Ellsworth visits to promote early voting in Ind.

U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-8th, the Democratic candidate for Indiana’s U.S. Senate race against Republican Dan Coats, made an appearance Tuesday at an IU student rally to promote early voting.

IU students and Bloomington residents gathered at the Sample Gates carrying “Ellsworth For Senate” signs and then marched to the Curry Building, where early voting took place.

Ellsworth has been the 8th Congressional District U.S. Representative since 2007.

“The reason I’m on this march is really to show enthusiasm for the Democratic party,” Bloomington resident James Dorr said. “On the TV news, they keep talking about how the enthusiasm is on the Republican side, and so I think it would be a good idea to have a few warm bodies up here for the opposition.”

Senior Jennifer Pike, president of Students for Baron Hill, combined efforts with the Students for Brad Ellsworth to encourage early voting.

“Things can always come up on Tuesday in the middle of the week right around midterm time, that it can be very hard to get to the polls especially if you have a job or classes or both,” Pike said referring to Election Day. “So we think it’s best to vote early to make sure that your vote gets in and gets counted.”

Ellsworth said he voted Tuesday in Vanderburgh County, and he encouraged other voters to cast their ballots early as well.

“It’s a beautiful day today, and we don’t know on Nov. 2 — it could be raining; it could be sleeting; there could be ice in the road; they might hold you in class longer than you thought,” Ellsworth said. “There’s probably going to be long lines. There’s a lot of voter excitement on both sides. So let’s get it out of the way, and we can move on, and then we can work on the rest of the people that couldn’t make it to the rally today.”

Ellsworth said students make a significant contribution to Bloomington despite the Monroe County Election Board’s decision to reject satellite voting in Monroe County for this year’s election. 

“Are you kidding me? Ask them down at Nick’s if you make a contribution,” Ellsworth said. “I bet they would say something different.”