Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Any action on allegations of election violations will begin with the local election board, according to the Indiana election code.
The election board comprises attorney Steve Hearn, county clerk Marsha McSherry and Warsaw resident Joe Banks. If they deem the violations to be significant, they can forward the issue to the county prosecutor.
Steven Haines, Kosciusko County Democrat Party chairman, said he and former election board member Maxine Pifer went to David Kolbe after the last general election with complaints and "he didn't even know it was his responsibility to take care of it," said Haines. "And then he took no action (on the complaints.)"
That goes against a statement by Hearn, who said, "There has not been a problem in the past and if you stop and look at the procedure, it would be pretty hard to create a problem with doing it."
Pifer and Haines allege that election laws were violated when absentee ballots were transported without equal representation from each political party. Election codes state that the ballots can be tranported only if a member of each party is present. Absentee ballots in Kosciusko county were transported by individual sheriff's deputies, Haines and Pifer allege.
Hearn said the election board's main interest is to make sure the election runs smoothly. He said that if a procedure is working there is no need to "re-invent the wheel."
Under the Indiana statutes, the sheriff's department can be called upon to "assist the election board in the discharge of their duties," said Hearn, supported by IC 3-6-5-33, indicating that one of those duties was to get the absentee ballots to where they needed to be.
Using the sheriff's department, he said, was the best way to get that done since they had cars on the road, knew where the places were and how to get there, and had radios in case something needed to be changed or fixed.
McSherry said that during the primary election only one ballot had to be transferred to a different district, which, she said, was better than the 1996 "nightmare."
Hearn also said that the IED told the election board that what they were doing was perfectly correct.
However, Robertson has reaffirmed that under no circumstances should the absentee ballots be transported without the proper representation of both political parties.
Whether that constitutes a violation of election law is the big question.
Pifer believes much of the problem lies in the lack of knowledge and education on the election process. She is putting on pressure to get a better system of education for election workers.
McSherry said the problem actually rests on the state. She said when the clerk's office certifies the voter lists, the state sends their own lists of changes and modifications, which is where the problems arise.
"We're going to try real hard to get some extra training from the state," said Haines. "It may cost the party a little money but it's something I've already talked to Michelle Livinghouse, up in Marshall County, about doing a joint training and I think that's what we're going to do."
The county already has training for election workers, but the problem, according to Haines, is that all of the classes are held during the day. Not only does the county expect the workers to take a day off work for the election but to also take time off for the training.
McSherry said that the turn-out for training this year was exceptional and that the election workers should be commended for the sacrifice and job that they do.
Despite that, Haines said, the county needs to have some night-time and some weekend sessions so that everyone has a chance to participate and gain at least the minimum county training.
Haines is hopeful the state training will be available for the Democratic workers in time for the next fall election.
McSherry, however, is confident that with the hiring of William J. Holder, the new Geographical Information Systems manager, the registration and districting will be running much smoother.
She also said the state will be implementing a new computer system which will have automatic voter districting, which McSherry believes will improve the process.
She said, "There's bound to be problems," especially when the county is so large: 40,000 registered voters and 62 precincts.
Pifer said she wants to have the Indiana Election Code manuals available in the county, and Haines agrees.
The manuals should be available to every precinct during the election, but they are currently not available. It was Haines' understanding that the county was responsible for providing the appropriate manuals.
The county currently provides an "Election Day Handbook" which outlines the duties for the day. McSherry said that everyone who attends the training gets one of the manuals.
