Whitko Superintendent Seeks To Clarify School Board Ballot
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Tim [email protected]
The ballot lists six people running for election or re-election to three seats on the five-member board - incumbent Mike Braddock and challenger Cynthia Kreger from District 1; incumbent Roger Boggs from District 2; and Terry Eberly, Gordon Hayes Jr. and Shannon Langmaid, all from District 3.[[In-content Ad]]That's where it gets slightly complicated.
Whitko is a cross-county school district, so voters in Whitley and Kosciusko counties will not see identical ballots, but both include the same basic information. Both ballots remind voters that three members will be elected and instruct voters to vote for a maximum of one candidate from District 1, one from District 2 and two from District 3.
However, Whitko Superintendent Steve Clason pointed out, if voters vote for the maximum allowable candidates in each district, they will have voted for a total of four and their ballot will not be counted.
"The ballot is very confusing," said Clason, "so we want to make sure voters know, no matter what, don't vote for more than three."
The Whitko School Board is arranged without any at-large members. The board must always have at least one, and no more than two representatives, from each district. Two current members, Pete Mitchell, District 1; and Deborah Collier, District 2; are not up for election this year.
Dave Tranter is the only current board member representing District 3. Tranter's term ends June 30, and a District 3 replacement must be elected, so at least one District 3 candidate will be elected.
Since there are already representatives of districts 1 and 2 on the board, voters can choose not to vote for candidates from one or the other of those districts.
Clason said voters also can choose to vote for fewer than three candidates as long as they remember not to exceed the maximum number of votes allowed for candidates from each district. If a voter elects the maximum three candidates, the possible combinations are as follows: one from each district; none from District 1, one from District 2 and two from District 3; or one from District 1, none from District 2 and two from District 3.
The ballot lists six people running for election or re-election to three seats on the five-member board - incumbent Mike Braddock and challenger Cynthia Kreger from District 1; incumbent Roger Boggs from District 2; and Terry Eberly, Gordon Hayes Jr. and Shannon Langmaid, all from District 3.[[In-content Ad]]That's where it gets slightly complicated.
Whitko is a cross-county school district, so voters in Whitley and Kosciusko counties will not see identical ballots, but both include the same basic information. Both ballots remind voters that three members will be elected and instruct voters to vote for a maximum of one candidate from District 1, one from District 2 and two from District 3.
However, Whitko Superintendent Steve Clason pointed out, if voters vote for the maximum allowable candidates in each district, they will have voted for a total of four and their ballot will not be counted.
"The ballot is very confusing," said Clason, "so we want to make sure voters know, no matter what, don't vote for more than three."
The Whitko School Board is arranged without any at-large members. The board must always have at least one, and no more than two representatives, from each district. Two current members, Pete Mitchell, District 1; and Deborah Collier, District 2; are not up for election this year.
Dave Tranter is the only current board member representing District 3. Tranter's term ends June 30, and a District 3 replacement must be elected, so at least one District 3 candidate will be elected.
Since there are already representatives of districts 1 and 2 on the board, voters can choose not to vote for candidates from one or the other of those districts.
Clason said voters also can choose to vote for fewer than three candidates as long as they remember not to exceed the maximum number of votes allowed for candidates from each district. If a voter elects the maximum three candidates, the possible combinations are as follows: one from each district; none from District 1, one from District 2 and two from District 3; or one from District 1, none from District 2 and two from District 3.
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