Clerk’s office launching vote center program

by Carla Knapp
Pharos-Tribune associate editor

May 01, 2008 10:44 am

— With less than 24 hours until voting could begin at Cass County’s vote centers, Cass County Clerk Linda Crimmins was trying to wrap up a few final details.
At 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, she was coordinating efforts by technical professionals to deal with a system glitch at the Twelve Mile site, and she hadn’t yet visited the Galveston site.
“It’s only 11:30 in the morning a whole day before voting starts and not 11:30 at night, so I think we’re doing pretty good,” said Crimmins.
Cass County is one of three counties in the state participating in a pilot program for vote centers. The concept allows voters to cast ballots at any of several locations throughout the county without having to check into the former precinct locations.
The system works using an electronic poll book, which can be updated by poll workers as soon as a voter checks in at a location. That prevents voters from casting multiple ballots while still allowing them to vote at the most convenient location for them.
Not only can voters cast ballots at any of a number of convenient locations, they also have four days to vote, beginning today. Early voting will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Saturday at the 4-H Fairgrounds, Galveston Community Center, Logansport Mall, Royal Center Town Hall, Twelve Mile Fire Station and Walton Fire Station.
Should voters opt to vote on Election Day Tuesday, they can do so from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. at any of the first six locations plus the Cass County Senior Citizen Center.
Setting up the vote centers was a bit of a challenge, said Crimmins. Each machine had to be equipped to handle roughly 200 ballot variations.
Depending on the success of vote centers in Cass, Tippecanoe and Wayne counties, Indiana may go to vote centers for each of its 92 counties in the future.
Selection in the pilot program was crucial for Cass County, which didn’t have enough electronic voting machines to have one at each of the old locations, and meeting the requirements for the precinct system would have cost the county thousands in equipment and personnel costs.
To further assist voters, the Cass County Clerk’s office sent out yellow post cards containing all the voter’s pertinent information. Crimmins asked that voters bring the cards with them to vote to speed up the process.
“It will be a lot faster trip through every line if you have the yellow cards because there won’t be any paperwork to fill out,” said Crimmins. She added that voters can still cast ballots even if they don’t bring the yellow cards. Voters also must presented a photo ID to vote.
While Crimmins said she is excited to implement the vote centers for the first time in Cass County, many county voters won’t get to see the new concept. By Tuesday evening, more than 1,600 people had voted absentee, by mail or walk-up, throughout the county. Four years ago, only 576 people had voted absentee before the election.
Crimmins is hoping that bodes well for voter turnout, particularly for Cass County’s first attempt at vote centers.
“I’m excited and I’m thinking it’s going to go well,” she said.
Carla Knapp can be contacted at (574) 732-5150 or via e-mail at carla.knapp@pharostribune.com

Where to vote
Voters can cast ballots at any of the following times and locations:
Absentee voting
6 a.m.-1 p.m. May 3
9 a.m.-12 p.m. May 5
Cass County Government Building
Vote centers - early voting
10 a.m.-7 p.m. May 1 to 3
Cass County 4-H Fairgrounds, Galveston Community Center, Logansport Mall, Royal Center Town Hall, Twelve Mile Fire Station, Walton Fire Station
Vote centers - election day
6 a.m.-6 p.m. May 6
Cass County Senior Citizen Center, Cass County 4-H Fairgrounds, Galveston Community Center, Logansport Mall, Royal Center Town Hall, Twelve Mile Fire Station, Walton Fire Station

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