Another Indiana county approved the ability to vote at a number of locations on Election Day.
The Hamilton County Election Board voted Tuesday to join 72 other Indiana counties in adopting vote centers. The move will provide all voters with many designated centers to cast their ballots, as opposed to each having to go to a specific precinct.
Vote center legislation was first adopted in Indiana in 2011.
Hamilton County Clerk Kathy Kreag Williams served in the statehouse at the time and supported that legislation. However she was originally hesitant about adopting them in Hamilton County because they would consolidate existing precincts.
“The way our county is kind of heavy at the bottom in population, I never wanted to create a bigger problem by consolidating,” Williams said.
She supports them now.
Studies of vote centers show they reduce costs in part because there are fewer centers that need fewer poll workers and machines. They also show the vote center model provides counties with more flexibility and improves voter convenience.
The centers are not open for this election. They will be ready for Hamilton County voters during the 2027 Municipal Elections.
Williams says Hamilton County’s rapid growth played into the decision to adopt.
“We started to get to the point where we just kept adding more and more precincts, and it was getting harder and harder to find a location,” Williams said, “and people, they hear from their friends in other counties, and they go, ‘Well, why can't we do vote centers?’”
The three member election board needed a unanimous vote to adopt. Last year President Ray Adler voted against the proposal but said his opinion was changed after watching Allen County successfully implement vote centers last year.
Board members also pointed to the successful reestablishment of partnerships with every local school district to host vote center polling locations.
Contact WFYI Managing Editor Jill Sheridan at jsheridan@wfyi.org
