County Election Board Tests Voting Machines, Confirm Vote Centers

Members of the Marshall County Election Board (Sean Surrisi, Rick Huff & Deb VanDeMark) met Wednesday morning to conduct a public test of the voting machines and review vote centers for the November Presidential Election.

The Election Board will be using all 92 elections machines.  Last Sunday the board spent the day programming all the machines with the various ballots.  The public test is conducted prior to each election to be sure the machines are working correctly.  Deb VanDeMark said state statute requires them to test five percent of the machines, so five machines were unlocked, set up and tested.  Tests of all five machines found no issues so the machines were locked again and placed back in a secure room in the Court House.

Election Board members also discussed the vote centers.  There are a total of 12 vote centers in Marshall County and registered voters can vote at any one of the centers, they don’t have to vote at a specific location.

Deb VanDeMark said she hasn’t been able to talk with the pastor at the Argos United Methodist Church but there haven’t been issues in the past so they plan to retain that vote center.  Rick Huff has been working with the National Guard Armory to get approval to hold the Plymouth west vote center in their building.  The election board approved using the smaller room in the Knights of Columbus Building as the second vote center in Plymouth if they can’t get approval in time from the armory.

Other 10 vote centers in Marshall County include the Matchett Center in Bourbon, the LaPaz Fire Station, Tyner Community Building, Marshall County REMC Building, Tippecanoe Community Building, Bremen High School, Culver School Administration Building, Bremen Missionary Church, Pretty Lake Church Hall Knights of Columbus in Plymouth.

Vote Centers will be open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on November 3^rd.

Early voting opportunities will be available in the Marshall County Clerk’s office from October 6^th through noon on November 2^nd.  You will be able to vote from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Fridays.  The two Saturday’s prior to the November 3rd election, October 24^th and 31st you can vote at the Bremen Town Hall, Culver School Admin, Building and Marshall County Clerk’s Office from to 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Applications for absentee voting by mail is also available, with the last day for the clerk’s office to receive applications is October 22^nd.  The mail in ballots must be received in the clerk’s office by noon on November 2^nd.

Absentee voting by Travel Board is October 15^th to November 2^nd at noon.  This is by appointment only by calling the Clerk’s office at 935-8710.