties enough time to present their entire case rather than cutting them off prematurely.
“I work from the assumption that whatever need a particular defendant has, say it is substance abuse or a mental health issue, is the underlying reason for their criminal behavior,” Fawcett said. “And if you can address that underlying need, there is the assumption that once that gets stabilized or under control, then the criminal behavior will stop.” Fawcett is focused on ensuring caseworkers are assigned to defendants so the defendants can be put into supportive programs based on their needs. She prioritizes helping people receive rehabilitation to keep them out of the criminal justice system for good.
Since taking the bench, Fawcett notably began a brown bag quarterly lunch meeting that promotes communication between the criminal judges and the criminal bar of Monroe County. Additionally, Fawcett is on the Monroe County Community Corrections advisory board, the Justice Reinvestment advisory council, the Indiana Supreme Court Commission on Race and Gender Fairness committee, the Judicial Readiness Program Subcommittee, the Monroe County Forms Committee and the Equity and Justice Best Practices Subcommittee.
Following her graduation, Fawcett briefly worked at a firm in Bloomington called Mallor, Clendening, Grodner and Bohrer. She then worked at the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office and later worked at the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office until she ran for Monroe County Circuit Court judge in 2018. Fawcett, like Haseman, covers criminal cases. She puts emphasis on mental health in her position as the judge of Monroe County Circuit Court Division IX. She prioritizes referring defendants to the appropriate problem-solving courts in Monroe County, including the mental health court and the drug court, according to the defendant’s needs.
Meet the IU professors in state legislature
Both IU professors represent Bloomington in the State Senate and State House, respectively.
Matt Pierce has represented Indiana’s 61st State House District for more than two decades now, and is running for another term. He was first elected to the state house in 2002, and joined the IU Media School the year after, now teaching telecommunications law, policy and management.
Since the legislature is in session in the spring semester, that makes the first part of the year quite busy for Pierce.
“You really don’t have any days off,” Pierce said. “You do legislative stuff Monday afternoon through Thursday evening, and then you’ve got
classes that teach on Friday, then use the weekend for grading and preparing for Monday classes.”
He started politics in IU’s student government, becoming vice president of what was then-called the IU Student Association while an undergraduate. He later served on Bloomington’s city council from 1996 to 1998 and was Democratic congressman Baron Hill’s chief of staff from 1999 to 2002.
In Pierce’s time, he’s seen the legislature flip from Democrat to Republican control, and ultimately to the Republican supermajority. Within those constraints, he said his most important work in recent years has been to fight for his priorities in state budgets.
Usually, that’s meant funding for schools, childcare, public health and other social programs. He said he’s been working on fighting the rise of school voucher programs, which has exploded in recent years in Indiana. He’s also fought in culture war issues, including opposition to the state budget’s ban on funds to IU’s Kinsey Institute in 2022. That’s led to today, where
he said he sees culture war issues becoming more tumultuous. Here also lies the priority of breaking the Republican supermajority for Pierce.
“I think that’s when you have an opportunity, particularly on the culture war issues, to get them (Republicans) to stay more focused on the issues that actually relate to people’s everyday lives, and not these kind of issues designed to fire up their base,” he said.
Shelli Yoder has been Bloomington and much of Monroe County’s state senator since 2020, and is look-
ing for another four years, running uncontested in this year’s election.
Yoder is also a senior lecturer at the Kelley School of Business, where she’s taught since 2011. There, she’s part of the communication, professional and computer skills department, teaching during the fall semester. She spends the spring semester on unpaid leave, at the legislature while it’s in session.
She started out in politics in 2012, when she ran against Republican Todd Young in Indiana’s 9th Congressional District. She lost by just over 10%; the district voted Republican by a 30% margin in 2022. She ran again and lost in 2016, by 14%.
Yoder said a lack of action on climate change inspired her first run.
“We were still talking about it being a lie,” she said. “And as we have seen, there are more and more wildfires, stronger tornadoes and storm systems, hurricanes that are demolishing communities more and more.”
Her experiences with the response to climate taught Yoder that to change policy; she had to “fly under the radar.” She’s more focused on
the small steps she can take to improve Hoosiers’ lives. She only gets to put in a few bills per session, so she has to pick carefully. Yoder’s had two laws she brought up from her term. One targeted food insecurity by extending the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program reapplication period to three years (up from one) for seniors and people with disabilities. She said another increases efficiency and access in long-acting reversible contraceptives.
“The issues are just right in your face, every day.”
Shelli Yoder
Those pieces of legislation had to go through many approval processes, all the while she was walking a tightrope in trying to balance relationships with Republicans and bringing legislation to the floor.
In between her runs for house, she served on the Monroe County Council from 2013 to 2020. She touted her work in combat-
ing substance use disorders while on the council, helping to implement more widespread harm reduction strategies countywide. In 2017, she co-founded the South Central Indiana Opioid Summit.
“The issues are just right in your face every day,” she said. Afterward, she ran for state senator unopposed. During her term, the Indiana legislature responded to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade with a neartotal abortion ban.
“It was heartbreaking and gut wrenching,” she said.
“We heard so many stories. And Hoosiers had exceptional courage to come and share those stories of how access to reproductive Health care, access to abortion care, saved their lives.”
Her priorities for her next term include fighting to restore reproductive rights, transparency within schools under the voucher system, increasing access to affordable housing and implementing renter protections. Yoder, like many state Democrats, said she’ll also focus on improving Indiana’s childcare and access to pre-K.
Meet the Indiana House District 62 candidates
Republican Dave Hall won the district by less than 100 votes in 2022.
Horrocks wasn’t always a Democrat, and he wasn’t always interested in running. That shift in attitude expanded as he sought education to become a pastor — which he’s been for nearly eight years now — at a seminary.
“When I got to seminary, we wanted to study them (the Old Testament prophets) in their own context, and they had these powerful messages of social justice for standing up for the oppressed and the marginalized,” he said. “I’m seeing that in my religious studies at the same time that I’ve seen injustice manifesting in the world around me. And so, I just started talking online, on Facebook and Twitter. For the first time in my life, people start calling me a liberal.” Horrocks was raised in a conservative family and considered himself as such until the early 2010s, when he became disillusioned with the Republican party. Indiana voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and Mitt Romney in 2012. Horrocks voted for
Indiana State House of Representatives
Representatives from all 100 districts will be elected Nov. 5.
Indiana State Senate
There are 25 seats up for election this year with 13 contested seats.
Obama in 2012 but kept it a secret.
In that time, he also served in the Indiana Army National Guard for around a decade. He went on deployment once to Kuwait from 2019-20, and bounced around U.S. bases in other surrounding countries in the Persian Gulf.
In an interview with the Indiana Daily Student, he repeatedly quoted and referenced Desmond Tutu — “eventually we’ve got to stop pulling people on the river and go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.” He was in the Gulf when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, which threw a wrench in quality-of-life issues in Indiana he was already seeing develop upstream. In particular, Horrocks
was concerned with quality of life and education. To address these issues, he wants to universalize pre-K, increase teacher salaries and wages for everyone in Indiana and implement incentives for affordable housing.
If elected, there are two scenarios he’d have to deal with — a state house with a Republican supermajority, or a state house still dominated by Republicans without one. In both cases, Horrocks feels he would be able to fill in the gaps and work across the aisle.
Still, breaking the Republicans’ four-seat supermajority is a major priority of him and other Democratic state house candidates. With that gone, inter-party collaboration would become more commonplace, he said.
Hall, the district’s incumbent, did not respond to a request for an interview. Living on his wife’s family farm in northwest Jackson County, Hall owns a crop insurance company and farms corn and soybeans with his father. Before running for state representative, he served in numerous positions in Jackson County,
including as president of its county council. He’s staked out a more moderate path — including a vote against SEA 202, legislation that changed tenure requirements and pushed colleges toward “intellectual diversity.” He was one of just two Republicans in the state house to vote against it. One of his top priorities is combating drug addiction, according to his campaign website, an effort he led in Jackson County by helping start the Jackson-Jennings Work Release Center, which helped rehabilitate those dealing with addiction. Other priorities include improving infrastructure and expanding high-speed internet. He opposed Bloomington’s proposed annexation of unincorporated communities.
Who is running to represent Bloomington in Congress?
Three candidates are running for Indiana’s 9th Congressional District
By Andrew Miller ami3@iu.edu | @andrew_mmiller
The district’s Republican incumbent, Houchin has been in Congress since 2023. She won by a margin of 30% in the 2022 midterms.
Houchin’s press secretary did not respond to a request for an interview.
She’s from Salem, Indiana, and studied psychology at IU, later earning a
master’s degree in political management from George Washington University. Before running for the House, she represented Indiana Senate District 47 from 2014 to 2022.
During her time in office, she’s staked out with the right wing of the party on many votes — including voting for a moratorium on aid to Ukraine. She voted against a federal funding bill, which if not passed, would have caused a government shutdown. She also voted for eliminating assistance for refugees and immigrants.
Houchin serves on three committees, including the Committee on Education and the Workforce, the Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Rules.
Her political positions lean right, opposing abortion unless the life of the mother is threatened. In 2019, she voted for a bill in the Indiana Senate that allowed schools to teach courses on creation science.
In a July interview with the News and Tribune, Houchin said her top priorities if elected will be border security and combating inflation.
As Hurricane Helene’s remnants hit Indiana, Tim Peck hurried to cover his goat’s pen with his own campaign sign at his farm in New Washington. He’s been all over the district campaigning, trying to reach constituents in a district the Democrats haven’t won in more than a decade. Peck is running, in his own words, as a “Blue Dog Democrat,” leaning more moderate on some issues. Originally an independent, he switched to the Democratic party around the same time he decided to run for office — when Erin Houchin voted against a resolution last November that ultimately prevented a government shutdown.
In an interview with the Indiana Daily Student, Peck said this sort of partisan
Brooksbank is running as a Libertarian for the district, his first national campaign. He’s originally from Cincinnati and moved to Indiana in 1996. He now lives in Clarkesville and works as a concrete truck driver.
Brooksbank did not respond to re-
politicking is what he would combat if elected.
Peck worked with Congress before in the private sector, testifying to change Medicare law to work with telemedicine. He worked as an emergency physician until 2015 when he transitioned to telemedicine. He wants to reduce government spending, which he said is causing unnecessary burdens on the middle and lower class in taxes. He wants to increase taxes on the wealthy, lowering them otherwise.
He’s pro-choice, and views abortion as a women’s health issue more than anything else, reckoning back to his time in healthcare.
“As a doctor, when treating someone in the exam room, when I make a decision, I’m making a decision in conjunction with the person,” he said. “And sometimes their faith becomes involved, and you have a deep conversation that is so nuanced that no law can ever get involved.” He supports strong border protections and wants to work with both parties to come up with a solution that will increase funding for border patrol, immigration judges and other officials.
quests for an interview. He told the News and Tribune in July he would vote down legislation often, “since he believes people would be better off if the government did almost nothing.” In 2022, Libertarian Tonya Millis got just under 3% of the vote.
Shelli Yoder State Senator Kelley School of Business lecturer
Matt Pierce State Representative Media School lecturer
Thomas Horrocks Democrat
Dave Hall Republican
Erin Houchin Republican
Tim Peck Democrat
Russell Brooksbank Libertarian
By Andrew Miller ami3@iu.edu | @andrew_mmiller
By Andrew Miller ami3@iu.edu | @andrew_mmiller
Free Uber rides and bus travel for voters
By Chloe Oden chloden@iu.edu | @chloeoden0
Election Day is less than a week away with only a few days left to vote early. If you find yourself voting on Election Day, here’s everything you need to know about how to get to the polls.
Hoosiers’ last chance to vote for offices ranging from county council to U.S. president will be 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 5. To find out what is on your ballot, visit vote.org/ ballot-information/.
If you are registered to vote in Indiana, you can find your polling location by visiting indianavoters.in.gov
and find the icon that says, “Find Your Polling Place.” Then, enter your name, date of birth and county of current registration. The results will give you the name of your polling place, the address and hours of the location and offer an option for directions using Google Maps. Polling locations are determined by the precinct that you live in. In Monroe County, there are 30 poll sites. If you are registered in a state other than Indiana and will be traveling there to vote, you can visit vote.org/ polling-place-locator/ to find the polling place locator for your state.
There are several options for transportation to the polls. For IU students, faculty, staff and visitors, riding a campus bus is a free and easy way to travel. IU students, faculty and staff may also ride any Bloomington Transit bus for free by showing their IU ID when boarding.
Through TurboVote, IU Student Government is offering all Monroe County residents two free Uber rides to reach the polls. The voucher covers two rides and requires an Uber account. Visit iu.turbovote.org to claim.
The voucher is currently active until 9 p.m. Nov. 5. It
is valid from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. The voucher must be used within Monroe County.
Along with this, Lyft is offering discounted rides on Election Day. Using the code VOTE24 between 5 a.m. and 10 p.m. on Election Day, riders can receive a 50% discount up to $10 on a ride. On Uber, riders can use the “Go Vote” tile on the app and receive 50% off a single ride, up to $10. The offer begins at midnight and ends at 11:59 p.m. on Election Day. Also, Uber is offering 25% off UberEats orders, a discount
of up to $15 on orders of at least $25. This offer begins at 6 p.m. Nov. 5 and ends at 7 a.m. Nov. 6.
Access to transportation is a significant obstacle to voting. A study conducted in Michigan by assistant professor Justin de BenedictisKessner at Harvard University and associate professor Maxwell Palmer at Boston University suggests that policymakers try to lessen the disparity in voting between those with and without cars by placing polling places in walkable locations. Also, the study proposes that policymakers broaden access to early and absentee voting. The study concluded that
66% of residents with a car voted in the 2018 midterm election, while only 36% of residents without a car voted in the same election. The study stated that differing access to cars in different race and age groups can explain many of the race- and age-based variances in participation. If you are unable to make it to your designated poll on Election Day, early voting is available until noon Nov. 4 at Election Operations at 302 S. Walnut St. When voting absentee-by-mail, county election officials must have received the absentee-by-mail ballot no later than 6 p.m. on Election Day.
How to get to your polling location
Source: Monroe County, IU
The Academy of Science and Entrepreneurship
444 S. Patterson Dr., Bloomington, IN 47403
Precincts: P1, 29, 30
Binford Elementary School
2300 E. Second St., Bloomington, IN 47401
Precincts: B8, P17, 20
Bloomington High School North 3901 N. Kinser Pike, Bloomington, IN 47404 Precincts: B4, 13, 17
Bloomington High School South 1965 S. Walnut St., Bloomington, IN 47401 Precincts: P9, 10, 12, 13, 32
Burgoon Baptist Church
8598 E. Burgoon Church Road, Bloomington, IN 47401
Precints: POLK
Christ Community Church
503 S. High St., Bloomington, IN 47401 Precincts: B21, P7,16
Eastview Church of the Nazarene
4545 E. Lampkins Ridge Road, Bloomington, IN 47401
Precincts: P21, 22, 26, SC
Election Operations
302 S. Walnut St., Bloomington, IN 47401
Precincts: B3, 7, P6, 8, 15, 31
Ellettsville Christian Church
731 Independence St., Ellettsville, IN 47429
Precincts: R1, 2, 5, 6
Emmanuel Church
1503 W. That Road, Bloomington, IN 47403
Precincts: P4, 25, 27
Fairview Elementary School 500 W. Seventh St., Bloomington, IN 47404
Precincts: B1, 6, 20
Faith Lutheran Church 2200 S. High St, Bloomington, IN 47401.
Precincts: P14
Family Life Church (Family Worship Center) 8449 N. Fox Hollow Road, Bloomington, IN 47408
Precincts: B12, WASH
Grandview Elementary School 2300 S. Endwright Road, Bloomington, IN 47403
Precincts: VB4, 5, 6
Harrodsburg Community Center 1002 W. Popcorn Road, Bloomington, IN 47403
Precincts: CC3
Highland Park Elementary School
900 S. Park Square Dr., Bloomington, IN 47403
Precincts: VB1, 2, 3
Indiana Memorial Union (IMU)
900 E Seventh St., Bloomington, IN 47405
Precincts: B5, 18, 19, 23
Indian Creek Lions Club
8120 S. Rockport Road, Bloomington, IN 47403
Precincts: IC
Jackson Creek Middle School 3980 S. Sare Road, Bloomington, IN 47401
Precincts: P11, 23, 28
Meadowood 2455 E. Tamarack Trail, Bloomington, IN 47408
Precincts: B22
Sherwood Oaks Christian Church
2700 E. Rogers Road, Bloomington, IN 47401
Precincts: P18, 19
Smithville Christian Church
7280 S. Fairfax Road, Bloomington, IN 47401
Precincts: CC2
Souls Harbor Apostolic Church
7510 S. Old State Road 37, Bloomington, IN 47403
Precincts: CC1 P24
St. John the Apostle Catholic Church 4607 W. State Road 46, Bloomington, IN 47404
Precincts: R3, 4, 7, 8, 9
Stinesville Lions Club
8060 N. Stinesville Road, Stinesville, IN 47464
Precincts: BB1, 2, 3
Summit Elementary School 1450 W. Countryside Lane, Bloomington, IN 47403
Precincts: P2, 3, 5
Tri-North Middle School 1000 W. 15th St., Bloomington, IN 47404
Precincts: B2, 14, 15, 24
Unionville Elementary School
8144 E. State Road 45, Unionville, IN 47468
Precincts: BENT1, 2
University Elementary School 1111 N. Russell Road, Bloomington, IN 47408
Precincts: B9, 10, 11, 16
To vote on election day in Indiana, you’ll need to bring a photo ID in all instances, and must already be registered to vote. Valid ID can be an Indiana driver’s license or state-issued ID card, military ID, a U.S. passport or a student ID from a state school. The ID will need to include your name (which must conform to your voter registration), an expiration date (it can be expired past Nov. 8, 2022) and be issued by the state or federal government.
If you’re voting for the first time, you might need to show proof of residency. You’ll also be required to show proof of residency if you didn’t mark your driver’s license number, state ID or the last four digits of your Social Security ID while registering to vote. Proof of residency needs to have your name and the address where you registered to vote. Examples include your Indiana driver’s license or state-issued ID, a utility bill, a bank statement, a government check or paycheck, IDs issued by the U.S. government and recognized Native American Indian tribes or bands.
In case you’re not able to meet these requirements, you will be able to cast a provisional ballot. If you cast one of these, you have until noon on Nov. 15 to provide the necessary documents to the county election board. You can check the status of your ballot and get further information at https://indianavoters.in.gov/.
