Hamilton County Election Board blocks voter center election model

HAMILTON COUNTY, Ind. — Precinct voting is set to remain in place for Hamilton County residents ahead of next year’s primary and general elections.

According to a news release, the Hamilton County Election Board announced that it did not record the unanimous vote that was needed for the county to transition to a countywide Vote Center model.

Although the proposal received unanimous approval from the Hamilton County Commissioners and the Hamilton County Council, the proposal fell one vote short when Republican appointee Ray Adler voted against it. County Clerk Kathy Williams and the Democratic appointee Greg Purvis voted in favor of the measure.

“With our growth, to over 280,000 registered voters, it was the right fit at the right time,” Williams said. “We have been patient, worked through the process, and were at a point where it would have worked for us. It all came down to needing three votes and we were one short.”

Adler referenced Allen County’s recent decision to move forward with the Vote Center Model when explaining his reasoning behind his vote.

“I just think we should let Allen County go through it and see what problems they have,” Adler said. “We’re changing voting for hundreds of thousands of people and I want to make sure it’s not an experiment.”

As of this article’s publication, 68 of Indiana’s 92 counties have adopted the Vote Center model. The Hamilton County Election Board referenced a recent survey that was distributed throughout the county, which showed that 60% of those surveyed supported the passage of a vote center model, while a further 10% were indifferent.

“It’s disappointing because I know there was a lot of bipartisan support for the measure,” Purvis said. “I wish Mr. Adler had shared some of his concerns more openly. Maybe we could have worked through it. We’ve spent a lot of time trying to make sure this worked right just to have it go nowhere.”

More counties have recently been exploring the possibility of adopting a vote center model, as the Delaware County Election Board approved a plan to introduce vote centers throughout the county earlier this month.

Had the vote center model been approved, it would have allowed residents to cast votes at 57 countywide locations. Now the county will need to find polling locations for 15 new precincts, bringing the total number up to 235.