Do early voting trends favor Republicans?

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - It's one week from Election day but more than 200,000 Indiana voters have already cast their ballots. One of the hot spots for early voting is Hamilton County. It's a Republican stronghold and that could be good sign for GOP candidates.

There are lines outside the polling place at the Hamilton County Courthouse. Some voters have waited over an hour for the opportunity to fill out a ballot and, for some, the motivation is political. "Beat the rush and then use the remaining time before the election to maybe encourage others to vote," is Andy Nathan's answer to the question: Why vote early?

The turnout here comes as a surprise for election administrator Kathy Richardson who says Hamilton County is 3,000 voters ahead of the early voting pace from 2008, and it's likely that most of them are Republicans.

"And I think people are tired of the media ads and I think they're ready for it to be over," says Richardson, "and I think in their mind they think, once I've cast my vote I don't have to listen to it anymore."

Meanwhile, in Fishers, the Democrats operate a phone bank urging their supporters to turn out early, too. There, you will find optimism because of reports that Republicans are not voting straight party tickets. "People are coming in, they're asking our poll workers working the early voting on how to split their ticket," says Hamilton County Democratic Chairman Keith Clock.

Come next week, the big election story in Hamilton County and around the state will be the outcome in the race for U.S. Senate. It's a Republican state and shaping up to be a Republican year, so Democrat Joe Donnelly's hopes depend on support from the Lugar Republicans.

It's a circumstance that has people in both parties asking if those are the folks splitting their votes in Hamilton County.