Boone County Commissioners declined a request by some voters to seize control of the 2024 election process Tuesday.
But their decision is not unanimous, and the request remains on the table.
A group of about 150 Boone County voters is concerned about the integrity of the process and potential voter fraud.
They claim Boone County’s elections violate the Indiana constitution, which they say calls for one-day elections with paper ballots that are hand counted on the same day.
They believe the Boone County Election Board has misconducted the elections and ignored four notices the group sent to the board detailing inconsistencies in elections, asking for answers about local elections, and finally demanding immediate changes to align with the constitution.
Because the election board has failed to comply with their demands, the group claims the Indiana Constitution allows “we the people” to seize control from the election board and give it to other government officials who will handle it constitutionally.
Specifically, they requested this month that the Boone County Commissioners take over the election process. They have not taken the demand off the table since commissioners declined this week, advocate Dave Myers of Lebanon said.
During the same meeting, Myers read aloud a fifth notice in which the group requests to see all state and federal contracts related to Boone County elections. The group is looking for money provided by the state and federal governments to help conduct elections.
Opposition
Local attorney Richard Porter took the podium to support the election board and said he read one of the notices and characterized it as inapplicable “gibberish.” Porter told Myers he meant no disrespect, but insisted again that the document is gibberish.
“I don’t know any legitimate and substantiated criticism for the manner in which we’ve conducted elections here in Boone County,” Attorney Thomas Whitsitt told commissioners. “It seems to me that a group of people, which is a very vocal minority, is coming forward and saying we need to have paper ballots, and we need to reduce our time to vote to one day. It seems to me that that is a measure to suppress voting, rather than encourage it.”
The constitution gives authority to the legislature, which gave it to the election board. “The authority is with the election board, not with the commissioners,” Whitsitt said. “… If somebody wants to change that, then they can go to the legislature and try to get the law changed.”
Election Board Chairwoman Rebecca McClure, a Republican, researched questions and demands brought by the paper-ballot supporters and determined, along with Vice Chairman Brian Jones, a Democrat, and Secretary Boone County Clerk Lisa Bruder, Republican, that the current system is more secure than paper ballots would be.
There have been no claims of actual voter fraud, or lost or miscounted votes in Boone County, and voting machines leave a paper record that can be stored for the future and recounted, McClure noted in her summary earlier this month.
McClure is an attorney and retired judge, and Whitsitt and Porter both voiced confidence in her decision.
Commissioners’ take
Commissioner Tim Beyer has worked with the paper-ballot supporters for about seven months, met with them, visited state authorities with the group, and made a presentation on the group’s behalf with the election board this month.
On Tuesday, Beyer again spoke in favor of commissioners taking control of the process. Commissioners have no authority over elections, Robert Clutter, the commissioner’s attorney, said, adding that doing so would be a “crystal clear” violation of the constitution, he said.
Commissioner Jeff Wolfe commended the paper-ballot advocates for taking an active role in government. He said they have been informed and respectful in their approach, “And I hold them in high regard.”
But he concluded that commissioners have no authority or mechanism to take over the election process.
Commissioners President Don Lawson said the law is clear and taking over the election would constitute tampering with an election, which is a felony.
“I will not be a part of it,” he said. “It’s not that I completely disagree, but the law is the law.”
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