Indiana Absentee Ballot Requests 5 Times The Total In 2016

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — About 275,000 Indiana residents have requested absentee ballots for the June 2 primary election, more than five times the total who voted absentee in the 2016 primary, state officials said.

That number announced Tuesday is about 50,000 more than a week ago. Requests for a mail-in ballots, technically known as absentee voting by mail, must be received by county election offices no later than May 21.

Ballots must be received by a county election office no later than noon on Election Day, June 2, to be counted.

Nearly 48,000 Hoosiers voted by mail in the 2016 primary.

Some counties have sent out absentee ballot applications to all registered voters in a bid to reduce in-person voting on Election Day. Some counties have been hard pressed to find poll workers because of the coronavirus.

For the first time in Indiana, voters are not required to have a specific reason for voting, in part because of social distancing recommended amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Officials at the Indiana Election Commission said the large number of mail-in ballots, along with the need to follow other coronavirus prevention measures, could delay election results in some counties by a day or two.