- All right, the April 23rd, 2026 election board meeting is called to order. We will start with the clerk's
- update on early voting and Senate Bill 10. Good afternoon. On the absentee ballot statistics, I wanted
- to make the board aware that 1,129 ballots were mailed out.
- have had 332 of those ballots returned, which means that we are still awaiting 797 ballots. With respect
- to emailed ballots, we have emailed 64. We have received back 15. And so we are waiting for 49 emailed
- ballots to be returned to us.
- With respect to Senate Bill 10, I was at an election conference last week and I got a call from one
- of the clerks because I live in Bloomington and she was the one who broke news to me about the injunction.
- As far as I am aware in Monroe County, one person voted in that window using their student identification
- and then just the other day I called
- the Secretary of State's office to ask for some guidance on what we would do for any students who voted
- using their ID in that window. And he said, well, we just got the stay, meaning we are not able to use
- IDs at this time. But a very wise person at the election conference said, this can change back and forth
- between now, literally between now and election day.
- at, on this very day, at this very moment, we cannot accept student IDs to vote. And so we're just doing
- the best we can in terms of training packets and poll worker training to make sure that they have the
- most up-to-date information from whatever the judge's ruling is. And we will just move forward in that
- manner until election day. I do have a statute
- to decide about if the student's ballot is going to count. I have no reason to believe that it won't,
- but I also have the Indiana code to support our being able to count it. We have that discussion. It
- strikes me that it was legal at the time that ballot was cashed in our Itcher account. That's exactly
- right. So since you said that, that's exactly how I felt. You can't punish somebody
- for something that wasn't a crime when they did it. But specifically, the IED referred me to Indiana
- Code 3-5-4, I'm sorry, let me do it again, 3-5-4.5-2, which is a person may not challenge the right
- of an individual to vote at an election in the precinct solely based on the basis of that individual's
- enrollment at an
- in an educational institution or registration to vote at an address that is housing provided for the
- student by the educational institution. At the time that the ballot was submitted, the law was, it was,
- it was, I would, let somebody file another suit, oh please, about that, I would see no reason not to
- count that. But we also, we don't record what kind of ID people provide as proof, and so there would
- be, I think, written there,
- that we would have to bear. That correct. I'm just saying one person used their student ID and I'm prepared
- to count that person's ballot. That's all I'm saying. And this is akin to Indiana weather. Wait 10 minutes.
- That's exactly what they said at the election conference last week. Okay. And we do need an early voting
- turnout update.
- voting turnout update we are currently at 2,095 as of 1 20 p.m. today at the end of day yesterday we
- were at 1,980 I noticed that we were we got 200 yesterday so those number yesterday's number was 209
- so we're picking up and people were
- coming out and today that we can do a little plug right now today is gorgeous out there. The walk was
- over here was amazing. And so we're open until six o'clock. Come out and take advantage of this beautiful
- weather and vote early. And then this Saturday is the first Saturday of early voting. So
- actually, Richard Crider called me on the way over here. We were talking about the parking lot. So that
- parking lot is normally used for many farmers market goers. So me and Richard are both working together
- to find a solution to make sure that that's not happening too much in that lot so that there's still
- plenty of space for voters to park. And just for the record again, what are the hours Saturday? Are
- they the same? Nine to four. Are the meters enforced on farmers market Saturdays?
- I believe so. Yeah. Where I park on Farmers Market Day. Okay. Mr. Kreider is working on things. He's
- not coming. Kylie, do you have an overview of the letter that was sent, please?
- I have the letter that was sent from Richard Crider to the election board. It says, dear members of
- the election board, thank you for including me on your agenda for a building update. I respectfully
- decline to attend this meeting, but I am happy to provide a brief update on current items in progress.
- Currently, we have not yet placed the order for voter registration furniture, but I anticipate completing
- that soon.
- I am also in the process of obtaining a quote to replace the remaining used chairs in the early voting
- area, and he attached an image of that. And then the pedestal and activation switches for the door to
- enter from the lobby space into voter registration. That has been looked at, and they are working on
- getting that
- So that's the important part. Okay. And then the microwave and refrigerator will be being delivered soon.
- We can circle back, Mr. Chair, for the voting on Saturday. Nobody wants to get a ticket. Those little
- bright orange envelopes are no fun. But I just want to remind anybody that is able to take a few steps
- that the parking garage is only $0.50 an hour for the garage that's behind the hotel. That'll be the
- trades district garage that is directly behind the showers building. Oh, I'm sorry. You're fine. I was
- thinking about the one
- the one behind the Hilton. So the one behind trades, the trades district garage that is directly behind
- the showers building is 50 cents an hour. So if the lot were full, that would be a cheaper option than
- parking at a meter. Right. Well, yes. Yeah. 50 cents an hour. Yes. But it doesn't take long to vote.
- I was able to do it in less than 10 minutes. So you might even be able to get away with just putting
- a couple quarters in.
- Something about having to pay to park just doesn't sit right with me. I am merely trying to save. Oh,
- I understand. I understand. Because a ticket is $30. Something about that. I wish there was a way to
- get around that. I might know personally that a ticket is $30. But yes, a friend told you that. A friend
- did tell me that. OK. Miss Molly, we have some resolutions that you've sent out to us that we need to
- deal with.
- So I believe the first one on the agenda is appointment of the Election Day workers. Okay. So since
- this resolution appoints the Election Day workers,
- I do need to fill in the days that we got the list, and I believe Ms. Farris is indicating that was
- this morning. So would you like me to read the resolution? I read it when I got the email today. I've
- seen what it says. Have you ma'am had a chance to see it? Unless we have to. You don't, but I don't
- think the public has seen it, but that's OK.
- It's the same resolution that was passed in past years. It indicates that the county chairman will make
- nominations. The Democratic chairman person makes nominations for inspector and all the other positions.
- Republican will make nominations for all positions but inspector. We will attach their list. I will
- fill in the dates.
- The now therefore be it resolved clause indicates that pursuant to Indiana code 36611, the individuals
- listed in exhibit A and B, which will be the attached list, are duly appointed as precinct election
- officers for the primary election occurring in May of 2026, contingent on their acceptance
- of the administered oath. Okay, and we've got that list of names.
- I'm going to let you give me the legal procedure to follow. Do we just make a motion to accept these?
- Correct. So if the election board is OK with the resolution, there should be a motion. I would recommend
- a motion to accept with a second and then a voice vote. I will move that we adopt these. I will second.
- I have a question about this. It looks like there's still lots to be filled.
- So do we need to back to have those officially added or what? So when I spoke with Matt Kochibar after
- our last meeting and asked if we could do a blanket where we accept anybody now, one of the
- options that he gave was that the board could decide to allow the clerk to fill those so that we don't
- need to keep meeting and approving those. And so I will happily step up and as we get employed, as we
- get poll workers for election day, I'm happy to go ahead and have those slots filled without our needing
- to come back. As long as they're trained. They will be trained. They will be trained, yeah.
- I will also state that in the past on election day, we have done a final approval of the full list since
- up to the morning of election day. We're still making replacements and pulling people and putting people
- in. So, and that's generally the people who are calling and saying that they're unable to work that
- day. I know 2024 we did do that on election day for the general. And I think the primary we did it the
- night before the election, which are both times that we already have publicly noticed that the election
- board will be meeting.
- Again, as I mentioned earlier, I've trained referees. I didn't need to hire, but when I needed them,
- I really was glad they were trained. So if we have things happen and she needs to put people in, I'd
- trust you to put people in. So there's no reason that I can see not to. Just let you put them in.
- Thank you. So how do we?
- So that would be a resolution basically that the election board under Indiana Code 36519 is delegating
- that authority to the clerk. So I would need a few minutes to, I think I can incorporate it in this
- resolution, but I would need a few minutes to amend it accordingly. Okay, why don't you do that real
- quickly? And let's see. We can take the votes on it.
- Can we go ahead and vote on that with the changes that you are making since we trust you to make the
- changes we just set up? Yes, but I think the motion would be a motion to approve the resolution with
- the requested amendments. I will withdraw my motion and I will make a new motion that we accept this
- list with the adjustments being made, the adjustments we've talked about.
- Those adjustments are the delegation of power for the clerk to appoint vacancies after today's appointment.
- Yes. Second. Those in favor, aye. Aye. Opposed? OK, so Molly, does that help you with what you need?
- It does. OK, now we also have one about who is your hall pass workers, which I thought was really cool.
- The training I went through out of high school kids there. So this resolution.
- We've passed it in the prior elections as well. It allows students who are 16 years of age but not 18
- to have the opportunity to serve as an election officer. Pursuant to the code, there are a few things
- that they have to meet, and that is listed in the statute. So at least 16 but not 18. The student is
- a citizen. The student is a resident of Monroe County. The individual has a cumulative GPA of equivalent not
- less than three on a four-point scale. Do they either have permission from their principal, attend a
- school that is closed on that day, or have homeschooled the permission of whoever's in charge of their
- education. They have parental or guardian permission. They've satisfied the training requirement of
- the election board, and otherwise is not, by statute, ineligible to serve. We'll note that
- in this resolution, I drafted it
- exactly as it was in past elections. That's not what I was thinking of, but that works. And it allows
- the students to serve in the capacity of a clerk. The statute does say that the election board is to
- designate what capacity the students are to serve in. And it allows the board to say that the students
- can serve as any election officer except for inspector.
- provide assistance to an any election officer or provide assistance in the preparation of absentee ballots.
- I didn't put the provide assistance language in there because they haven't done that in the past. They've
- only served in the capacity of the clerk. However, I did want to make the election board aware that
- those are options in case it's this board's purview to expand how the students are serving. Mr. Chair,
- I would request that the students be allowed to serve in any capacity except for the judge
- You never know what is going to happen on election day where we might need to ask someone to step into
- another role. And so that would be my preference. What did I say? I was thinking inspector slash judge
- because of the classes. But yes, in the role of, in any role except inspector, please excuse me. I was
- having that thought myself.
- I too have seen some trainings with the young people in them, and they seem very eager to serve on Election
- Day. I had a sweet young lady who was too shy to ask a question. I give everyone a chance to ask questions.
- She was a very sweet young lady who was too shy to ask in front of everybody, but she saw me in the
- hallway and asked the question that she wanted to ask, and she looks forward to working on Election Day.
- incredible young people stepping up to serve. I want them to be excited about this, happy to pray for
- their prom shoes. That would be my preference, Mr. Chair. I have no problem. Do we need to do that?
- Do you need a form of a motion? Sure. I will make a motion that with respect to the Hoosier
- that students be allowed to serve in any open position except for the inspector. I'll second that. Question.
- I do have a question and this is because of something that somebody and I really don't remember who
- it was at the training that I went to for the inspectors and judges. Somebody there said that the 16
- and 17 year olds can serve as either a Democrat or Republican because they don't have
- voting history, but yet they are nominated by either the Democratic or the Republican Party. So why
- aren't they identified as such? They're not nominated by one or the other party. They are brought in
- as a group by both of the recruiters. So when they go to the schools, both recruiters are there and
- they just go on a separate list. They're not put on a Democratic list or Republican list. Okay.
- All right. This says the county chairman
- So I thought that was a single party. I haven't seen the resolutions. So the other day when I was there
- and some of the students got tied up leaving class and coming and missed 15 minutes. Can you repeat?
- I didn't hear the last part. When I was there the other day for the training, there were some students
- that got stuck.
- getting out of Edgewood, and they missed 10 to 15 minutes. How do we get them caught up? So generally,
- it's we have them stay after the class to catch them up on that. And then we change the time that they
- are leaving from the training on that slip that we had presented the students. And I wasn't panicked
- about it. I figured the difference, they could handle that that morning. Yeah.
- I mean, there are times that that does happen in the morning of and the inspector will, if they know
- that that individual was not able to be there for the full training, then the inspector will go through
- it with them to make sure that they are up to date on it. But the part of that training that they had
- missed was what time they needed to be at the location of their polling location and a couple other
- of the details that are important but is in their training material.
- And students can be up that early in the morning. I'm sorry, go ahead. And I think I did make a quick
- change to Ms. Givens' point, because it did say nominations are from the county chairman. So I changed,
- with the board's approval, the fourth whereas clause to read, whereas nominations of student poll workers
- were received from election worker recruiters on, and then I will fill in the date, and said nominations
- are attached as exhibit A, and I will attach a list.
- which is incorporated herein and made part of this resolution. So there's no Exhibit B on that one?
- I'm being provided one list, so it will be one list. So I took out the Exhibit B language. Okay.
- My motion, you second. I haven't voted yet, have we? Those in favor, aye.
- Okay, so now we have our I Just think it's great to get those to get the kids involved We need to at
- the county fair at the respective party booths Work harder on that. We talked. I remember we we talked
- about it last year. We didn't push it that much Because they get normal pay, right? Yeah, they get normal
- pay as any of other worker does and so actually
- On the student poll workers, whenever I was in the SEATS program and I had to do a capstone project,
- mine was called Civic Student Network, and it's specifically directed towards high school students to
- get them more involved, and this is one of the main things that I really push in that program that I
- created with the schools and helping them get educated on how elections work, but also giving them the
- opportunity to be hands-on in the civic roles, and just to have that
- live experience of what Election Day looks like.
- They were waking up. We were there pretty early in the morning. They were waking up, but the class went
- really well. I ended up being at the state house for a legislative matter, and a young man came out
- of a line. There was clearly a line of students going to this particular part of the state house, and
- he came out and walked toward me, and I thought, I don't know this young person. He must be mistaking
- me, but he had been at North, and he came and he worked for us on election day. I said,
- Did you get your check yet? And he said he did. And he thanked us for the opportunity to work. So even
- though they weren't quite awake when we were there, Election Day working was really meaningful to them.
- And I really do believe that if we get them involved at this time, we'll have voters for life. Yeah.
- The students really enjoy it.
- when we've gone and I haven't really been able to do a lot this year with going to the high schools
- like I have in the past just because of all the changes, the new location, trying to make sure everybody
- is comfortable and making sure that we have coverage everywhere. But they always have said that they
- really enjoy us coming and they would love to see us come more often. So I think that's something that
- I'm gonna start looking at with the local high schools. Oh, and
- We did go from the primary of 2024 of only having, I think it was 30 high school students that signed
- up to work to 180 in the general of 2024. And this year, currently, we are looking at 94 for the primary.
- That's the way to go. I don't know about timing. I would be more than willing to go, depending upon
- scheduling,
- We can't go at the same time, I know that. But we'd be happy to go with you. I would appreciate that.
- And you do the students, yeah? Yeah. Yeah. OK. Is there any public comment? Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead, ma'am.
- I did want to provide the election board or update on two other resolutions that are not before this
- board But that will be before the commissioners and the council the resolution before the council occur
- on the 28th and before the commissioners on the 30th at this month and what these resolutions do is codify a
- in our respective code sections, the ability to provide the absentee workers who work on election days,
- such as travel board and leads, the same annual allowance that the precinct election workers get. Our
- code only referred to the precinct election workers, so I just wanted to make the code match the practice
- that was occurring. Sounds like something we ought to do. Okay, thank you.
- Again, I don't see any comments. Anything from the board? I have some things from the board or from
- myself. I've attended all three types of training, the early voting for the clerks, the election day
- clerk, and one for the judges and inspectors. I was under the impression that the inspectors at least
- were going to receive some kind of DS training, and that did not occur.
- And so maybe I just misunderstood, but I know I had been asking about it. And there was nothing in the
- packets, and nothing was said about it whatsoever. So Kylie and I did meet with the sheriff, and we
- had asked him if he would be able to help us with some de-escalation training. I think it's just between
- as busy as the sheriff's office is and as busy as we are that that did not happen
- in the way that we would hope, there's also a concern that it would add to the amount of time that we
- have those training and the money to pay them for that additional time. So it is not something I'm happy
- to continue trying to work on that as we approach the general, but it is not something that worked out
- primarily.
- Also, you know, I've at least raised the issue multiple times about emergency situations. I'd like to
- see one of the binders that the inspectors pick up on Saturday so that we can see what the different
- emergency situations that are in there and what the instructions are. Covered in our training last December.
- Are they in your office?
- Yeah, we have a copy of every emergency exit plan and shelter in place plan for each location that goes
- into the binders. We also have, in addition, the emergency guide that is the same but goes to every
- location, and that is a step-by-step of this is the solutions that you should be taking, and these are
- the, like,
- one of the portions is for a fire, you need to be talking to all of your poll workers to know where
- to go to meet at if there is a fire. And that's going over those plans as well as what's inside of those
- binders. Would there be any reason we couldn't stop by your office? Yeah, that's fine. Okay. It's also
- a good time to give a shout out to Miss Jamie at Emergency Management Services, who is generous enough
- to attend those meetings with us when her schedule permits. And she checks in with
- you, with me, whatever to see that we are okay, if we need anything, and is happy to help us coordinate
- in that way.
- Yeah, Jamie in 2024 helped with preparing that emergency guide that we put into all of those binders
- for the inspectors. She also supplied us with some weather radios that go out to each location as well,
- in addition to helping us with preparing the emergency kit that we have created for each of the locations
- as well. So I also, at the training with that, or election day specifically,
- I was not clear about whether or not ballots were to be counted after the polls closed. Yesterday Ashley
- did tell the clerks that they might be asked, those were specific words that she used, to count the
- ballots, but I didn't hear that at all and I didn't see it in the training packet for the inspectors
- and judges. So will the ballots be counted, are they to be counted twice, which is what is in the training
- material we looked at first.
- Are they to be going into stacks of 25? The inspectors are the ones with the judges who count the ballots.
- They are trained that during the training classes that they will be doing that. We suggest that they
- do stacks of 25 to make it easier for them to keep track of how many that they are so that they don't
- have to stop and recount again. And the clerks are
- potentially asked to help if they are needing help specifically for those larger locations where there
- are more ballots cast. That was not said at the training I was at. Are there judges and inspectors?
- I was at the training on Tuesday. Is it in the material?
- I was at the training as well. But it is in the material? Yes. Which was approved by the Indiana election
- division? And by this election board. Thank you. What was handed out looks very different from what
- we approved also. It's the same ones. The only changes that were made were the changes that you presented
- to Ashley and myself to make. And it looks very different. I appreciate the fact that the
- The packets were very, very well organized and ready for people when they walked in the door. But I
- was taking notes while I was out the training, and I didn't hear that said at all. I think I would have
- caught it. It was important. Also, when you guys were demonstrating the TouchWriter, I asked if audio
- was available in Spanish. And you all thought it was. Have you figured that out?
- Is there just a toggle? I have not had the time to reach out to Hart. I think that is something that
- if, Clerk Brown, if you'd be able to reach out to Hart to get clarification on if it is available to
- switch over to Spanish or not. I know you have a phone call with Hart anyway, so. I'll text him now.
- Thank you so much. How many pages?
- I'm sorry. I'm going to call, I'm going to text him now how many pages are left. The information board
- that used to be on a trifold, you had it in, you showed, but there were a lot of things that were just
- a single eight and a half by 11. I think it would be good to include a picture of how you want that
- organized in with the material that goes up on that board.
- We have went ahead and put those items into the information board to make it easier for the inspectors
- on Election Day. Will it be in there? It's already in there. OK. A lot easier. The training site was
- at also, again, all the Election Day workers heard that there's now a 50-foot radius. It was a 50-foot
- radius in 2024 as well.
- There was an emphasis on no campaigning. I think it would just be good to add to future things that
- that includes that no campaign signs can be within that radius, just so that they hear it. I mean, you
- know that. I know that. Everybody up here knows that. But I'm not sure that a 17-year-old clerk would
- know that. That was stated at the one I was in. OK. Well, also, at the
- election day trainings I attended, Ashley indicated that if the election board needs to go out to a
- polling location that all three election board members would have to go. Is that correct? The three
- election board members are to be present if they are going anywhere. If they're going anywhere. To any
- of the polling locations they are supposed to be together. So my understanding was that it was at least
- a bipartisan
- bipartisan. Yeah, we were looking into the code. It does state that it has to be the election board
- must be present if they are going to a polling location. If that's the case, is there a fleet vehicle
- that you have access to that day? We do not vehicle. Um, we need to clarify that.
- that was stated at the one I was. What? No, I'm glad that Ashley are there. Kylie has has clarified.
- Um. In the packet for early voting, there was instruction sheets for the greeter, but I didn't see that
- in the other stuff for Election Day. Will there be greeters at no insights? Okay, no polling locations.
- There are not greeters. That's only for early voting. Um. And then
- I just felt it would have been good to take one minute to go through that decision tree that you all
- worked on so well when you were doing the training. I'd like to see the deescalation.
- That is something that we wanted to do. We were working with the sheriff and hopeful that they would
- be able to help provide that, even if it was them doing the training to us and then us doing it for
- the poll workers. But that's just something that has not been able to happen. And I think it's something
- that we're hopeful can happen, but I don't see it happening quickly. No, I don't really see that being
- a huge issue for the primary.
- If you're trying to get the sheriff to put it together, which you indicated you are, if we have something
- together by November, I would think that would be sufficient. I'd be very surprised if we had any issues
- during the primary election. Hope not, Jim. Is that something that Ms. Neibel could help with? I'm sorry?
- Is that something that Jamie Neibel could help with? The emergency management director for the county.
- Certainly would value and accept any perspective that she had. She's absolutely wonderful.
- And as I say, she's taken the meetings with Kylie and myself. So I'm happy to, I think she's coming
- to the meeting with us tomorrow, right? I believe so. I will mention that to her in hope that we can
- something together. Hey, Molly, you took off to do something. Do you need? I think I got everything
- that I need. OK. All right. Just making sure that. Any other comment? You know, this is a good opportunity
- to thank Ashley. She's actually training a class right now as we are here that I had hoped to get over
- to. Ashley works very, very hard, not only making sure that she
- has the most up-to-date information in the training packets for our workers, but also taking the feedback
- after we've had an election, taking the feedback that's given to us from the people who were actually
- on the scene at the polling sites on election day. And that is what informs the training that we give
- out based on the experiences of the poll workers. And so when you don't
- work at a poll every election, or you don't know necessarily what the most up-to-date election laws
- are, it's very easy to pick apart. But she works so hard, and she gives up an evening and weekend job
- to help make sure that all of our poll workers are trained properly ahead of the election. So even though
- she's not here to get the accolades, I am very appreciative of the training work that she does.
- Every time I have come in, I've not gotten a complaint from a worker about the training that they received.
- Thank you. And I will state, she is about halfway through of all of her training classes. This is class
- 11 of 22, and we might be adding an additional two as backup classes. Well, I don't have a ton of experience
- dealing with this. However, what I've seen with everything has been thrown at you guys at new office,
- moving when you didn't expect to,
- All of the things going, I just want to commend you for, you know, glitches happen. I don't care who
- you are, what job you do, glitches happen. And I think you guys have handled those well. So thank you.
- And please pass it on to Ashley and the rest of your staff. Thank you very much. With nothing else,
- I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Second. Those in favor, aye. Aye. Our next
- gathering will be? May 4th. May 4th. In the afternoon-ish.
- four or five o'clock. I don't think that's actually set quite yet. It's set. I just don't remember exactly
- what time it is. It's either four or five o'clock. Okay, I believe it's four o'clock and we start making
- those calls and those have already been noticed. Correct? Yes, those were all noticed. They were part
- of the annual notice that we sent out. I went ahead and took care of that one in election day so that
- they were already squared away before the year started. And also we don't plan to meet on the seventh.
- We're gonna probably have enough of each other all regardless by the time we get to that. So we are
- adjourned.