The Clark County Election Board voted Tuesday night not to count the physical ballots cast at Jeffersonville High School, reversing its own public notice that said it would. Instead, the board voted to leave it to candidates or party officials to file petitions for a recount, the News and Tribune reported.
The board adopted two resolutions introduced by its Republican members. Each passed 2-1, with the two Republicans voting yes and the Democratic member voting no, according to a person who attended the meeting. No ballots were counted.
Clark County Clerk Ryan Lynch, a Republican, said he had received conflicting guidance from the Indiana Election Division and was not comfortable unsealing ballot materials without the division’s permission under Indiana law, the News and Tribune reported. Board member Tony Singleton agreed. Board member Andrew Steele voted against Singleton’s resolution not to hold the count, saying he believes the board has the authority to act to make sure all ballots are counted.
The board’s notice, posted on the Clark County Voter Registration Office website, said the board would meet at 5 p.m. Tuesday to count the physical ballots cast at the Jeffersonville High School polling location for Jeffersonville Precincts 13, 23, 24 and 26. It said the board would count only the number of ballots and would not tally votes for any candidate, office or public question. The notice said the meeting was open to the public.
According to Lynch, a ballot scanner at the high school malfunctioned on Election Day, and a data stick had to be moved from that machine to a working one. During that process, concerns were raised about a discrepancy in the number of ballots between the two machines, Lynch said. He said ballots may not have been recorded properly by the second machine, which began running at 11:08 and was supposed to reflect voters who checked in before the first machine failed, the News and Tribune reported.
After the meeting, Indiana Democratic Party Chair Karen Tallian and 9th District Democratic Chair Adam Dickey said the board “acknowledged on the record that there are more votes recorded than there are voters.” They said several hours of votes from the jammed machine in four precincts may not have been counted. The party “will pursue all available legal avenues, including a recount and/or contest of the results in Senate District 45 and Clark County,” the statement said.
Unofficial results posted by the Indiana Election Division show Sen. Chris Garten, R-Charlestown, leading Democrat Nick Marshall 21,817 to 21,520, a 297-vote margin. Libertarian Larry Mahaney received 993 votes. The four precincts that voted at the high school cast 2,280 votes in the race, about 60% of them for Marshall, according to an IndyStar review of Secretary of State results.
Senate Republicans have chosen Garten as their next president pro tem. He has called the ballot concerns “politically motivated speculation.”
County election officials must certify results to the Indiana Election Division by noon Nov. 16. Candidates must file recount petitions by Nov. 19, and party officials have until Nov. 20, according to the News and Tribune.
Lynch did not return a message Indy Politics left Nov. 6.
