Starke County Clerk Bernadette Welter Manuel updated the Starke County Election Board members Wednesday morning on topics related to elections in the state legislature.
She said Senate Bill 81 attempts to remove the straight party voting option due to At-Large candidates not getting a vote. In Senate Bill 82, it addresses pulling polling sites from schools.
“Safety is the biggest concern so we will be losing three sites if we do not pass the Vote Center plan,” stated Welter Manuel.
Currently, Oregon-Davis, North Judson-San Pierre and the St. Peter Lutheran School polling sites would be affected, if passed.
Welter-Manuel commented that House Bill 2021 would mandate an extra two hours of voting on Election Day. Polling sites would be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. local time and it would be difficult for older poll workers to work such a long day.
She added that there are many other bills being considered , but she thought those to be the most important topics that can out of a recent conference in Indianapolis in December.
