INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Latest on the midterm election in Indiana (all times local):
4:10 p.m.
The direction President Donald Trump is leading the country in was dominant issue on voters’ minds as they cast ballots in the Indiana Senate race.
The neck-and-neck contest between Republican businessman Mike Braun and Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly is one of the most closely watched in the country. It will help determine the balance of power in the Senate, where the GOP currently has a slim 51-49 majority.
Mark Allan, a 50-year-old truck driver from Indianapolis, says he doesn’t have anything against Donnelly, but he voted for Braun because he wants to support the president’s agenda — particularly when it comes to immigration and foreign policy. He thinks keeping the Senate in GOP hands is the best way to do that.
Janet Pfadt, a 68-year-old retiree from Indianapolis, said she voted for Donnelly because she’s troubled by Trump’s approach toward immigration and his record on the environment. She believes Republicans, including Braun, are beholden to the president.
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3:45 p.m.
Officials in a central Indiana county say lines are moving after they’ve resolved computer troubles that delayed checking in voters and snarled voting for hours.
Johnson County election board chairman Phil Barrow says officials won’t seek an extension of voting hours despite Tuesday’s delays. He says the board doesn’t feel an extension beyond the normal 6 p.m. closing time is needed because things were running smoothly Tuesday afternoon even though some people left polling sites without voting.
County Clerk Sue Anne Misiniec blamed the trouble on its election vendor’s server not being able to handle the traffic as voting ramped up. That left voting machines standing unused in the heavily Republican county just south of Indianapolis.
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2:40 p.m.
A judge has ordered 12 polling places in a northwestern Indiana county stay open late after voting didn’t start as scheduled.
The (Northwest Indiana) Times reports a Porter County judge ordered the polling sites stay open up to 2-1/2 hours later than the scheduled 6 p.m. CST closing time.
Porter County Clerk Karen Martin says some sites opened as much as 1-1/2 hours late. The Republican clerk blamed that on some expected poll workers quitting, some workers not picking up election supplies and sites not being open when poll workers arrived.
Democratic Portage City Councilman Collin Czilli says several voting sites didn’t open on time in that city and called the situation “unacceptable.”
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2 p.m.
Voting was snarled for hours in a central Indiana county because of what election officials say were computer problems checking in voters.
Johnson County Clerk Sue Anne Misiniec says its election vendor’s server wasn’t able to handle the traffic as voting ramped up on Tuesday, leaving the voting machines standing unused.
News outlets reported voters stopped in lines for more than two hours before midday in the heavily Republican county just south of Indianapolis.
Indiana secretary of state office spokeswoman Valerie Warycha says no similar problems had been reported from the state’s other 91 counties.
Misiniec says she understands the frustrations of voters faced with long lines.
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6:15 a.m.
Polls are now open in most of Indiana where Democrats face stiff challenges in the midterm election as they try to hold a U.S. Senate seat and cut into the Republican Party’s grip on most congressional seats.
Sen Joe Donnelly is locked in a tough fight with GOP businessman Mike Braun. The race saw two campaign appearances for Braun by President Donald Trump and one for Donnelly by former President Barack Obama in the waning days.
Indiana’s nine congressional seats are up for grabs, but only two GOP seats there are considered in play.
Three other statewide races — those for secretary of state, state auditor and treasurer — are also on the ballot. Hoosier voters will also decide whether Indiana’s constitution should be amended for the second time in two years.
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9:05 p.m.
Indiana Democrats face stiff challenges in the midterm election as they try to hold a U.S. Senate seat and cut into the Republican Party’s grip on most congressional seats.
Sen Joe Donnelly is locked in a tough fight with GOP businessman Mike Braun. The race saw two campaign appearances for Braun by President Donald Trump and one for Donnelly by former President Barack Obama in the waning days.
Indiana’s nine congressional seats are up for grabs, but only two GOP seats there are considered in play.
Three other statewide races — those for secretary of state, state auditor and treasurer — are also on the ballot. Hoosier voters will also decide whether Indiana’s constitution should be amended for the second time in two years.
