<p>One year has passed since a massive technical glitch on Election Day left some Johnson County voters waiting in lines for hours and others not voting at all, and county election officials are confident that won’t happen again.</p>
<p>It was a whirlwind year for county election officials, poll workers and voters, who had to learn entirely new equipment and to trust the county’s election system again.</p>
<p>In the wake of last November’s election, which county election officials apologized profusely for, the Secretary of State’s Office launched an investigation into the county’s former vendor and its illegal workaround on Election Day that was used in an effort to get voters through the lines.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
<p>The county has since fired that long-time vendor after much debate and pleas from the company not to.</p>
<p>County officials recently decided to buy all new equipment that it will use for the next few years, locking in the same two vendors it is renting from this year, Indianapolis-based MicroVote and e-pollbook vendor KNOWiNK.</p>
<p>“A lot of changes have been made,” McLaughlin said, noting that MicroVote is used in 52 Indiana counties, which speaks to the company’s reputation.</p>
<p>“I don’t foresee any problems tomorrow,” she said Monday.</p>
<p>Voters who did not vote in the May primary election will use the county’s new equipment for the first time today. Those who did vote during the primary will not experience any changes.</p>
<p>The new equipment, which the county rented from those two vendors for this year’s elections, was a hit during the primary, which saw a higher-than-usual turnout for a municipal election. City and town elections typically draw fewer voters to the ballot box than midterm and presidential elections.</p>
<p>Voters who haven’t already cast ballots will choose among Republican, Democrat and Independent candidates who they want to lead their cities and towns as mayors, clerk-treasurers or members of their city and town councils. The candidate pool was narrowed during the May primary election, when Republicans selected their top picks to advance to the upcoming general election.</p>
<p>Most voters in the county have decisions to make, except those who live in New Whiteland, which has no contested races, and some who live in unincorporated Johnson County.</p>
<p>In White River Township, voters who would not normally vote in a municipal election will be asked to head to the polls to decide whether to approve a Center Grove schools referendum.</p>
<p>The referendum is attracting more voters than usual, and county election officials got ahead of it early on, opening an additional Election Day vote center in White River Township, and making sure sites on the northside of the county are well staffed and well equipped to handle the expected turnout.</p>
<p>For example, the White River Public Library and Mount Auburn United Methodist Church each have 12 voting machines. Community Church of Greenwood has 15. Other vote centers in the area include Mount Pleasant Christian Church and the White River Township Trustee’s Office.</p>
<p>McLaughlin is hoping for a 10 percent total turnout, but predicted 8 percent. More than 800 voters cast ballots on Saturday, and by noon on Monday, when early voting ended, 4,089 people had voted early, a more than 3 percent turnout.</p>
<p>In the last municipal election in 2015, about 9.7 percent of registered voters cast ballots, but there were no public questions. Center Grove’s is the county’s third referendum in a year.</p>
