Indiana County's Voting Issue 'Resolved': Report

CENTRAL INDIANA — After several voters across the Indianapolis area reported problems at polling places Tuesday, especially in Johnson County, local officials have decided whether to keep polling places open longer. Election Systems & Software issued a statement (see below via WRTV) which said the issue in Johnson County has been resolved, after the poll book was running slowly.

According to several reports, Johnson and Tippecanoe counties closed at normal times despite late starts Tuesday morning, and the Porter County Election Board voted to keep polls open until 8:30 p.m. CST.

Voting problems were reported in several Indiana counties with ESS systems.

As of Tuesday morning, there are several reports of voting server outages at the Johnson County Courthouse.

Several voters told Propublica's Electionland hotline that poll workers in Marion County at the City of Lawrence Fire Station #37, 4902 N. German Church Road, were told there was no voting when they were at the site, because workers were counting absentee ballots.

One voter said they got up early to vote, got in line at 6 a.m. and poll workers shut down voting 45 minutes later to count absentee ballots. The voter said she and a few others left at 7:15 p.m., adding that the woman at the registration table said there was no voting right now because they needed to count absentee ballots, yelling "everyone needs to calm down, we need to count absentee ballots, as soon as we finish, we'll open up again." The voting was shut down for at least 30 minutes, according to the voter.

Two more tips were received from the same location, including a voter who said they waited over an hour and twenty minutes to vote and people were starting to leave because they were told that they are counting absentee ballots rather than allowing people to vote.

Another claim cited long lines and counting absentee votes before people in line could vote.

Patch has reached out to City of Lawrence officials regarding these claims.

Another person submitted a report Tuesday morning on behalf of their husband about the polling place located at IFD Station #3, 1136 Prosepct Street, Indianapolis. They claimed the voting location paused voting while their husband was in line at 7:30 a.m., in an effort to confirm early voting records for people with last names A-M, as no one in N-Z had been allowed to vote yet. The voter added that their husband had been there for about an hour without being checked in.

Electionland said Charles Stewart from the MIT Election Lab points out that the poll worker training book for Indiana states simultaneously that absentee ballots should be counted after polls close, but if not, the precinct election board shouldn't disclose the results.

"There is no indication why a polling site *would have to close* in order to count absentee ballots."

This story started as a tip from ProPublica's Electionland project, which monitors voting problems around the country. If you had trouble voting, or if you saw something you want to tell us about, here's how.

Breaking: Election software vendor says issue resolved in Johnson County. Statement from @essvote attached @rtv6 @stephmwade @PLewbel pic.twitter.com/8z07KRuh9H
— Rafael Sánchez (@RafaelOnTV) November 6, 2018

Also, make sure to report issues at the polls to 1-866-IN-1-VOTE (1-866-461-8683) or by emailing HAVAAdministrator@sos.in.gov. Or, call the Hoosier Voter Hotline at 1-866-IN-1-VOTE or the Indiana Election Division at 1-800-622-4941 to file a complaint about your polling place’s accessibility or to report you were denied the right to vote or possible fraudulent election activities.

More for Patch readers:

• Uber and Lyft are offering Election Day deals and potential freebies
• Indiana U.S. Senate Election Results: Donnelly Seeks 2nd Term
  

>>More information/assistance for Indiana voters

Images of Indiana voters via Rebecca Bream