Provisional ballot is tie-breaker in Primary
May 16—GREENSBURG — The Decatur County Election Board held a provisional ballot hearing at the courthouse Friday afternoon to determine the authenticity of seven provisional ballots. One of those ballots ultimately broke the tie in the Adams Township Advisory Board race between Roger DuMond and Bethany Fellows in favor of Fellows.
The Election Board is comprised of Jennifer Sturges, Decatur County Clerk Adina Roberts and Ryan Maddux. Jennifer Sturges was unable to attend the hearing, so Deputy Clerk Robin Hahn acted as her proxy.
Election boards contain one representative member of each major political party as well as the county clerk.
All seven ballots were caused by one of two issues. The first cause was lack of identification at the time of voting. Three provisional ballots were cast without voter ID. All three presented their ID to the Election Board through the clerk's office before the deadline and all three were accepted.
The second issue was a problem with vote cards at one specific vote center. Vote cards cannot be put into the machine more than one time because it erases the card. When one machine did not bring up the voter's ballot, another was tried unsuccessfully and then voters were given a provisional ballot. The procedure that should have been followed was to reset the card and bring up the voter's ballot manually. It was not the fault of the voters that this procedure did not take place and all provisional ballots were properly filled out. For that reason, the final four provisional ballots were accepted.
The provisional votes came from: Adams (1 vote), Greensburg 2 (2 votes), Greensburg 4 (3 votes) and Greensburg 5 (1 vote) for a total of 7 ballots.
After approval, the provisional ballot counters added the votes to the system and they were added to the election results for finalization.
ADDITIONAL ELECTION INFORMATION
Voter registration begins May 17 for the November General Election. Absentee voting applications will be accepted beginning May 17 as well.
There are four Decatur County School Board up for election this year. The deadline for their candidacy and petition submission is August 26, and it opens July 27.
The deadline for independent candidates to submit their paperwork with petitions is June 30.
Any vacancies on the ballot after a Primary can be filled by the county chairmen through a caucus. Noon Sunday, July 3, is the deadline to hold those caucuses to fill vacant positions. Submissions must be made to the clerk's office by Tuesday, July 5.
Contact Josie Clark at josie.clark@greensburgdailynews.com or 812-651-0873.
