Tag: polling locations

11-member vote center committee OK’d by Monroe County election board, members not yet appointed

Monroe County election board from left: Lisa-Marie Napoli (proxy for Nicole Browne); David Henry; and Judith Benckart.
Excerpt from the document approved by Monroe County election board defining the vote center study committee

Eleven people are now being sought to fill positions on a committee that has been established to study the question of implementing vote centers in Monroe County.

Vote centers are different from the kind of precinct-based polling locations 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. For election administrators, it means some additional planning—to make sure that all the different ballots, which are tied to different precincts, are available for voters across the county.

It’s conceivable, but by no means certain, that vote centers could be implemented in time for the 2024 election cycle.

But based on election board deliberations on Thursday, the prevailing sentiment appears to be against trying to implement vote centers in a way that is rushed.

The board removed a requirement in a draft document that said the study committee had to complete its work no later than 150 days after its first meeting. Continue reading “11-member vote center committee OK’d by Monroe County election board, members not yet appointed” →

Election board creates study committee: Monroe County could replace precinct polls with vote centers

Monroe County election board members, from left: Nicole Browne, Judith Benchart, and David Henry
Monroe County election board member Judith Benckart
Monroe County election board member David Henry

At its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, Monroe County’s election board took a small but important step towards the adoption of so-called vote centers as the locations where people cast their ballots.

The board voted to establish a study committee for vote centers, but left the details to be sorted out at its next monthly meeting. Those details include membership, the assigned task, and the timeframe for the group’s work.

In the secretary of state’s seven-step process, forming a study committee is just the second step.

Vote centers are different from the kind of precinct-based polling locations 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. For election administrators, it means some additional planning—to make sure that all the different ballots, which are tied to different precincts, are available for voters across the county.

Based on remarks at Thursday’s meeting from county attorney Molly Turner-King, other Indiana counties that have adopted vote centers have taken anywhere from 12 to 18 months to complete the process.

Of Indiana’s 92 counties, 60 have adopted vote centers.

Deputy clerk Tressia Martin said her preference would be to wait until after the 2024 presidential election before implementing vote centers. Martin is performing the functions of the election supervisor while that position is vacant. Continue reading “Election board creates study committee: Monroe County could replace precinct polls with vote centers” →

Election 2023 notebook: Polling locations set, ballot inspection on Feb. 15, registration deadline April 3

In a Thursday afternoon meeting that lasted about six and a half minutes, Monroe County’s three-member election board dispatched all the resolutions related to setting polling locations for the May 2 primary elections.

There will be 17 polling locations for Bloomington’s city elections and one for Ellettsville. The board voted not to hold elections in Stinesville, because there are no contested races.

Monroe County commissioners still need to sign off on the poll locations. Continue reading “Election 2023 notebook: Polling locations set, ballot inspection on Feb. 15, registration deadline April 3” →

Alea iacta est: Nov. 8, 2022 election results, served when ready

Sunset over the election operations building at 3rd and Walnut streets in Bloomington, Indiana (Nov. 8, 2022).

Election Day polls for Nov. 8, 2022 have now closed in Monroe County.

The cutoff time was 6 p.m., which made for a 12-hour voting day. But anyone in line by 6 p.m. has to be allowed to cast a ballot.

Statewide results will be available on the Indiana secretary of state’s website.

Results from Monroe County precincts will be published as updates to this article as they are available.

In her last update of the evening Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne cautioned not to expect results immediately after polls close.

Browne’s email said, “I want to strongly caution you against expecting early returns.” Browne continued, “We thank you for your patience as we work to get you totals in the most expeditious time frame possible. A delay in regular reporting simply means the Election Board is hard at work for you.”

Voters who joined the line just before the closing of the polls are one reason instant results can’t be reported.

Geography also plays a role. There’s some physical distance that has to be covered, when teams from Election Day polling locations across the county pack up their ballots, the memory devices from the ballot scanners, and other election documentation, and turn in the whole package to Election Central.

Election Central is in downtown Bloomington, located at 7th and Madison streets in the old Johnson’s Hardware building.

The B Square will add to this article with time-stamped updates from that location until the final unofficial results are in, or otherwise indicated here. Continue reading “Alea iacta est: Nov. 8, 2022 election results, served when ready” →

Monroe County 2022 Election Day: Polls are OPEN

Monroe County courthouse. Blood moon.
Monroe County courthouse. Blood moon.
Election operations center at 3rd and Walnut Streets.
An Indiana Daily Student reporter interviewed people standing in line.

Clear skies early Election Day morning around 5 a.m. meant the “blood moon” from the lunar eclipse was on full display against the western sky behind the Monroe County courthouse dome.

An hour later, a couple blocks south of the courthouse at 3rd and Walnut streets, around a dozen people were standing in line, waiting for the door to the election operations center to open.

The official opening of the polls was set for 6 a.m. The door opened about six minutes later than that, with the traditional “Hear ye, hear ye, the polls are open!”

That was followed by a quick apology for the delay and some news that disappointed some voters who were standing in line: Voters could check in, but there were no ballots yet. The B Square saw one voter leave on hearing that news.

It took a few minutes to sort out the confusion. Election board member Donovan Garletts called The B Square to report that the ballots were in the locked ballot room, but election workers on site did not have a key. Once the key was tracked down, the ballots needed for that voting location were available.

A voter who left the polling site about ten minutes later, saying that there were no ballots, might have simply been in the wrong voting location. Garletts said one voter from Benton Township had wanted to vote at the 3rd and Walnut, shortly after the polling location opened—but that location is not supposed to have ballots for the Benton Township precinct.

Benton is not among the seven different precincts that vote at the 3rd and Walnut location: Bloomington 3, Bloomington 7, Bloomington 22, Perry 6, Perry 8, Perry 15, Perry 31.

According to Monroe County clerk Nicole Browne’s 7 a.m. update, 62 people voted at the 3rd and Walnut location in the first hour.

Monroe County has set up an interactive map where voters can find the location where they are supposed to vote.

Statewide results will be available on the secretary of state’s website.
Continue reading “Monroe County 2022 Election Day: Polls are OPEN” →

Monroe County continues prep for primary elections on May 3, early voting on April 5

Map of all 28 polling locations in Monroe County.

Several agenda items related to the upcoming primary elections on May 3 were dispatched by county commissioners at their regular Wednesday morning meeting.

Commissioners approved a revision to the set of polling locations—there will be 28 instead of 29 polling sites.

So that voters know which of the polling sites they’re supposed to use, commissioners approved a $18,710 agreement with Midwest Presort to send a postcard notifying each household in the county of their assigned voting location for this election.

To raise awareness of the May 3 primary election, commissioners approved a $1,485 agreement with WBWB FM 97 for 30-second radio spots to air between April 4 and April 22.

Finally, commissioners approved a $5,500 contract with Steve’s Roofing & Sheet Metal to install new metal box gutters and downspouts, with caps and flashing, at the election operations building at 3rd and Walnut streets. The work is supposed to address roof leaks at the building. Continue reading “Monroe County continues prep for primary elections on May 3, early voting on April 5” →

Election update: Voting machine accuracy test passed; Poll workers still needed; Registration deadline Oct. 5

Election board chair Hal Turner and county election division staffer Sherry Morris at the logic and accuracy test conducted on Sept. 23, 2020.
The door to Monroe County’s Election Central as it appeared on Sept. 23, 2020.
Election board chair Hal Turner and county election division staffer Sherry Morris at the logic and accuracy test conducted on Sept. 23, 2020.
Monroe County deputy clerk Tressia Martin at the logic and accuracy test conducted on Sept. 23, 2020.
The view through the window of Election Central during the logic and accuracy test conducted on Sept. 23, 2020.
The view through the window of Election Central during the logic and accuracy test conducted on Sept. 23, 2020.

At 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Monroe County’s election division started running its voting equipment through the logic and accuracy test that’s required under state statute.

After two hours of testing, the county’s equipment passed with a 100-percent score, deputy county clerk Tressia Martin told The Square Beacon.

The tests were conducted at the old Johnson Hardware Building, aka Election Central, at 7th and Madison streets. The blinds on the Madison Street side of the building were opened so that the public could watch, without going inside the building. It’s was a nod to helping prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic virus.

The completion of the accuracy test crosses one more task off the list that election staff have to complete for the Nov. 3, 2020 general election.

In early September, the board of elections had settled on 28 different polling locations for the county’s 82 precincts.  That decision was given approval by the county’s board of commissioners at its regular meeting Wednesday morning, shortly after the logic and accuracy test concluded. Continue reading “Election update: Voting machine accuracy test passed; Poll workers still needed; Registration deadline Oct. 5” →

Seven in-person polling locations set for June 2 primaries in Monroe County as election board says: Please vote by mail

Election staffer Sherry Morris and election board chair Hal Turner.

On Tuesday at noon, at the the fourth continuation of a meeting that was initially convened on April 2, Monroe County’s election board approved the use of seven in-person polling sites for the June 2 primary election.

At Tuesday’s meeting, one of the sites was still not nailed down with 100-percent certainty.

Initial indications were positive from the City Church for All Nations that the facility could be used for the election, but final word was still pending, according to election supervisor Karen Wheeler. The church is the backup plan to University Elementary School, which has a construction project precluding its use. [Updated April 29, 2020 at 3:17 p.m. Election board member Carolyn VandeWiele told The Square Beacon that the church has agreed to allow its facility to be used for the June 2 primary.]

The board’s Tuesday decision on polling sites, taken at a Zoom videoconference session, gave a formal stamp of approval to a preliminary decision that had, for six of the polling sites, been made the day before. Continue reading “Seven in-person polling locations set for June 2 primaries in Monroe County as election board says: Please vote by mail” →

Monroe County’s election board looking to finalize locations for polls, early voting in 2020

 

From left, Monroe County election board members, Nicole Browne, Carolyn VandeWiele, and Hal Turner.
The old Johnson Hardware building at 7th and Madison streets (aka Election Central).

Monroe County’s three-member election board met Thursday to chart a course for 2020, a year when extraordinary levels of voter turnout are expected.

Standard issues that need to be settled include polling locations for early voting and on Election Day, training poll workers on new voting equipment, and recruiting people to work the polls.

Election supervisor Karen Wheeler encouraged people who want to help at the polls to call her office (812-349-2690). Even though it seems early to be be thinking about it, early voting for primaries starts in April, Wheeler said. She added, “We’re going to be needing a lot of people.” Continue reading “Monroe County’s election board looking to finalize locations for polls, early voting in 2020” →