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Bluffton, Ind.

By Sarah Pulliam
To make sure the handicapped can make it to the polls, some Wells County voters will have to travel to a new place to vote next year.
More than 400 people in Jackson Township will vote three miles from the Mount Zion Conservation Club at the Southern Wells school with Chester Township residents.
The County Commissioners agreed to approve the move June 20 at the recommendation of County Clerk Beth Davis.
Polling places are required to be handicap accessible by Jan. 1, 2006, as a result of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Congress passed in 2002.
Wells County voters surveyed the 18 Wells County polling places to see whether the places met the HAVA standards.
The 4-H building was the only polling site that fulfilled the standards.
Some polling sites needed small changes such as signs added, but other sites like the conservation club will need to be moved.
If polling places are moved, they must be within five miles of the previous polling place.
The conservation club did not meet 11 requirements such as paving and door width, according to the survey results.
“It just had so many different areas that needed to be changed,” Davis said. “It was just easiest to change it to a place that was accessible.”
In addition, the County Commissioners agreed to change the entrance at the Bluffton Middle School polling place for Harrison East.
Voters at Bluffton Middle School would enter at the east side of the school, which is not wheelchair accessible. They will now enter with Harrison West on the west side of the school but still vote on different sides of the hall.
“It’s probably going to lead more traffic into that entrance but they’ll still be able to set their precincts,” Davis said. “I don’t think it’s going to create that much of a problem.”
Davis is also looking to move the poll sites at National Guard Armory and Community Christian School poll sites.
The National Guard Armory failed to meet nine requirements and Community Christian School failed to meet seven requirements.
Davis said even though some people will have to drive farther, she thinks the changes will go smoothly.
“We know there will be some people who don’t want it to change but it’s one of those things that you don’t have control over,” she said.
The Ossian Elementary School and the Ossian Town Hall are paving new parking lots before Davis re-evaluates the polling places.
“I think they’re going to be feasible changes,” she said. “Hopefully the new parking lot would take care of what we need there.”
Davis said she is still evaluating the Uniondale Fire Department, Petroleum United Methodist Church, Liberty Center United Methodist Church and Capri Meadows to see if changes are feasible.
Seven poll sites needed temporary handicap signs added. Davis said she applied to the state for a grant to fund the signs.
Voters whose polling places change will receive notification in the mail at the end of the year when the changes are finalized.
Changes continue in the election office as Janet Double will replace Dianna Huffman who resigned as the Wells County voter registration clerk next month.
Also, efforts to purge election records continue as returned postcards are being sorted alphabetically within precincts and checked against the poll books.
“We knew that this was going to be a long job and it’ll take us a long time to do but it’ll be worth the effort,” Davis said. “We just keep working on it every day, every spare moment we have.”
Out of the 21,200 postcards that were mailed May 26, Davis estimated one-fourth have been returned because the voter did not live at the address.
More than 21,000 registered voters live in the county, according to Davis.
In a county of 27,600 residents with 8,294 people under 19 years of age listed in the 2000 Census, the election office allows for more registered voters than possible.
Davis hopes to purge the records of people who have died or moved. Purging the records will increase the voter percentage and decrease risk of fraud.
Indiana is moving to a statewide voter registration by Jan. 1, 2006, as a result of HAVA.
The clerk’s office will send the current voter registration cards to the State Election division in the fall where the registration will be scanned and returned to the clerk’s office.
Each postcard contains pre-paid postage and must be signed and returned by Aug. 1 for a voter to remain active.
Voter registrations on inactive status will be canceled after the 2008 election. Voters who did not receive a postcard can contact the clerk’s office at 824-6497.
Wells County residents can register to vote at the clerk’s office, Bureau of Motor Vehicles or the State Election Division or online from the secretary of state’s Web site.