Indiana and the General Election

There were a couple of issues that popped up during the Indiana Primary that made me think. As I mentioned in my last post, I've been very busy, and had little blogging time.

First off, many people were concerned that Lake County, IN took way too long to report results of the Democratic Primary. My real concern wasn't the amount of time it took to report, but the explanation that there was a huge number of absentee ballots to be counted- more than usual. To me, this is a double-edged sword- registered voters were actively exercising their voting rights, but at the same time, the county elections board did not respond to the large turnout.

This could mean trouble in the general election. Given the high numbers of newly-registered Democrats, Boards of Elections need to be prepared for those new voters to vote, PLUS large turnout from existing voters. Case in point, Porter County, IN ran out of ballots! This is unacceptable- especially given the number of new registrants. Porter County officials have vowed to have enough general election ballots for every registered voter in the county.

My concern/fear is the Provisional Ballot. If there is a question regarding your eligibility, the provisional ballot has been established as a way for you to vote, and have that vote counted if a judge rules in your favor. In 2004, we saw provisional ballots used in several places because the polling places ran out of ballots! I do not want a judge deciding whether my vote gets counted or not.