The Lake County Board of Elections and Registration voted unanimously on Tuesday to let county election office leaders fill empty travel‑board and absentee‑ballot counter spots with Democrats if local Republicans do not submit names before the primary. Officials said the move is meant to head off staffing shortages that could leave nursing‑home and homebound voters waiting on ballots just as early voting starts to pick up.
The motion authorizes office leadership to tap Democrats for those roles when the GOP fails to provide its nominees, and board members described it as a temporary safety valve to keep early‑voting and travel‑board work on track. As reported by the Post‑Tribune, the vote was unanimous and landed in the middle of a meeting already thick with procedural complaints and partisan friction.
State deadlines and the fallback rule
Indiana law lays out tight deadlines for building absentee and travel‑board teams. County party chairs must file written recommendations no later than noon 46 days before Election Day, and county election boards have to give party chairmen notice 50 days out on how many nominations they will need. The state Election Administrator’s Manual also spells out what happens if a county chairman simply does not send in the names, stating that the county election board “may appoint any voter of the county” to those positions. Indiana Election Administrator’s Manual.
Local tensions over staffing
Board members said Republican county chair Randy Niemeyer had not turned in the required Republican appointments on time, creating gaps that election staff worried would widen as Election Day draws closer. Director Michelle Fajman told the board that if Republicans supplied five more travel‑board names, the office could manage its workload, and voting advocate Kevin Smith added that “it is worth hiring a few more people for a few hours to ensure nursing home residents can vote.” As noted by the Post‑Tribune, supporters cast the adjustment as a practical fix rather than a partisan power play.
Complaints, candidates and next steps
The board also voted to throw out two election complaints and heard testimony on a separate dispute involving a voter’s registration address, underlining how tense the atmosphere has become around the county’s fast‑moving primary schedule. Staff members stressed that their core responsibility is recruiting counters, early‑voting workers and travel‑board teams so voters in homes and assisted‑living facilities are not left out. For information on the board, meeting packets and voter resources, visit the Lake County Board of Elections and Registration.
Board members said travel‑board work will only grow in the coming weeks as early voting continues, and election staffers will keep looking across party lines to be sure every eligible voter has a way to cast a ballot. The change does not take away the parties’ power to make their own appointments, it simply gives the office a backup option to fill critical roles if a party misses the deadline.
