New program will allow voters to choose between polling sites

LAFAYETTE -- A series of voting centers will be established for next year's city elections as Tippecanoe County tests a system allowing voters to pick where they cast their ballots.\nUnder the plan announced Monday by Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita, voters will not be limited only to the voting site in the precinct where they live.\nCounty Clerk Linda Phillips said she expects 15 to 30 voting centers to be established for any election, down from the 69 polling places used for the county-wide primary in May.\nVoting centers could be set up at shopping malls, workplaces or schools, she said. The only requirements are that they be large, be accessible to the disabled and have a connection to the Internet.\nRokita said polling books at each center would be connected through the Internet, alerting poll workers if someone tries to vote more than once.\nRokita said he believed voters would find it more convenient to choose where to vote and not have to worry about finding the correct precinct site. He said he had seen similar centers used in Colorado.\n"The voters (in Colorado) weren't scrambling to go to the polls after work," he said. "Some were voting during their lunch hour. Others were voting even after dropping their kids off at school."\nWhile Phillips and Rokita both predicted that the centers would eventually be less expensive than traditional precinct voting sites, new equipment will need to be bought, and additional training will be necessary for poll workers during the first year.\nWayne County, which includes Richmond, also submitted a complete application seeking to test the voting centers, and Rokita said he would decide by next week whether to grant that request.