The Indiana State Police have arrested a Madison County precinct committeeman for ballot theft.
The incident leading to the arrest occurred during a public test of the ballot card voting system at the Madison County Government Center on Oct. 3.
During the test, which involved four voting machines and 136 actual candidate ballots marked for testing, officials discovered that two ballots were missing after an initial tabulation. A subsequent investigation revealed videos of Precinct Committeeman Larry Savage folding and placing both ballots in his pocket after receiving instructions about the validity of the test ballots, according to a news release from Indiana State Police.
A judge granted a search warrant that law enforcement executed at Savage’s residence, where officers found the missing ballots in his vehicle, ISP officials say.
Tuesday at around 9:30 a.m. Savage turned himself in at the Madison County Jail after an arrest warrant was issued.
Larry Savage is charged with:
- Destroying or misplacing a Ballot, a Level 6 Felony and
- Theft, a Class A Misdemeanor.
The theft was discovered because of a Voting System Technical Oversight Program (VSTOP) audit, which is designed to test all the election equipment used in Indiana for an added layer of safety and security, ISP officials say.
The test requires manual entry of a pre-audit group of ballots marked to record a predetermined number of valid votes for each candidate and on each public question. After the testing process, the ballots used are treated as if they were used on election day. Before the ballot card voting system can be used in an election, the machines are required to be tested openly to representatives of political parties, candidates, media, and the public.
The Indiana State Police will continue to investigate these matters to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.
