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Voters will experience many changes at the polls during the May 2 primary election.
The old punch card system will no longer be used. Instead, everyone will cast their ballots using an electronic format. The touch of a stylus on a computer screen will indicate a voter's choice.
The equipment is available for "test votes" in the county clerk's office, located in the Justice Building in Warsaw.
Federal mandates have dictated that both the voting machines and the polling places be accessible to handicapped individuals. The county is complying with this regulation by purchasing the new machines and changing the location of 26 polling places.
Also this year, all voters must present a government identification card with a photograph of the voter. These can be a driver's license, a state identification card from the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, a passport or military identification card. The identification must contain an expiration date that is still current or that expired sometime after Nov. 2, 2004.
County Clerk Sharon Christner suggests voters without an ID go to the BMV an obtain one prior to May 2.
"If a person does not have an ID, they will be voting on a provisional ballot and still have to come to the clerk's office to present the ID so the ballot will be counted."
People going to the polls or casting absentee ballots must present an ID.
Call the clerk's office before the end of March if you aren't sure you're registered to vote.
People out of the area on election day, confined or caring for a confined person may cast an absentee ballot. Absentee voting begins April 3.
