Challenger Melissa Tuttle, a Republican, defeated longtime incumbent Ron Vincent to win a term as Clark County Clerk of Courts. Nancy Pence, a Republican incumbent, also retained her seat as Clark County recorder, defeating Democratic challenger Janet Oberlin.
Deborah Burchett, a Republican, beat longtime Democratic incumbent Gene Kelly in the race for Clark County sheriff.
Republican state Reps. Kyle Koehler and Bill Dean and Republican state Sen. Kyle Koehler were also re-elected.
Issue 2, the city of Springfield’s proposed 0.4-percent income tax increase, was narrowly defeated, but a recount is possible after about 1,500 provisional and absentee ballots are counted later this month.
UPDATE @ 8:45 p.m.: Republican Donald Trump won Clark County in the presidential race with 56 percent of the vote, beating Democrat Hillary Clinton, according to final, unofficial voting results.
Trump also won Champaign County with 69 percent of the vote.
>> MORE: Clark County election results
Locally, Republican Melanie Flax Wilt beat Democrat Roger Tackett for one of the Clark County Commission seats, while incumbent Republican Lowell McGlothin beat Democrat David Herier in the other race.
In other races, challenger Deb Burchett beat incumbent Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly in a tight race, while challenger Melissa Tuttle beat incumbent Clark County Clerk of Courts Ron Vincent.
Republican state representatives Kyle Koehler and Bill Dean and Republican state senator Kyle Koehler were also re-elected.
Issue 2, the city of Springfield’s proposed .4-percent income tax increase, was narrowly defeated, but a recount is possible after about 1,500 provisional and absentee ballots are counted later this month.
Champaign County voters re-elected incumbent Dave Faulkner to serve as Champaign County commissioner. Faulkner has served one term as commissioner and won by a large margin.
UPDATE @ 7:30 p.m.: Polls have closed in Clark and Champaign counties. Any voters in line before then will be allowed to vote.
No problems were reported at polling locations in Clark County, Clark County Board of Elections Director Jason Baker said. He was unaware of any polling locations that still had people waiting to vote, he said.
UPDATE @ 4:45 p.m.: Clark County has had about 30,000 voters at the polls today as of 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Board of Elections Director Jason Baker said.
The polls will close at 7:30 p.m. today.
Baker was unaware of any problems at any polling locations in Clark County, he said.
“Everything has been going relatively smoothly,” Baker said.
In Champaign County, election officials reported no major problems at polling locations Tuesday afternoon.
Poll workers reported only minor issues, but registered voters were all able to cast a ballot, said Meredith Bodey, director of the Champaign County Board of Elections. A handful of residents complained about voting machines not working but those voters were still able to cast ballots, she said.
The longest voters reported having to wait in line was about 30 minutes, Bodey said.
“The factories let off work so we’re busy again,” she said this afternoon. “We’re getting through them pretty quickly.”
Bodey did not have up-to-date information about how many voters had gone to the polls throughout the day.
UPDATE @ 11:30 a.m.: No problems have been reported this morning in Clark County, according to the Clark County Board of Elections Director Jason Baker.
He estimated about 15,000 voters had gone to the polls already.
“Everything’s going smoothly right now,” Baker said.
He visited about six polling locations this morning and said most had no lines as workers checked in voters quickly. Trinity Missionary Baptist Church on East National Road had a line but Baker said it wasn’t very long.
Right now the board was working to get extra pencils out to polling stations to fill out Clark County’s paper ballots. No stations were running out, Baker said, but some wanted more just to be safe.
FIRST POST: The polls are now open in Clark and Champaign counties today as thousands are expected to cast their ballots for president and several state and local races.
If you encounter any problems today while voting, go to springfieldnewssun.com/ballotwatch/ or call 937-259-2237.
>>READ MORE: High turnout expected at Clark, Champaign polls
The polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. today.
High voter turnout is expected, with elections officials predicting about 70 percent turnout in both Clark and Champaign counties.
In addition to the heated presidential race, Clark County voters will also cast ballots for a county sheriff's race, two Clark County commission seats, an income tax increase in Springfield, a school bond issue in Clark-Shawnee Local Schools and more.
In Champaign County, voters will see a county commission race, historical society levy and more on their ballots.
About the Author