Voters should be aware the county council at-large, along with school board and public questions, are not included in straight-ticket voting.
The school board is never traditionally included because the candidates are nonpartisan and public questions require a yes-or-no answer from the voter. However, this is the first election in which county council at-large will not be included with straight-ticket voting.
“The issue was voter intent,” said Tree Martin, chief deputy of the Monroe County Clerk’s Office.
Voters would mark straight ticket and then also mark the county council at-large section of the ballot, which led to over- and under-voting. Over- and under-voting is when a voter incorrectly fills out his or her ballot, which leads to more or fewer votes being cast than allowed. When over- or under-voting occurs, scanning machines kick back the ballots. These kickbacks affected about 10 percent of ballots, Martin estimated. This led the Indiana State Senate to pass Senate Bill 61, which separated the straight ticket from county council at-large, Martin said.
“Straight-party and selected voting were not tabulating,” said Cheryl Munson, a current member of the county council at large and a Democratic incumbent in this election. Voters can still vote straight-ticket for the party of their choice; however, voters may select up to three candidates under county council at-large.
Munson, along with her current county council at-large members and Democratic incumbent running mates Geoff McKim and Lee Jones, have promoted the voting change as a part of their campaign. The Democratic Party has also sent out brochures and postcards informing voters about the adjustment.
“The postcards say ‘Vote D plus three,’” Munson said, with the “d” representing Democrat and the three representing the three Democratic Party county council at-large candidates.
William Ellis, chairman of the Monroe County Republican party, said local Republicans are informing voters over the phone and at all forums that straight-ticket voting does not include the one Republican county council at-large candidate, Hal Turner.
Turner’s motto of “only vote for one” reminds Republican voters to vote for their candidate, Ellis said.
Unless the state legislature requires the voting machine companies to upgrade their software, county council at-large will continue to be separate from straight-party voting in upcoming elections, Munson said.
However, upgrading the system is expensive, Martin said. She said though paper ballots cost the county about $70,000, upgrading to a new voting system would be at least a few hundred thousand dollars, so it is unlikely that the upgrade will happen in the near future.
Paper ballots are additionally hard to rig and do not fail, she said.
“They’re the fairest thing that will ever happen,” Martin said. She said until the voting system is upgraded, voters should read the ballot closely and note what straight-ticket voting does and does not cover.
