April 7 public hearing kicks off formal feedback period on vote centers for Monroe County

Monday's public hearing (April 7) on the idea of establishing vote centers for Monroe County was a focus of conversation at last Thursday's county election board meeting.

Vote centers are different from the kind of precinct-based polling locations that are currently used by Monroe County. At a precinct-based polling site, only voters from specified precincts can cast a ballot there. Vote centers are polling places where a voter who is registered in any precinct can cast a ballot. As of early 2025, 65 of Indiana's 92 counties have adopted vote centers.

A second hearing on vote centers, when a board vote could be taken, is set for May 19.

The three election board members are looking ahead to a period of public feedback on the draft plan, which was developed by a committee established by the election board in mid-2023. The feedback period will be kicked off by Monday's hearing and has to last at least 30 days under state law. The board is planning to accept written comments through an electronic form that will be disseminated in part through a QR code that will be included on postcards to be sent out to Monroe County residents.

Monday's first hearing is set to convene at 5 p.m. in the Nat U. Hill Room of the historic Monroe County courthouse.

When the board does vote, enactment of vote centers has to be unanimous among the three members of the board. Making up the current board are: Monroe County's elected clerk, Nicole Browne: the Monroe County Democratic Party's appointee, John Fernandez: and the Monroe County Republican Party's appointee, Danny Shields.

The appointment of Shields, by newly elected GOP chair Cory Grass, means that vote centers have at least a chance to be enacted. Shields replaced John Arnold, who said at the board's meeting on Feb. 6 that he would vote against them.

Shields confirmed to The B Square after the board's March meeting, that he had not, like Arnold, already decided to vote no. But Shields also said he has not decided to vote yes.

At last Thursday's board meeting, Shields chafed at the idea of spending money on a postcard mailing to solicit additional public input—especially when the cost is not yet known. During the meeting, county attorney Molly Turner-King said that there's $15,000 in the election budget that could be tapped to pay for the mailing. Shields responded: "Just because we haven't spent it doesn't mean we have to spend it."

During the meeting, Browne described the cost of the mailing as "not cheap" but said the county's mailing vendor would get the election division the best possible price. After the meeting, Browne told The B Square the cost of the mailing would be "several thousand dollars."

The cost of converting from precinct-based voting locations to vote centers where any registered voter can cast a ballot is a big consideration that will go into the board's vote. The upfront cost of converting all 29 existing voting locations to vote centers is about $600,000. That cost stems mostly from a need to purchase additional printers, so that the ballot corresponding to each voter's precinct can be printed on demand.

The recommendation in the committee's draft plan is to convert all 29 existing voting locations to vote centers.

When Monroe County previously considered adopting vote centers in 2011, the effort foundered on the requirement that the vote be unanimous. Dissenting at the time was the Republican Party's appointee.

Leading local Democrats have recently begun advocating for adoption of vote centers. At this past Saturday's (April 5) "Hands Off" rally, Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson devoted some of her time at the mic to the promotion of vote centers. Thomson said: "You know what's a lot easier than standing out in the rain for two hours? Voting. And voting should be easy for all of the people in Monroe County, And in order to do that, we really do need vote centers. Having vote centers on Election Day means that no matter which center you pick to show up at, you can vote."

One of the recommendations in the committee's draft plan is to establish more than one location for early voting. The draft plan notes that a replacement has to be found for the county's one early voting location at the election operations center (the former NAPA Auto Parts building) at 3rd and Walnut streets. That building will soon be demolished to make way for the expansion of the Bloomington convention center. So an alternative location for early voting has to be found, independent of any decision about vote centers.

The county commissioners have now settled on the county's office space in the North Showers building as the location for not just early voting, but for the voter registration activity currently located at the former Johnson's Hardware store (aka Election Central). At their March 27 meeting, commissioners approved a design contract with Springpoint Architects for $26,000, to design and develop construction documents to renovate about 6,500 square feet of space. No budget for the actual construction has been established, but based on Springpoint's memo, the work would be done in the last three months of this year.

Responding to a B Square question after last Thursday's board meeting, county election supervisor Kylie Farris said that a decision on vote centers needs to come by Aug. 1, in order for the election division staff to prepare for the 2026 election cycle.