Records of all general elections are filed in the office of the Clerk of Circuit Court for preservation as provided by statute.   Records held in the Vanderburgh County Archives document the rights of citizens, the actions of the government, and important events in the lives of people. Estate files and wills from the Probate Court division can also document family history and provide links to ancestors. 

Most records are able to be viewed by submitting a public records request.

Please review and complete the request process to view the archived documents.  

A list of previous election results can be found Here.

ELECTION OF TRUSTEE CERTIFICATES, 1925-1950s

ELECTION REGISTERS, PRIMARY AND GENERAL, 1966-1983; 1990;

Records of primary and general elections filed in the office of the clerk of circuit court for preservation as provided by statute. Similar in content to the election record books.

ELECTION BOARD MINUTES OR MINUTE BOOKS, 1976; 1990-1991; 1994-1995; 1995; 2003-present**

The primary job of the county election board is to administer the election process within the county. The county election board supervises and oversees the conduct of the General Election year primaries, the General Election in November, city primaries and elections, and in some cases, town primaries and elections. The county election board may also be called upon to conduct a special election in accordance with state law. In conducting an election, the county election board is responsible for preparing and distributing ballots or ballot pages depending on the county’s type of voting system. The circuit court clerk may exercise these powers and duties with assistance of the appointed members of the county election board.

The County clerk serves as secretary of the election board must maintain minutes of all meetings, including the “yes” and “no” votes of each member on all questions.  The minutes also indicate which members are present and if the board provides a sign-in sheet, which members of the public were present or gave comments or testimony before the board.

ELECTION RECORD BOOKS, 1890-1968; 1978; 1984-1992;

Sample ballots and record of number of ballots printed, distributed and returned for general elections, showing date of elections, names of candidates, election commissioners and inspector of precinct board, number of ballots printed, distributed, and returned, and precinct numbers.

EXPENSE REPORT BOOK, undated

MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS, 1819-1894, 3 boxes

Contents include certificates of elections, tally papers, elections results, election returns, affidavits, resignations of office, oath of elections clerk and inspectors, certificates of inspectors of elections, election notices, poll books of various precincts and townships, notices of intention of candidacy, lists of democratic clerks and judges, nominations to Democratic conventions, absentee voters from 1892

VANDERBURGH COUNTY ELECTION BOARD CANDIDATES REGISTRATION COMPLIANCE DOCKET, 1976-1988,

*List of records may not be complete.

** 2003-present are located in Clerk’s office as of 12/1/2015

NATURALIZATION RECORDS 
The act and procedure of becoming a citizen of a country is called naturalization. In the U.S., naturalization is a judicial procedure that flows from Congressional legislation. The first naturalization act was passed in 1790. 

Naturalization records were recorded in Vanderburgh County Courts until this process was turned over to federal jurisdiction in 1929. 

Blank form books providing more standardization to the process began to appear in the 1850s. Before that time all naturalization documents were just individual pieces of paper and orders in court. Before 1857, naturalization records in Vanderburgh County mainly consist of order from judges in Order Books of whatever Court the person appeared before. These orders usually do not contain any additional information. They just recognize the oath of citizenship or the declaration of intent to become a citizen. 

Starting in 1906 the forms become more detailed and may contain additional information on the person seeking citizenship such as occupation, port of entry, etc. Information on spouses and children are more likely to be found in the later set of records. 

Archive staff is in the process of creating a spreadsheet of all the naturalization records in blank form books that we have starting in 1857. As they are processed, that information will be added below to assist you with requests for naturalization records. 

1857 Naturalization Records Index

1906 Naturalization Records Index

Order Books: 1941-1986

Delayed Birth Registration Order Books: 1941-1986

On February 19, 1941, the Indiana General Assembly passed House Bill 47 (Acts of 1941, Chapter 24), which is still in effect.

“An act authorizing the circuit courts of the state to hear and determine the time and place of birth of a person on petition.”

Delayed Birth Registrations provide information on births that were not originally recorded.

If the court granted the petition , they would issue a decree that had the legal authority of a birth record.

Though file dates start in 1941, they refer to earlier births, even dating to the 1850s and 1860s.

Delayed registrations are filed with the Clerk’s Office in the county were the applicant was living at the time of registration, even if they were born in another county or even another country.