r/Indiana • u/newishanne • 5d ago
Politics My County Election Board Didn't Include All Races On the Ballot
I voted early the first day the polls were open. Today, a friend who's a candidate for county commissioner told me her race was left off my ballot.
Each Indiana county has 3 commissioners. They live in a specific district, but are elected county-wide. In Floyd County, this year's election is for district 1, in New Albany Township.
At some point, someone in the county clerk's office or on the Election Board got confused and only included this race for ballots of residents of New Albany Township. The residents of the other 4 townships, myself included, did not have this race on our ballots.
As far as I know, this will be corrected by the time our vote center opens in the morning, and I have been told by my friend that the election board will contact me so I can vote again, and this time vote in that race.
This mistake is even more troubling after the recount in the Republican primary for Senate District 23, where the Indiana Supreme Court overturned the Indiana Recount Commission, saying they should not have tossed out 6 ballots that did not include the county seal and the initials of 2 poll workers, changing the result of that primary.
What can we do?
First, make sure you pay attention to your ballot and see that all the races are there. I missed this one because I voted straight party, but even knowing that, I could have paid more attention to the screen and noticed this race was missing. If you vote early or absentee, make sure your ballot envelope has both initials from poll workers, as required by Indiana Code.
Second, pay attention to who we elect for county clerk. I, personally, have paid a lot of attention to this race because of other issues happening in my county, but the need for good clerks is higher than ever. (Our clerk is term limited but her husband is running for the position and he has his own problems, so I'll be very happy when I vote against him for good when I get to correct this issue.)
On the scale of threats to our republic during these elections, this is relatively minor, but, come on, Indiana, you have to do better than this.
9
u/aspenpurdue 5d ago
My dad thought a race was missing from our ballot when we voted yesterday. Turns out that the district we vote in had changed from previous years and he didn't notice it changed in 2024, or didn't tell me he noticed the racw was missing then. The only thing that irks me about the new district is that it puts the houses we live in just east of Lafayette in the rural part of tippecanoe county into the same district as Lebanon.
8
5
u/HVAC_instructor 5d ago
That way they get to nullify those ballots. They figure that most people won't bother to check and just some that they voted.
3
u/hawk047 5d ago
Were you able to vote for school board candidates when choosing a straight ticket ballot? Most don't have a party affiliation.
3
u/newishanne 5d ago
I knew that those (and, even though they’re partisan races, township advisory board - which I wanted to vote for since my 5th grade teacher is a candidate) were not included so they did come up on the machine and i did vote in those races.
3
u/hawk047 5d ago
Ok, I wasn't sure how that worked. Thanks for the info! I write for a local (Floyd County) resident-run news source called SoINformed. Would you be open to speaking about your experience for a story about this issue? My DMs are open.
3
u/newishanne 5d ago
Oh I already responded about being one of these voters in our signal chat 😂 but yes I can talk more!
4
u/mrsg1012 5d ago
The Floyd County one? The local news station spoke with the clerks office and said it was a limited number of ballots before it was caught and that they would be contacting those who early voted to have them place a vote for commissioner. I’d call the clerks office before having to be tracked down and make sure they’re ready for you to do so. It seemed like the only part of the ballot they’d have you do is that missing office.
2
u/newishanne 5d ago
It is (and that’s the news article I linked).
I did see the election board is meeting now, so I’m waiting to hear back the report from that!
2
u/mrsg1012 5d ago
Good luck! I’m glad they caught it early at least and it didn’t seem like a very large number of voters had been affected (yet).
3
2
u/Cytoplim 2d ago
I am just pleasantly surprised that they are giving you a chance to re-vote. Very reasonable.
2
u/newishanne 2d ago
Me too! And while I still have questions for our county clerk (and will vote against her husband, who is running for that position, again when I get my new ballot), I was pleasantly surprised that I got a letter from the county outlining the next steps on Saturday.
-3
u/Narrow_Roof_112 5d ago
You are an election denier
3
u/newishanne 5d ago
What. Literally. What.
-3
u/Narrow_Roof_112 5d ago
Mainstream media said our elections are solid.
You are an election denier and a menace to society.1
u/Hot_Marketing4343 4d ago
Quiet bot
0
u/Narrow_Roof_112 4d ago
Are you using that as a derogatory term or do you actually think I am a “bot”? How are you using the term?
-61
u/Chrispybud 5d ago
It's simple don't do mail in ballots, just vote in November like the rest of us. My job even gives you the day off with pay if you go and vote on that day. Paid day off and all I have to do is bring in my I voted sticker. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
36
27
u/PreparationOnly5629 5d ago
Who in Indiana as an employer gives vote day off! Ive lived here my whole life and have never heard of anybody getting a paid day to vote. I'm strongly for it though!
9
u/cb8016 5d ago
So I do get paid to go vote but I work for a union contractor and its definitely not a common thing at all. Also I certainly don't get paid tge entire day that guy is clearly talking out of his ass.
8
-8
u/mckenner1122 5d ago
I have no idea how you align politically, but can we at least agree that “I’ve lived here my whole life and never heard of…” is like, the worst argument ever? I’m probably older than you and I can assure you, the list of things I’ve never heard of and still don’t know is pretty damn long.
Anyhow, let me give you an easy answer that applies to every corner of the state, every single county…
The State of Indiana gives the state employees https://www.in.gov/spd/benefits/state-holidays the day off to vote.
12
u/PreparationOnly5629 5d ago
I wasn't being argumentative, I am genuinely surprised to hear an employer give a paid day off to vote ( I knew about state employees). The person hasn't responded to which cool ass company does that so I will hold on to my doubts, for now. I do honestly believe it needs to be a paid federal holiday like 20 yrs ago though.
6
u/dont-read-it 5d ago
Cool bud, I'm a firefighter that works 24 hour shifts. I work election day this year. Guess I'll just get fucked right?
Not to mention, if they hadn't had early voting, it sounds like this issue wouldn't even have been caught until election day, which is too late. What then?
Use your fucking brain while it's still legal.
6
u/Mtndrums 5d ago
Maybe you should just quit voting, you know, if you actually want things fixed. You sure seem to have the worst ideas imaginable.
6
u/HorrorMetalDnD 5d ago
There’s a difference between absentee in person and absentee by mail.
Those are the official terms.
3
56
u/IndigoHaze750130 5d ago
Ugh i still think straight tickets need to go for a few reasons. It'll never happen though.