Election results finalized by Porter County Board of Supervisors; some primary hiccups reported

Further searches at the Porter County Elections and Registration Office failed to turn up more space Friday, when the election board met there for the first time to certify the May primary.

The four-member board, along with Porter County Clerk Jessica Bailey and election staff, squeezed into the small room thinking the move hadn’t earned any room on the floor. during this quarter.

The office moved earlier this year from the basement of the county administration building in downtown Valparaiso to 155 Franklin St., a block away.

The board evaluated mail-in ballots that needed further review for various reasons, such as voters forgetting to sign or had another problem, and also analyzed provisional ballots filled out on Election Day. “It’s a way for them to vote when they’re not in the system,” Bailey said of provisional ballots.

“Just to explain further Sundae, these are all valid ballots, but for some reason the (ballot tabulation machine) wouldn’t read them? » clarified the vice president of the elections board, Ethan Lowe, with the director of elections and registration, Sundae Schoon. She said the machine couldn’t read four ballots because the ink was smeared.

“Always something,” joked Porter County Republican Chairman Michael Simpson, who was there to observe. “Even with sophisticated technology, there’s always something.”

“Out of thousands of votes, it’s not bad,” Lowe responded.

They chatted while Schoon and his assistant put the tabulators through their paces. Simpson said he hopes the November general election will see higher turnout than the county’s 66.23% in the 2020 general election.

“I would like to see it bigger than that. If it went backwards, it would be depressing,” he said. “The panels don’t vote. I have to remind people of that.

According to election results posted on the county’s website, the primary attracted just under 14 percent of the county’s voters.

After certifying the election with no change to the preliminary results, the board adjourned briefly so it could go to the administration building for its regular business.

Bailey praised the efforts of three other county departments to help keep Election Day running smoothly: the Highway Department for moving voting machines and other equipment from storage to the 44 voting centers and back; the Facilities Department to have the new elections and registration office and equipment storage ready in time for the election; and the IT department for creating a new email account so that ballots could be accepted from foreign military personnel when the county’s email went down.

She also praised retired Deputy Clerk Sharon Slusher for her 17 years of service. “She leaves some big problems to fill,” Bailey said.

“It is selfless and appreciated work, which often goes unnoticed,” added the chairman of the electoral committee, Paul Rausch.

The city of Porter was also praised for helping overcome a power outage at the Hawthorne Park voting center. “In particular, the loss of power is an issue that I don’t think we’ve dealt with since I’ve been here,” Lowe said, adding that everyone handled it well, including election volunteers.

The bipartisan board, which takes an active role at the end of election night to ensure that all ballot deliveries from the 44 voting centers are correct, reported on some challenges of the election.

This included a voter leaving a polling place with a ballot in hand and poll workers forgetting to sign tally sheets before leaving for the night.

“You’re the boss. Don’t let anyone go until all the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed,'” board member Jeff Chidester said of the advice he would give to electoral judges.

“It was the same problem, it seemed, over and over again,” Lowe added.

“I think our message just has to be, ‘We’ll do better,’ because without this army of election workers, nothing will get done,” Rausch said.

Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.