Allen County’s primary election returns came in a bit slower than usual Tuesday night. This year marked the county’s first election with vote centers instead of precincts.
Voter turnout totals for Allen County’s primary election were at 14.5 percent. In 2022, that number was at 12.2 percent.
Tuesday night, the Allen County Election Board handled 39,022 ballots coming from 597 machines at 53 vote centers.
Final vote tallies did not come out until after noon today/Wednesday.
In a written statement addressing the unusual delay in providing final totals, Allen County Director of Elections Amy Scrogham says “this election was a learning process for utilizing Vote Centers in Allen County. Overall, we will always place accuracy over speed when distributing results.”
County officials said they will be working with the technology vendor to increase capacity to get results out faster. They added that voters praised the convenience and speed of the multiple voting locations.
Recounts possible
Unofficial final totals showed extremely tight races on the Republican side of the ballot.
A number of high-profile races in Allen County were decided by just a few votes, and results shifted back and forth overnight between the candidates.
According to the unofficial results, the race for the Republican nomination in Indiana’s Senate District 15 between incumbent Liz Brown and Darren Vogt was decided by a mere 15 votes.
In a press release sent about an hour after the final election tally was released, Brown celebrated her victory.
Vogt told the Capital Chronicle that the race is effectively tied and did not concede.
If the results hold, Brown will face Democrat Julie McGill in the November election. McGill defeated primary challenger Chloe Andis with 57 percent of the vote.
In the contest for the Republican nomination for the Commissioners Second District, Ewelina Connolly was ahead of Paul Moss until the final results were released.
In that update from the Allen County Election Board, Moss pulled ahead by 67 votes.
In a written statement from the campaign, Connolly cited the close margin and the county’s technical issues in counting the votes and said there may be a need for a recount.
The Democratic nominee in the 3rd District Commissioners' race is Jorge Fernandez. He was unopposed in the primary.
There were some upsets on the Allen County Council, with incumbent Republicans Kyle Kerley losing to Mike Clendenen in the first district. Paul Lagemann lost to Eric “ET” Tippmann in the third.
On the Democratic side of the ticket, Sharon Wight handily defeated challenger Chad Clevidence for the State Representative District 81 nomination.
She will face Republican incumbent Martin Carbaugh, who easily outpaced challenger David Mervar.
