12142018 - News Article - Porter commissioners provide update on election investigation

Porter commissioners provide update on election investigation
NWI Times
December 14, 2018
https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/porter-commissioners-provide-update-on-election-investigation/article_8f4bef1d-bc1b-5821-9280-98d82027d1ff.html

VALPARAISO — As a variety of state agencies investigate the troubled Porter County election in November, some local officials are hoping to educate residents on the election responsibilities.

"The commissioners’ office has also been advised that an independent investigation into the Porter County general election breakdown has been launched by the Indiana Secretary of State’s Election Division in coordination with the Indiana State Police and Indiana State Board of Accounts. The commissioners’ office will fully cooperate with the election division, state board of accounts and state police, including providing complaints, emails and other correspondence received that pertain to the election, and urges all other officials to do the same," Porter County Commissioners Jeff Good, R-Center, Laura Blaney, D-South and Jim Biggs, R-North, stated in a news release Friday.

The statement also said the commissioners will not comment about the investigation while it is pending.

The November election was marred by a variety of problems, including a lack of poll workers, which delayed the opening of a dozen election sites causing those sites to be open past the traditional 6 p.m. voting deadline. That led to issues with provisional votes and a three-day delay in announcing election results.

Biggs said the commissioners wanted to give the public an update on the situation, letting residents know an investigation is underway.

Commissioners met with the FBI following the election and called for the resignation of Porter County Clerk Karen Martin, who many held responsible for the election problems. Martin's term expires Dec. 31. She was defeated in her effort to gain the Porter County auditor's seat during the election last month.

In addition, Biggs and Blaney said the second part of the release, a 19-page presentation titled "The Election Process: Roles & Responsibilities," was put together as an educational tool. The presentation can be found at porterco.org/DocumentCenter/View/5289.

"We felt that many of the residents calling us, voters or even the poll workers didn't know who has the responsibility in the election," Biggs said. "There were certainly a lot of questions people had."

"For me, the main reason was that very few people realize how elections work in Porter County," said Blaney, adding some of the issues which arose last month have to be addressed and people need to know how the system works.

"Knowledge is power," she said.