Bill Morton, Democratic board representative; and Vicki Morton, Democratic chair, are shown watching County Clerk Ann Torpy give a demonstration of how a special poll pad case works. The board hopes to have access to the cases in the future as they increase the reliability of the poll pads. Photo by Caleigh Byrer.

By Caleigh Byrer
InkFreeNews

WARSAW — The Kosciusko County Election Board made amendments to the vote center plan for the upcoming election at its Monday, Feb. 13, meeting.

County Clerk Ann Torpy determined a vote center for Nappanee is not necessary this year. While there will be voters from Winona Lake, Syracuse, and Nappanee, in 2019, only four ballots were cast by individuals from Nappanee within Kosciusko County.

The board found it hard to justify the allocation of resources to a third voting center that did not see much traffic and came to the agreement that Nappanee voters may just use one of the other locations, Syracuse being the most convenient.

They also discussed poll worker training and critiques from the public on election proceedings.

Torpy noted state law requires inspectors to attend training, but it would be ideal for other workers to be knowledgable about their positions.

Many of the surrounding counties require their poll workers to attend a training session and offer an additional wage for their participation. The board agreed this is a fair expectation and plan to offer roughly an additional $20 to poll workers who attend the training.

“It’s a human reaction to try to be as expedient as possible, but waiting in line is part of life. Sometimes you just have to wait,” President Randy Girod said.

The board plans to help provide the poll workers with the skills and tools they need for the voting process to run smoothly through training sessions, but they acknowledge that waiting is an inherent part of the voting process.

Torpy added complaints about waiting are not often heard during presidential elections, despite the longer lines. The board hopes the training will increase the efficiency and flow of local elections for the public.

The board established the following dates for voting:

• The public test date will be 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 29, in the Kosciusko County Justice Building basement to ensure all equipment is functioning properly before voting begins.
• Early voting will be from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday, April 24, through Friday, April 28, in the Kosciusko County Justice Building, 121 N. Lake St., Warsaw.
• Vote centers will be open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 22, and Saturday, April 29, at the Kosciusko County Justice Building and Syracuse Community Center, 1013 N. Long Drive, Syracuse.
• Monday, May 1, will be the last day for early voting. The Kosciusko County Justice Building vote center will be open from 8 a.m. to noon.