11072018 - News Article - Porter County Indiana Waits For Election Results Nearly 24 Hours Later

Porter County Indiana Waits For Election Results Nearly 24 Hours Later
CBS - Chicago
November 7, 2018 at 5:45 pm
https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2018/11/07/porter-county-indiana-waits-for-election-results-nearly-24-hours-later/

CHICAGO (CBS)– Nearly 24 hours after the polls closed in Porter County, Indiana, voters still do not know the results.

The ballot count has been delayed due to polling place staffing issues and problems with absentee ballots.

Poll workers are describing the situation, at the Valparaiso administration building, as utter chaos and voters are feeling slighted.

Voters and poll workers on both sides are blaming the County Clerk’s office and Clerk Karen Martin, who recently gained authority of elections in the county.

“I don’t know how much of it comes down to malice versus incompetence versus just unpreparedness,” Vice Chair of the Valparaiso Democratic Committee, Shawn Barnes said.

Clerk Karen Martin was said to have never reported to the office and her deputy clerk had not been able to get messages to her.

The Board of Elections said they also had not seen Martin.

A small group braved the cold Wednesday afternoon to protest. One sign read, “Count My Vote.”

Kathy Sipple, a Valparaiso poll worker said she knew something was wrong when the absentee ballots did not arrive on time. Now she is worried her vote will not be counted.

“We didn’t have them at two, we didn’t have them at three, we didn’t have them at six,” she said.

John Vigilante, an election inspector from the Republican Party, diagnosed two major problems.

“They did not anticipate and staff correctly for distributing the ballots,” Vigilante said.

Meanwhile some precincts opened hours late and were understaffed. Vigilante said there were multiple volunteers who were never contacted.

“I think could have long term consequences to turn people off of voting which I think would be the absolute worst thing that could happen from all of this,” Sipple said.

It is unclear when voters can expect to see the results, but it will likely not be until Thursday.