Fewer Hoosiers voted in 2012, tally shows

Fifty-eight percent of registered Indiana voters cast ballots in the Nov. 6 general election – the same percentage as in 2004 but a decline from the 2008 vote, when 62 percent of Hoosiers voted.

Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson on Thursday released the 2012 General Election Turnout and Absentee Report that provides a county-by-county breakdown of voter turnout. A total of 2,663,367 voted, and the report also provides a breakdown by county of in-person and absentee voting.

Among the statistics:

• Turnout was highest in northeastern Indiana’s Wells County, where 72 percent of registered voters cast ballots.
• Turnout was lowest (46 percent) in southern Indiana’s Scott County.
• Statewide, 22 percent of voters cast absentee ballots. At the high end was Cass County, where a remarkable 60 percent of ballots were absentee. On the low end was Randolph County, where absentee ballots were just 5 percent of the total.
•  In Johnson County, which this year introduced voting centers, turnout was 61 percent. Among those who voted in the county, 35 percent cast absentee ballots.
• Blackford, Vanderburgh and Switzerland counties also employed voting centers for the first time, but turnout was lower, at 54, 51 and 51 percent, respectively.

In a statement, Lawson said she plans to travel the state next year and bring together local leaders to discuss the vote center model and to help counties properly plan for a 2014 or 2015 rollout.