Council OKs a change to vote centers

Vote centers are used in more than 70% of Indiana counties.

Jay County may soon join that majority.

Jay County Council approved a resolution Wednesday designating the county as a vote center county. The decision hinges on commissioners’ approval Monday as well as a lengthy implementation process that includes forming a study committee, drafting a plan and seeking public comment.

Jay County clerk Missy Elliott explained Jay County Election Board has been looking into using vote centers instead of polling places for each precinct. 

According to the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office website, vote centers are an alternative to traditional precinct-based voting in which voters are assigned a voting location in their area. Vote centers allow registered voters to cast a ballot at any county location on Election Day.

Indiana began allowing counties the option to use vote centers in 2011. Approximately 65 counties use them, including most of the surrounding counties, Elliott noted.

“The obvious positives are we can save money by having less locations and less poll workers,” she said. “Let’s be honest — poll workers are hard to find, and (it’s) getting harder every day.”

Elliott noted that the election board decided to move forward with the change now because it’s an off-year for elections. She pointed out Jay County upgraded its polling equipment in recent years, meaning there would be no added cost.

More registered voters have been casting their ballots early as opposed to on Election Day in recent years, continued Elliott.

“This last election, we did have some people ask if they could go anywhere in the county to vote because there’s been so much talk about vote centers,” she said.

Responding to a question from council member Bryan Alexander, Elliott noted in the 2024 general election, 4,073 voters used in-person early voting, 269 voters sent in their ballots by mail or travel board and 3,874 voters cast their ballots on Election Day.

The first step to begin using vote centers requires council and commissioners to pass a resolution declaring Jay County to be a vote center county.

Next a diverse study committee is formed to look into transitioning to vote centers and what it may look like, such as infrastructure and technology needs, training, early voting specifics, voting center locations and costs, as well as how to prepare voters for the change.

Implementing vote centers also requires a plan to meet statutory requirements such as deciding the number of vote centers and their locations, gathering the list of active and inactive voters in the county and reviewing other information.

Once a plan is completed, it needs to be presented at a public hearing. A public comment period should also be open for at least 30 days following the hearing. According to documentation from Elliott, public comments should be incorporated into the plan where appropriate.

From there, the election board must vote unanimously to adopt the plan, which is then filed with Indiana Election Division.

Council vice president Cindy Bracy asked what downsides come with a vote center.

“I believe the biggest downside would be people would be upset that they don’t have a polling location in their specific area, and that’s going to be one of the things that we would want to look at to see where we would best serve the public, to have the vote center in those areas,” said Elliott.

Answering another question from Bracy, Elliott estimated the county will implement between three and four vote centers, effectively cutting the county’s available voting locations in half.

Council approved the resolution with Bracy dissenting.

Council also approved a few amendments to the county’s 2025 salary ordinance.

Amendments include formally allowing the county to reimburse employees for their commercial driver’s license and up to $100 every two years for work boots for the Jay County surveyor and highway department employees averaging 20 hours or more a week, both decisions previously approved by commissioners.

Other changes include allowing Jay County Community Corrections’ full-time administrative assistant to move to a 35-hour work week, correcting a part-time position pay rate for Jay County Assessor’s Office, setting a part-time position rate to come from Jay County Recorder’s Office perpetuation fund, making minor adjustments to Health Reimbursement Arrangements amounts and allowing a one-time reduction of the county portion of the fridge at $362.90 per employee for this March.

Also Wednesday, council discussed making a $40,000 additional appropriation for the updated agreement with Ritter Strategic Services. 

Commissioners agreed Feb. 10 to change the scope of a contract with the planning firm, which has been preparing the county to purchase new radios. Per the change, the county will be presented with costs and other information to switch to Integrated Public Safety Commission’s statewide radio system as well as costs and other details related to installing a stand-alone radio system. 

A few council members voiced their disagreement with the new contract. Minnich suggested council hold off until next month when it can formally vote on whether to grant the additional funding. (Per state law, the appropriation needs to be advertised before it can be officially approved.)

In other business, council members Harold Towell, Randy May, Michael Brewster, Cindy Bracy, Matt Minnich and Bryan Alexander, absent Faron Parr:

•Decided not to add supplemental distributions to property tax relief credits for the year. County auditor Emily Franks noted the county has approximately $826,403 in supplemental distributions available for taxpayers but pointed to unknown factors, including proposed legislation impacting tax levies, assessments and deductions, how assessed values may increase or decrease and questions about what the county’s local income tax distribution in 2026 will be. (Per state law, supplemental distributions are automatically added to property tax relief credits after three years.)

•Made the following additional appropriations: $158,440 from an annual state grant for Jay County Community Corrections; $131,346.91 from the innkeeper’s tax funds for Jay County Visitor and Tourism Bureau’s annual budget; $100,000 to Jay County Development Corporation for services to be rendered in its new six-month agreement with the county; $63,000 to fulfill the contract with East Central Indiana Regional Planning District, which runs through August; $55,000 to replace a 2005 truck for Jay County Surveyor’s Office; $26,870.12, with Towell opposed, for renovations to the downstairs men’s restroom at Jay County Country Living; $25,000 for water leak repairs at Jay County Courthouse; $2,475.07, with Bracy and Towell opposed, to Rundell, Ernstberger and Associates for professional services pertaining to the county’s housing project on the west side of Portland; $1,000 in donations for Jay County Country Living; $990 in probation user fees for Jay County Probation Department to purchase equipment for digital screening of electric devices; and $500 for the surveyor’s office to pay for employees’ Commercial Driver’s Licenses.

•OK’d transferring $10,836 from the employer Public Employees’ Retirement Fund account to the workers compensation fund in the commissioners’ budget and $1,000 from the unemployment compensation fund to the workers compensation fund in Jay County Highway Department’s budget.

•Appointed Liz Lawson to Jay County Public Library board.

•OK’d Jay County Country Living to have a $200 petty cash fund.