Johnson County’s election equipment is ready for the November election, though there were some hiccups during a public test Thursday.
County election officials and a representative from MicroVote, the county’s election equipment vendor, held a public test of voting equipment during a Johnson County Election Board meeting in the basement of the county courthouse. For the test, officials set up six voting machines with attached voter-verified paper audit trail systems, or VVPATs, and an absentee ballot reader. All of the equipment passed the tests, said Trena McLaughlin, county clerk.
The six machines represent a portion of the 110 total machines that will be for the election. Of the six voting machines with VVPATs tested Thursday, five are assigned for use on Election Day. The remaining machine is assigned to be used at an early voting center.
As part of the test, Kevin Service, the Democratic member of the election board, and Doug Lechner, a Republican member of the election board, cast sample ballots on an equal number of machines to make sure there were no errors.
The test was advertised and the public was welcome to attend, but no one did.
The test used ballots from several of the county’s precincts, including those in Franklin, Greenwood, New Whiteland and Bargersville. It took each tester about 3-to-4 minutes to submit a ballot, which is about how long it should take someone to vote once they reach the booth during early voting or on Election Day.
The roughly 2.5-hour test mostly went off without any issues, though a machine was retested.
To test each machine, members of the election board cast ballots on the machine and then marked on a paper sample ballot what they voted. Once all the machines are tested, officials go over the VVPAT records and compare them with what was marked on the paper sample ballots to ensure that the votes are accurately counted. VVPATs are designed to show voters who they voted on paper before sending in their vote on the machine, essentially a voter’s “double-check” to make sure their vote is counted accurately.
As officials were verifying that the votes cast on machine, they discovered that the VVPAT’s receipt showed more votes than what the paper sample ballot did. This was later determined to be a result of human error on the paper sample ballot, McLaughlin said.
“On the tape, it did show there were four different voters (that) voted on that machine,” McLaughlin said. “But just on the actual sample ballot, he didn’t mark every time that he voted and that’s how we verify.”
To be safe, officials completely reset the voting machine and re-conducted the test. This time the receipts matched what was marked on the sample ballot, she said.
The only other issue reported during the test was an issue with a VVPAT for another machine, which did not print out the vote record as expected. The printer was replaced and then worked as intended.
Results from the public test will be sent to the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office for certification.
Voters going to polls for early voting and Election Day will notice a slight change to the voting machines, which are now in new, larger cases. These cases, which contain both the voting machines and the VVPATs, make it quicker and easier for poll workers to set them up at vote centers, McLaughlin said.
“This just makes it a lot quicker and nicer, more convenient,” she said.
The new cases also make it easier for voters to see what the VVPAT recorded as their vote. Previously, the VVPATs stood straight up next to the vote machine but now the VVPAT is laid at the same angle as the voting machine, McLaughlin said.
“(With) the old cases, you had to stand them up,” she said. “If you were tall especially, you had a hard time seeing your vote history on that VVPAT so this makes it a lot easier.”
The new cases were paid for by the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office at no cost to the county, McLaughlin said.
Thursday also marked the first day county officials began sending out absentee ballots to those who have applied for one so far, McLaughlin said. Voters have a little more than a month to request mail-in ballots, as completed applications are due by 11:59 p.m. Oct. 26.
In-person early voting is set to begin on Oct. 23. The Johnson County Courthouse will be open for voting starting that week, with four other vote centers scattered throughout the county open the two weekends and the week leading up to Election Day. For that week, the satellite centers will close at 6 p.m.
Three retirement community satellite vote centers, located at Greenwood Village South, Otterbein SeniorLife and Compass Park, will be open for four hours on two separate days.
Fifteen vote centers will be open on Nov. 7 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Only Johnson County residents who live within municipal boundaries can vote this year, as there are no federal, state or county seats up for grabs. Candidates are running for office in Franklin, Greenwood, Bargersville, Edinburgh, Whiteland, New Whiteland, Trafalgar and Prince’s Lakes for positions including mayor, city and town council, clerk-treasurer, city judge and city clerk.
Contested races include the Greenwood City Council, and town councils in Bargersville, Edinburgh, Whiteland, and Prince’s Lakes.
Residents can go online to register at indianavoters.in.gov by 11:59 p.m. Oct. 10 to be eligible to vote in the May election. They can also register in person at the county’s voter registration office, located in the courthouse, by 4:30 p.m. Oct. 10, the same time mail-in applications must arrive at the courthouse. Mail-in applications can be sent to the Johnson County Voter Registration Office, 5 E. Jefferson St., Franklin.
Residents can also register to vote at any license branch but should check with the voter registration office to make sure their application went through.
EARLY VOTING IN JOHNSON COUNTY
Here is a look at when and where you can cast your ballot early. Early voting runs from Oct. 23 to Nov. 6:
Johnson County Courthouse, 5 E. Jefferson St., Franklin
- 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 23-27 and Oct. 30-Nov. 3
- 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 (Saturdays)
- 8:30 a.m. to noon Nov. 6
White River Public Library, 1664 Library Blvd., Greenwood
- 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 (Saturdays)
- 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 1-3
Greenwood Public Library (East door), 310 S. Meridian St., Greenwood
- 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 (Saturdays)
- 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 1-3
Trafalgar Public Library, 424 S. Tower St., Trafalgar
- 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 (Saturdays)
- 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 1-3
John R. Drybread Community Center, 100 E. Main Cross St., Edinburgh
- 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 28 and Nov. 4 (Saturdays)
- 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 1-3
Greenwood Village South Retirement Community, 295 Village Lane, Greenwood
- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 30
Otterbein SeniorLife Community, 1070 W. Jefferson St., Franklin
- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 31
Compass Park/Indiana Masonic Home (Events Hall), 690 State St., Franklin
- 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 1
Source: Johnson County Voter Registration
ELECTION DAY VOTE CENTERS
Here is a look at approved Johnson County Election Day vote centers. Election Day is Nov. 7, and voters can vote from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.:
» Mt. Auburn Church, 3100 W. Stones Crossing Road, Greenwood
» White River Public Library, 1664 Library Boulevard, Greenwood
» Community Church of Greenwood (Main Entrance Foyer), 1477 W. Main St, Greenwood
» Greenwood Christian Church, 2045 Averitt Road, Greenwood
» Greenwood Public Library (East Door), 310 S. Meridian St., Greenwood
» Greenwood Bible Baptist Church, 1461 Sheek Road, Greenwood
» Grace Assembly of God, 6822 N. U.S. Highway 31, New Whiteland
» Clark Pleasant Public Library, 350 Clearwater Boulevard, Whiteland
» Bargersville Town Hall, 24 N. Main St., Bargersville
» Franklin Community Center, 396 Branigin Boulevard/State St., Franklin
» Grace United Methodist Church, 1300 E. Adams Drive, 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
» Scott Hall, Johnson County Fairgrounds, 250 Fairground St., Franklin
Source: Johnson County Voter Registration
