Published: May 13, 2008 11:29 am         

Vote centers

Early reviews appear favorable

Based on early reports from last week’s primary, Cass County’s first try with vote centers went well.

Employees in the Cass County clerk’s office took an early look through the stacks of comment cards from voters on election night. The cards offered voters the chance to grade the vote centers on a seven-point scale, and early indications were that the voters had offered mostly high marks.

Cass County is the third in Indiana to try out the concept. The county joins Tippecanoe and Wayne, which had tried the approach during last fall’s municipal elections.

Election officials acknowledge that some voters did encounter long lines on election day, but they say the waits were nothing like the election four years ago when voters reported waits of two to three hours. This time, election workers said, most voters waited no more than 15 minutes.

Poll watchers from the League of Women Voters confirmed that. They spent about 10 hours watching the process at five locations and reported no serious problems or delays.

“I felt it was well organized, and poll workers were very knowledgeable and helpful to the voters,” poll watcher Judy Williamson wrote in her report.

And unlike past elections when voters had little option other than to wait in line, this time they could simply try another vote center. Some encountered long lines on Tuesday at the Logansport Mall or the Cass County Senior Center, and they opted to try another location, such as the county fairgrounds.

One thing that did not catch on in the first year was early voting. Voters had the opportunity to vote at any of seven locations on four different days. Even though some people did take advantage of the early voting opportunity, election officials say the vote centers were fairly quiet during their first three days of operation.

The concept did get a pretty good workout in its inaugural effort. More than 10,500 people cast ballots, up dramatically from four years ago when just over 6,000 people voted.

Of course, the system is likely to face an even bigger test this fall for the presidential election.

Still, the county should feel good about this first effort. From all indications, voters seem to like the new approach, and there is every indication that future elections will run even more smoothly as voters grow accustomed to the changes.