Election Day 2024

The 2024 General Election is now only 48 days away. A lot has happened since our last Elect Connect event. The Primary Election may has determined which candidates we can now pick from for a range of offices up and down the ballot. Not to mention the fact that the race for President got quite a shake-up earlier this summer.

During my course of study in Bloomington and my time as a fellow here at the Chamber, I've always felt that Bloomington has been very civic-minded and engaged. It would make sense for the city hosting our state's largest institution of higher education. Yet, maybe this is a sort of tunnel vision that comes from the bubble of a university campus and working in advocacy. Nonetheless, I was surprised to see that Monroe County's turnout of 63% in the 2020 election, was lower than the state average (65%). Only 16 other counties had turnout rates at the same or lower levels than Monroe County. While the turnout rates of those 17 counties offers some interesting correlations and points for discussion, I will leave that for another time.

One our missions here at the Chamber is to foster civic engagement. As such, we want to make sure we do our part to increase our turnout. First and foremost, there is still time to register to vote. In fact, you have until Oct. 7 to do so. You can go to indianavoters.in.gov to check your voter registration status or to register to vote online. If you'd like to vote in person or have any questions, you can contact the Monroe County Election Central at 812-349-2690. Second, Monroe County Election Central has released its list of polling locations. Those can be viewed using this link. Additionally, we have set up an election page on our website to help provide information on candidates for Monroe County-specific races. Finally, we're hosting our Elect Connect event on October 9th at the John Waldron Arts Center from 3:00-4:30pm where we'll hear from candidates vying for the County Commissioner District 3 and State Representative District 62 seats. To register for this free community event, use this link.

We look forward to seeing Monroe County's increased turnout in this election.

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