By SHARI FRANK, guest columnist
Midterm elections are over — Whew! The political ads are finally over, at least until the 2020 election kicks in. Meanwhile, it’s a great time to look at the voting process, see what went well, what problems occurred and think about ideas that will help improve the ease and security of voting.
Statewide in Indiana, there are 5,000 precincts or election districts, and it takes over 30,000 poll workers to run Indiana’s elections. In Brown County alone, we have about 84 poll officials, with one inspector, two judges, two poll clerks and two sheriffs at each of our 12 precincts, at 10 different polling locations — plus absentee ballot counters, technicians, the Brown County clerk and staff, and the election board. That’s a lot of moving parts!
League of Women Voters Brown County (LWVBC) values transparency in all facets of government, including the voting process. Voting is key to the very foundation of our democracy — giving citizens a chance to have their voice heard. LWV supports voters’ rights and making sure everyone has access to exercise their right to vote.
Yet, we realized there is a lot “behind the scenes” that we don’t know — laws, who does what and how it works. We decided we needed to understand more about what it takes to manage the elections. So, six members of LWVBC decided to observe democracy in action — voting.
Becoming a ‘watcher’
No one can ‘observe’ in the polling places unless they have an official role authorized by the county election board. There are only a few ways to become an authorized watcher/observer. One can work with a political party as a Democratic watcher, or a Republican watcher, or as a media watcher with a local media outlet. Since the League of Women Voters is nonpartisan, members did not want to have to claim a political party to be a watcher. As a result, we worked with Editor Sara Clifford of The Democrat to become nonpartisan media watchers.
Before serving as a media watcher, members of LWVBC wanted to know more about the Indiana laws governing the voting process so we would know what to expect. As part of the education process, we attended Brown County poll worker training, reviewed the Indiana poll worker online training, and reviewed lots of other materials. We learned that there are tons of complex rules governing elections!
There are rules to make sure voters are eligible to vote, registered to vote and vote only in the precinct where they live. More rules protect voter access to vote, make sure voting machines are secure and voter privacy is protected. And, to avoid the possibility of one political party unduly influencing the process, there are rules to make sure both a Republican and a Democrat carry out important activities together, such as checking voter IDs, voter signatures, assisting voters, handling voting machines, and much more.
As media watchers, we observed the voting process at eight different precincts. We saw that there is an amazing group of people who dedicate themselves to a very long, 13-hour-plus day to make the election process work. Poll officials (clerks, judges, sheriffs) smiled, were courteous, and were dedicated to making sure everyone who wanted to vote could cast their ballot. Poll workers went out of their way to try to ensure voters were given the right to vote.
Even with all the preparation, precautions and dedication, there were some problems.
Some voters showed up in the wrong precinct, didn’t register by the Indiana deadline 30 days before the election, or experienced other difficulties. Voters at some precincts suffered delays caused by equipment problems and a temporary road closure making it hard to get to the poll. Poll officials followed their procedures to solve problems as they occurred, contacting the Brown County Election Board for solutions if they couldn’t be solved at the precinct level. Again, officials worked hard to do what they could to make sure voters could vote.
One couple had arrived early in the morning but found a long line at the poll. They had to leave without voting because they needed get to work and couldn’t wait. They returned before the polls closed. “We were worried we wouldn’t make it back in time because we don’t always get out of work before 6 p.m.” But they did. “It’s no one’s fault. Things happen,” they said. Poll workers indicated they’d seen many others who’d been forced to leave in the morning who made it back to vote. But, there is no way to know how many people did not make it back, and could not vote, if any.
Why doesn’t everyone vote?
Those who didn’t vote, for whatever reason, are reflected in voter turnout rates. Voter turnout varies from election to election. In the last four general election cycles, an average of 62 percent of eligible Americans voted in presidential elections. In that same period, Indiana averaged a disappointing 59.5 percent, while Minnesota averaged the highest voter turnout rate of any state in the nation at nearly 75 percent! (Source: Pew Research)
What makes voter turnout higher in some states than others? You can’t vote if you aren’t registered. In Indiana, registration ends a month before Election Day. Minnesota and 14 other states allow same-day voter registration. The Election Day registration policy has been shown to boost turnout. Other laws that affect voter turnout and vary state to state include ease of absentee voting, early voting, voter ID laws, length of time polls are open, automatic voter registration and more.
Another reason people don’t vote is they think their vote doesn’t matter. This is so tough to hear. Voting is our voice. Voting is how we pick the people who will decide whether voter laws make it easy or hard to vote. There have been tied elections decided by drawing a name from a hat — seriously. One more vote could have made the choice instead of luck of a random draw.
The people we vote into office decide how our tax dollars are spent, how clean the water and air must be, how well public education is supported and just about everything that affects our daily lives. The right to vote for all citizens was fought for by many disenfranchised groups over the years. Early voting in the United States was restricted to white men who owned property. Over the years, people have been beaten, arrested and abused fighting for the right to vote. Women earned the right to vote in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment. Youth aged 18-20 have only been allowed to vote since 1971 when the 26th Amendment passed.
It’s a right. It’s a responsibility. We think it’s worth jumping through some legal hoops to exercise your right vote. We hope you do, too.
LWVBC will continue to support voter rights, voter education and other ways to keep our democracy healthy. If you’d like to join us or want more information about the League of Women Voters, Brown County, please contact us: www.lwvbrowncounty.org.
What’s your story?
We’d like to hear from you. How did it go? Did you choose not to vote? Why? Was this your first time voting? Was your experience smooth or did you have problems? If you had problems, what were they and what was the outcome? Was it hard or easy to get to the polls on time? Did you vote early or absentee or absentee travel board? Share your story. Write to [email protected].
Many thanks to The Democrat for giving us the opportunity to be media watchers and to help run back vote tallies so The Democrat newspaper could be first to report election results, and thanks to members of LWVBC who served as media watchers; Shari Frank, JoAnne Himebaugh, Jeanne Lager, Pam Raider, Cathy Rountree and Laurie Teal.
Shari Frank is president of the League of Women Voters of Brown County.
