With Tuesday’s primary five days away and Marion County early voting running well ahead of recent cycles, county election officials are reminding voters and would-be agitators that threatening or interfering with a poll worker is a felony under Indiana law.

The Marion County Election Board announced Thursday that it has expanded training for vote center inspectors to cover Indiana’s voter intimidation laws, the poll worker protection statute, electioneering rules, and voter interference laws.

Under Indiana law, threatening, intimidating, or injuring a poll worker is a Level 6 felony, according to Dan Goldblatt, director of policy and communication for the Marion County Clerk’s Office. A Level 6 felony carries a sentence of six months to two-and-a-half years and a fine of up to $10,000. Offenders convicted of a Level 6 felony serve their time in county jail rather than state prison.

“Marion County elections are safe, secure, and accurate thanks to the tireless efforts of our poll workers and election staff,” Election Board Secretary Kate Sweeney Bell said in a statement. “Year after year, our team conducts the largest elections in the state with professionalism, care, and an unwavering dedication to the voters we serve.”

All vote center inspectors are required to complete the expanded training program before Election Day, the board said.

“Our poll workers are the backbone of our electoral system,” Sweeney Bell said. “I’m proud that Indiana has taken measures that protect voters and poll workers by making it a felony to obstruct, interfere with, or injure a voter or poll worker.”

Early voting on record pace

Marion County voters are turning out for the May 5 primary at a pace that is significantly outrunning both the 2024 and 2022 primary cycles.

Through Wednesday, the 23rd day of in-person early voting, the county had recorded 9,730 in-person early votes, according to data from the Marion County Election Board. At the same point in the 2024 primary, the county had logged 5,735 votes. At the same point in 2022, the figure was 5,074.

That puts 2026 in-person early voting roughly 70 percent ahead of the 2024 pace and nearly double the 2022 pace heading into the final stretch.

Wednesday alone produced 1,678 in-person early ballots, compared with 1,060 on the equivalent day in 2024 and 1,050 in 2022.

The five busiest early voting sites through Wednesday:

  • City-County Building — 2,740 votes
  • Indianapolis Public Library, Fort Ben Branch — 1,584
  • Indianapolis Public Library, Pike Branch — 1,568
  • St. Luke’s United Methodist Church — 1,551
  • Warren Township Government Center — 957

Mail ballot activity is running behind recent cycles. The county has mailed 5,287 absentee ballots and received 2,657 back, a return rate of about 50 percent. Both the number of ballots mailed and the number returned trail the 2024 and 2022 totals at the same point in the cycle.

Combined, in-person early voting and returned mail ballots total roughly 12,400 ballots cast in Marion County before Election Day.

Voting information

In-person early voting continues through Monday, May 4. Election Day is Tuesday, May 5. Polling location and hours information is available at vote.indy.gov.