Voting centers in Cass, Tippecanoe and Wayne counties may end

Beth Liming is not a happy woman these days.

A pilot program in Cass, Tippecanoe and Wayne counties allowed them to combine voting precincts into consolidated voting centers will end after legislation allowing it continue failed to pass the Indiana House.

“I’m not very happy about it,” Liming said of the state legislature’s decision to end the program. The state Senate approved the bill.

Advocates of the program say the vote centers are more convenient for voters and save local government thousands of dollars.

The Indiana Fiscal Policy Institute estimated Cass County would spend more than $32,000 for a precinct-based election, but only about $15,000 for a vote-center election.

Liming said she did not understand the decision, especially when the state is pressuring local governments to curtail their spending.

She also pointed out that voters in Cass County have grown accustomed to the system, and going back to the precinct system will create confusion.

“I know the voters would be very disappointed,” Liming said.

She pointed out that other than the money saved, the vote centers made life easier for the voters.

“It’s the convenience,” she said. “When you can stop at any of these voting centers, it cuts down on the lines and the waiting times.”

There has also been interest from other counties eager to see how the system works in Cass County. Liming said she has had other county clerks contact her about how the system worked.

Sen. Randy Head, R-Logansport, worked to get the vote centers approved and attributed the failure to approve them to fighting over the issue of no-fault absentee voting. Legislators attached an amendment to the bill calling for no-fault absentee ballots.

While it was the no-fault absentee issue that caused the vote center idea to die in the legislature, Head also expects the vote center idea to come back.

“Everybody on both sides understood the value of these vote centers,” Head said. “At some point they’re definitely coming back. They’re too good not to.”

He believes vote centers should become a state-wide system.

“I really thought that when the vote centers worked so well, the rest of the state would want to jump on board with that,” he said.

Secretary of state Todd Rokita also expects the idea to come back.

“We will keep working toward it,” Rokita said. “It’s a casualty of politics as far as I can tell.”

Rokita attributed it to the series of elections coming up, believing many legislators probably did not want to change things before the election.

“They don’t want to change things going into an election where they are on the ballot,” Rokita said.

Rep. Kreg Battles, D-Vincennes, chairman of the House Elections Committte, said operating standards and security had not been planned for during the debate.

Rokita pointed out that security and other standards have been carefully addressed.

“It was just that an excuse and an invalid one.” Rokita said. “The idea that there are no security standards is just patently false.”

Rokita also said the system improved voter turnout by making voting easier. He also echoed what Liming said about state government telling local governments to control spending and then taking away a tool to do that.

“It seems hypocritical in a way that Statehouse folks dictate to local government to cut costs and then don’t give them the tools to do that,” Rokita said.

While Rokita expects the system to ultimately be approved in some form, Cass County might have to go back to the precinct system for the near term.

Liming hopes the state will approve the system, indicating the advantage are obvious.

“It’s a no brainer,” Liming said.