'If you don't vote, don't complain,' Indiana's voter registration deadline is tonight

 

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind.-- In order to cast your ballot in the November general election, you must be a registered voter. The deadline to register in Indiana is 11:59 p.m. Monday night.

Then, the non-partisan process of early voting will kick off Tuesday.

ABC57's Annie Kate spoke to voters and election clerks, many of whom had a similar message:

"If you didn't vote, you can't complain," said Election Clerk Colleen Cooney.

"Vote, otherwise, don't complain," said voter Eliezer Eli.

"If you don't vote, don't complain about the result of the election," said election clerk Joe Mulligan.

Monday, Oct. 7 is the last day to register to vote in the State of Indiana, including registering under a new name or address, ahead of the Nov. 5 General Election.

"You have a choice. And I think this year, we have a very important choice, it's a very critical time," Eli said.

"I just know how important this election particularly is, and just wanted to make sure that I could maybe lend a hand and get people out," Cooney said.

Registering to vote ensures your participation in picking the next president of the United States, but there's much more than that. All 435 house of representatives' seats are on the ballot, plus 33 of 100 senate seats,11 governor seats, including Indiana, and so much more at the state and especially local levels.

"Local, elected officials are the ones that spend your money and make your laws," said Amy Rolfes (R), St. Joseph County Clerk.

Rolfes said this year's ballot is unusually long; that's how many offices are up for election.

"Our actual ballot, if you are voting early, is 20 screens long," Rolfes said. "So, we are voting for almost all the offices, we are voting a lot for the local candidates as well, judge retentions and things like that."

That is, if you're registered to vote, before midnight Monday.

One simple way to check is to text the word "VOTER" to 26797. Doing so will provide a link to iamavoter.com, allowing people to check their registration status after imputing information like name, date of birth, and address.

St. Joseph County election clerks Joe Mulligan and Colleen Cooney are on opposite sides of the aisle, one democrat and one republican, but their priority is our greatest civic duty.

"Your vote does count, and you have this right, so exercise it," Cooney said.

"Living in a democracy, we have a responsibility, and if you don't take it, we have no one to blame but ourselves," Mulligan said.

Out of 270,000 St. Joseph County residents, there are about 190,000 registered voters, Rolfes said, and she expects roughly 140,000 voters to show up on or before Nov. 5.

"People saying the elections are rigged and this and that and the other thing. When anyone says that to me, my response is always, 'come work the election and you will see all the safeguards that we have.' And in St. Joseph County, being in Indiana, our code is very strong," Rolfes said. "Bipartisanship all the way."

In fact, she said they are looking for more poll workers, and those interested should reach out to their respective party at the county level.

Indiana early voting begins Tuesday, Oct. 8.

St. Joseph County hours and locations can be found here.