The public will likely know the winners in Tuesday’s primary races sooner than in the past, and they will have an idea about who’s taking the lead in city and town races even earlier.
The new voting equipment, which the county decided to rent from Indianapolis-based MicroVote this year after its old equipment from a different vendor failed voters in the last election, is faster and more modern.
This year, election officials plan to share election results as they get them instead of waiting until all polling sites come in to total and release information, county clerk Trena McLaughlin said. In fact, she is predicting that all results will be available by 8 p.m. Tuesday — two hours after the polls are scheduled to close.
"That’s my prayer," she said.
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During the last election, which experienced significant technical glitches and slow downs, some results didn’t trickle in until 11 p.m. or later.
That won’t happen this year, McLaughlin said. For one, because this is a much smaller election; fewer than 2,000 people have voted, and less than 10 percent of registered voters are expected to vote. But also due to the new equipment.
Pollworkers will still have to return tally cards and printed tally sheets to the courthouse, where election officials will then read the cards before releasing those numbers. They don’t expect any hold ups this year at the vote centers. The new machines tally and print the results much faster, McLaughlin said. Before, it could take more than an hour to simply print the results, she said.
The county will release early voting numbers at 6 p.m., and updated totals as each sites’ pollworkers return to the courthouse with those results.
McLaughlin’s goal is to release results as quickly as possible, she said.
"I am still working with the project manager (MicroVote) to figure that part out, but it is my understanding that we can do it as many times as we want," McLaughlin said. "We will definitely put it out there as many times as we can."
That means results will be released after each vote center’s results come in unless multiple come in at once, she said.
"In that case, it would be something like 5 of 18 reporting," McLaughlin said.
On Election Day, 18 vote centers will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. across the county.
McLaughlin has been on a mission since she took office in January to find better — better equipment and software, better pay for poll workers and better voting sites.
As a member of the Election Board, she pushed for multiple changes, first and foremost being to get rid of the equipment that failed voters and thrust Johnson County into the spotlight during the last election.
Tuesday will be the county’s first test of the new vendor and its equipment, as it is the first Election Day since then, and McLaughlin is watching everything closely, she said.
So far, in early voting and all of the state’s required tests, the county has had no issues with the vendor or equipment, and voters and pollworkers seem to love it, she said.
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You can vote early today.
When: 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. today
Where: Johnson County Courthouse, 5 E. Jefferson St., Franklin
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Get the latest vote totals and see what is happening at vote centers all day Tuesday on the Daily Journal’s website at dailyjournal.net.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest.
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Let us know how voting went for you. Long line? Didn’t have the correct ID? Equipment failure?
Call us at 317-736-2770 or email us at [email protected].
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