Dubois County Clerk Says Your Mail-In Ballots Are Safe This Election, Early Voting Begins Tuesday

BY: DAVID SHEPHERD, NEWS DIRECTOR

JASPER -- Early voting begins Tuesday in Dubois County and county clerk Amy Kippenbrock wants you to be ready to cast your ballot.

"Make sure you are registered so you're in the system when you go to check in," Kippenbrock said during an interview this week Live at 7:05 with our Charlie Wayne.  "We have a deadline coming up on Monday, October 5th.  [That is] the deadline for your registration."

If you're not registered yet, or if you need to change information like your name or address, Kippenbrock says there are a couple of options.  "Indianavoters.com is a very handy website," she explains.  "You can update or get registered [there].  If you'd rather stop by the Clerk's Office and fill out a form, you can do that too."

Kippenbrock says many people are voting by mail due to fears over the COVID-19 pandemic.  But, she warns, don’t get confused by the vocabulary.

"Absentee simply means to vote early.  Whether it's by mail or in-person.  They're both considered absentee.  We've had a lot of conversations about absentee by mail lately, and that's really popular this year [due to the pandemic]."

And while some politicians, like President Trump, are warning about widespread voter fraud with mail-in ballots, Kippenbrock says your vote will be safe.

"[Voting by mail is a] two step process.  The application is telling us who you are and it's giving us your signature.  You have a voter registration that has your signature on file.  Then, when you fill out your [mail-in] ballot, you're putting your signature on that envelope as well.  Those pieces are very critical when it comes time to count your ballot.  Those signatures are compared."

Kippenbrock went on to say, "It's not a process that's new. It's something Indiana has been doing for quite some time."

CLICK HERE to see who is on the ballot.

If you're voting early in-person, you can vote at any location at any of the times below.  If you are voting on Election Day, you must vote at your assigned precinct.