County Council considers new voting machines ahead of 2024 election

Photo by Nathan Jaki

Kara Fishburn, Jasper County Clerk, proposes purchasing 74 voting machines ahead of the 2024 general election. The voting machines would have a new interface in order to be easier to navigate.

RENSSELAER — At its May meeting, the Jasper County Council approved $40,000 for the county's Examination of Records, $5,000 to replace a truck bed for the county surveyor and $6,900 to modernize Jasper County's corner perpetuation program.

The council also discussed a host of other issues, including the purchase of an X-ray machine at the Jasper County Jail, dog run fencing for Jasper County Animal Control and updating voting machines for the 2024 general election. In total, $51,900 in appropriations was approved.

The council approved $40,000 for Jasper County's annual examination of records, or audit, conducted annually by the Indiana Board of Commissioners. The council initially requested $83,000 in the instance that the audit would take three months, as it had taken in 2022. However, the council lowered the amount to the approved $40,000 as the state's audit of Jasper County only took place from May 5 to May 16 of this year.

The surveyor's office had multiple requests, including $5,000 for vehicle repairs on a truck used to plow snow, and $6,900 to help modernize the surveyor's corner witness program. The council approved both requests for a total of $11,900.

The council heard a proposal to invest in an X-ray machine for the Jasper County Detention Center. Jasper County Sheriff Pat Williamson presented three quotes for an X-ray machine, all of which cost around $158,000.

Williamson said the X-rays would process inmates upon arrest to detect drug trafficking, as well as prevent people from overdosing while in the corrections facility.

"They have people pay them on the outside to traffic them in," said Williamson. "There's a lot of drug arrests in Rensselaer. They can swallow it before the officer can get up on them, and it comes out later at the jail. So that's just the unfortunate reality that we’re dealing with."

Williamson said the sheriff's office would pay $80,000 for the X-ray machine, and would use funding from opioid settlements to cover the balance.

There was confusion among the council over whether drug trafficking prevention would count as a qualifying expense for opioid funds, as they are required to be used for treatment purposes. Gary Fritts, Vice President of the Jasper County Council, said the X-ray machine would be a necessary expense.

"I know there's some guidelines about how we can spend our money, so I guess it would be kind of dependent upon that," said Fritts. "I don't think there's anyone here who disagrees that it's not necessary."

Steven Jordan, President of the Jasper County Council, said the council would check the legality of using the opioid funds before voting on the proposal at a future meeting, after it becomes advertised.

Jasper County Animal Control and Shelter gave a request to build dog run fencing at the shelter. Mark Sinclair, Chief Animal Control Officer, presented drawings to the council, saying the shelter's goal is to build dog runs as currently only two dogs can be outside at one time, despite the shelter holding nine kennels.

Sinclair said the request given was for $15,789, but would possibly be a lower cost, depending on whether the shelter's driveway loses some space to an EMS building being constructed in Rensselaer. The appropriations would be made from the county's donation fund at no taxpayer expense. The council will vote on the fence proposal at a future meeting, after it becomes advertised.

The final topic of the night was a proposal for new voting machines for the 2024 general election. Kara Fishburn, Clerk of Jasper County, and the Jasper County Election Board, gave two quotes from MicroVote, one to replace all of Jasper County's 74 current voting machines and gain six printers, as well as a quote to add 20 additional voting machines to Jasper County. Replacing the voting machines would cost $207,200, while purchasing 20 machines would cost an additional $85,000.

Fishburn said investing in new voting machines would allow the county to make voting lines more manageable, so that there could be at least 10 machines in each Vote Center across Jasper County. Steven Jordan agreed with the goal of streamlining the voting process.

"If something's working good, then you want to stay and keep it working good," Jordan said.

The council and election board considered multiple options to purchase the voting machines over a potential three-year period, ending in 2025. It was agreed to include the expense in Jasper County's 2024 budget.

The next Jasper County Council meeting will be held on June 20 at 910 South Sparling Ave. in Rensselaer. For more information, the council's website is https://www.jaspercountyin.gov/department/?structureid=18.

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