Clerk: Don’t fall for election registration scam

Wayne County’s Election Board has begun taking steps to make sure that ballots for the Nov. 5 election are accurate and will be counted correctly. 

However, not everyone has residents’ best interests at heart. Wayne County’s clerk is already aware of at least one scammer’s efforts to try to get local voters to share their private information by saying their voter registration has lapsed when it hasn’t. 

Avoiding scam

Wayne County Clerk of Courts Debbie Berry said she’s had several residents say they’ve received texts or emails encouraging them to check their voter registration and when they do, it said they’re no longer registered. Recipients are asked for their birth date and Social Security number. 

However, Berry says it’s a scam, because Indiana’s secretary of state and local voter registration offices don’t send messages to voters encouraging them to click on a link. She doubts these messages are any kind of international election interference, and instead are just scammers trying to take advantage of people like fraudulent messages appearing to come from financial institutions or package deliverers.

Berry checked the registrations for people who’ve asked her about the message, and determined they are current voters.  

Hoosiers’ legitimate, secure site to check voter registration is indianavoters.com. Or, local voters can call 765-973-9304 to ask voter registration staff to verify their status.  

Ballot/equipment verification

Berry said Wayne County’s ballot already has been certified and approved by Indiana election officials. 

During the week of Sept. 9, Republican and Democratic party chairs visited the courthouse to check the ballots, including spellings of their candidates’ names and ensuring they were in the proper order. Candidates were invited to check the ballot at that time too.  

For the next step, the election board is conducting a public test of the ballots and election equipment at 10 a.m. Monday, Sept. 30, at the courthouse, 301 E. Main St. Residents won’t be able to cast ballots for testing, but they are invited to watch the process.

“We’re pretty proud of our system,” Berry said. “If they haven’t seen it, we’d love for them to come.” 

The election board, which consists of one Wayne County Republican, one Democrat and the clerk, or its election equipment vendor, Hart InterCivic, will mark ballots to test. For instance, they’ll make sure each candidate gets votes and that straight-party votes are counted accurately. 

They’ll also make sure overvotes are rejected. That’s when a voter marks too many candidates for an office — six candidates for an office when you can only choose three, for instance. The test helps ensure that ballots are counted correctly and ensure that election personnel know how to run the equipment.

Berry said she hasn’t heard about anyone with major concerns about how the county conducts its elections, and that state rules and statutes keep the election process private and safe.  

“I think everybody feels secure,” she said. 

Berry said interested observers may view the election process, but they can’t get in the way of the work being done. 

Casting, counting paper ballots

For the past few elections, Wayne County voters have used ink pens to mark paper ballots, which offers a paper trail compared to the computerized counting system of previous years. Although the ballot scanners are very sensitive, voters should color in at least 2/3 of the boxes next to their preferred candidates to ensure their choices are counted, Berry said.

To count all those ballots in a timely manner, Wayne County was able to purchase new scanners that were first used in the May primary. 

The new scanners can count as many as 500 ballots in 3 minutes, but Berry doesn’t anticipate that many will be sent through at any one time.

Having those high-volume scanners available at the courthouse means election officials don’t have to wait for scanners to be delivered from each vote center when polls close on election night to then start the counting. That also shortens the time needed to process and announce results.  

Previously, Wayne County residents who voted before Election Day were able to scan their own ballot through the machine. 

However, state officials now require early voters to place their ballot in an envelope. The envelope will be labeled with their name after they sign in as a voter. Once they’ve finished marking their ballot, they’ll insert it in the envelope, seal it, and then drop it in a secured box. State officials believe the envelope adds to election security. 

Berry said Wayne County follows the state’s requirements because election integrity is the utmost priority. 

How votes are counted

Absentee ballots cast before Nov. 5 at the courthouse or vote centers, or those that are mailed in, must be stored securely until at least 6 a.m. on Election Day, when workers can begin opening the envelopes. 

Ballots are processed in bipartisan teams, so a group of eight counters would include four Democrats and four Republicans.

Berry said workers sit at tables and operate an assembly line process. The first person opens envelopes and pulls out the ballots in small batches. The second person stacks the ballots, when no names are attached, Berry said. The third person unfolds them. Each group of 50 envelopes is placed in a box. 

Voters who cast ballots on Election Day don’t need to use the envelopes. They will insert their own ballot into the scanner at their vote center and it will drop into a secure box. 

Berry said she hopes that residents consider casting ballots early, which reduces Election Day lines for voters and poll workers, but if they don’t, everything will still be taken care of. She wants the public and poll workers to work together and be patient. If questions arise, poll workers and voters can contact the clerk’s office for more information.