Local News

Election Board approves vote centers; mail-in ballot requests up to 6,400

September 3, 2020

Voters who choose to cast ballots in person will have several opportunities on Election Day and in the weeks leading up to it.

The Johnson County Election Board on Wednesday unanimously approved vote centers and hours for voting, which kicks off Oct. 6 at the Johnson County courthouse. Early voting will run through noon Nov. 2. Election Day is Nov. 3.

The county plans to operate 21 vote centers on Election Day, more than double what was available on Election Day during the primary, and one more than on Election Day during the 2016 general election. That year, nearly 68,000 residents — or 63% of registered voters — cast ballots. Five vote centers, including the courthouse, will be open on certain days for early voting.

During the most recent primary, 10,377 voters cast ballots by mail — compared to about 1,000 or less typically — and 12,360 voted in person. County Clerk Trena McLaughlin expects absentee and in-person voting will break records in the general election, even amid the pandemic, she has said.

It is unclear how many of the county’s 108,081 registered voters will cast ballots in person. More and more local voters continue to request absentee ballots. In fact, more than six times the number of Johnson County voters who typically vote by mail have already requested absentee ballots — and we’re still two months out from the election.

As of Wednesday, nearly 6,400 Johnson County voters had requested absentee ballots, McLaughlin said. The Johnson County Clerk’s Office is receiving as many as 400 applications a day, she said.

Of those, most are requesting mail-in ballots because they are 65 or older, confined to their homes or will be out of town on Election Day, McLaughlin said. Staff at the county’s Voter Registration office are already calling voters who did not select a reason — a requirement that was waived during the postponed primary — to inform them they have to have a valid reason to do so during the general election this fall. But it has not been as big of an issue as local election officials thought it might be, she said.

In the spring, when the coronavirus pandemic first made its way to Johnson County, local election officials had been encouraging voters to vote by mail. That is no longer the case. Rather, McLaughlin encourages voters to consider their personal preferences, but know that either way, processes are in place to get their votes processed and counted in a timely manner, she said.

The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot is still seven weeks out; voters have until Oct. 22 to apply. Voter registration staff will begin mailing out ballots next week, McLaughlin said, and voters have until noon on Election Day to return them.

The county election board on Wednesday also discussed a change in state law that prevents them from throwing out any ballots due to mismatched signatures.

A federal judge ruled Indiana’s practice of rejecting absentee mail-in ballots on the basis of non-matching signatures violates two provisions in the 14th Amendment — due process and equal protection under the law.

The lawsuit, filed by Common Cause Indiana and several Indiana registered voters in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, said that Hoosiers who had their absentee ballots rejected were never notified, and as a result never had a chance to have their vote counted.

The injunction, issued by Senior U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker, permanently bars Indiana election officials from rejecting mail-in ballots with questionable signatures, unless they notify the voter. It further orders Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson to inform election officials of the policy change in time to prepare for the November general election. Voters must now be notified of a signature dispute, and they must be given a chance to uphold their vote’s integrity.

In her ruling, Barker rejected arguments from Lawson that requiring that signatures on absentee ballots be verified protects against election fraud.

Thousands lost their right to vote in 2018 and other elections because local officials determined that signatures on the ballots didn’t match those on voting registration records.

Locally, four of the more than 10,000 mail-in ballots were rejected during the primary, and only one was due to a mismatched signature, the county election board noted.

Under Indiana code, officials must ensure that a signature “substantially conforms with the signature of the voter on the voter registration record, or that any substantial difference between the signatures can be accounted for by age or disability of the voter.”

Poll workers, who are not experts in signature analysis, are not qualified to determine when changing conditions of life may account for a slightly altered signature, Barker wrote.

When a county’s two-member absentee voter board can’t decide whether a signature is valid, they refer the issue to the county election board.

When an absentee ballot application is contested and brought before the board, voters get due notice and are allowed a hearing if they so choose. Yet, there is no such practice for a contested signature in a ballot envelope. Instead, there is no correspondence with the voter.

Indiana voters are not warned beforehand that their vote could be jettisoned. Mail-in voters receive an absentee voter’s bill of rights with their ballot, but it does not mention the possibility, so most continue their daily lives under the assumption that their vote was counted.

It also fails to note that voters with rejected absentee ballots can vote in person if they present themselves before the election board by 5 p.m. on Election Day.

The county election board is aware it can no longer throw out any ballots without notifying a voter and giving them the opportunity to cast another ballot, but is unclear on the process to notify voters of an issue with their ballot. The state election commission is tasked with developing new guidelines and protocol and sharing those procedures with counties in the coming weeks.

The Johnson County Election Board is set to meet again for a public test of the voting equipment on Sept. 23.

TheStatehouseFile.com contributed to this report.

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Here is a look at approved Johnson County Election Day vote centers. Election Day is Nov. 3:

» Mt. Pleasant Christian Church, 381 N. Bluff Road, Greenwood

» White River Public Library, 1664 Library Boulevard, Greenwood

» Mt. Auburn Methodist Church, 3100 W. Stones Crossing Road, Greenwood

» Greenwood Christian Church, 2045 Averitt Road, Greenwood

» Greenwood Public Library (east door), 310 S. Meridian Street, Greenwood

» Vineyard Community Church, 512 S. Madison Ave, Greenwood

» The Nest (formerly Jonathon Byrd’s Cafeteria), 100 Byrd Way, Greenwood

» GracePoint Church, 330 Whiteland Road, New Whiteland

» Bargersville Town Hall, 24 N. Main St., Bargersville

» Bargersville Fire Station No. 1, 3991 N. State Road 135, Bargersville

» Franklin Community Center, 396 Branigan Boulevard at State Street, Franklin

» Grace United Methodist Church, 1300 E. Adams Drive, Franklin

» Johnson County Fairgrounds (Scott Hall), 250 Fairground Street, Franklin

» Trafalgar Public Library, 424 S. Tower St., Trafalgar

» Princes Lakes Town Hall, 14 E. Lakeview Drive, Nineveh

» John R. Drybread Community Center, 100 E. Main Cross St., Edinburgh

» Amity Volunteer Fire Department, 3247 S. County Road 550 E., Franklin

» Community Church of Greenwood (main entrance foyer), 1477 W. Main St, Greenwood

» Grace Assembly of God, 6822 N. US Highway 31, New Whiteland

» White River Township Trustee’s Office, 2929 S. Morgantown Rd., Greenwood

» Rocklane Christian Church, 4430 Rocklane Road, Greenwood

Source: Johnson County Voter Registration

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Here is a look at when and where you can cast your ballot early:

Johnson County Courthouse, 5 E. Jefferson St., Franklin

8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, starting Oct. 6

8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 24 and 31 (Saturdays)

8:30 a.m. to noon Nov. 2

Trafalgar Public Library, 424 S. Tower St., Trafalgar