The Starke County Election Board’s authority to withhold its own pay is being questioned by one of its members. On Monday, the board voted two-to-one not to pay its members for 2020, if the board failed to approve a vote center plan to keep this year’s elections on-budget. Board Member Harrison Fields cast the opposing vote.
When the board met again Wednesday, Fields said he’d done some research and determined that each election board member is entitled to compensation at an amount determined by the county council. “The budget we’re operating right now has already been approved last year,” Fields said. “So therefore, the funds for the board is in place.”
Clerk Bernadette Welter-Manuel agreed that the final decision would be up to the council. Board President Marcia Bedrock added that under current Indiana Code, the council may compensate the election board, but it isn’t a requirement.
Fields felt that the clerk’s motion to cut the election board’s pay seemed petty. “I got the gist that because I voted nay on the vote center, immediately she comes out with a statement that the board’s not going to get compensation,” Fields added.
But Auditor Rachel Oesterreich said it’s also a way to cover the cost of staying with precinct polling places, since doing so would put the election board more than $5,700 over budget. She and Council Member Brad Hazelton explained that while the council does have to fund the elections, it isn’t required to approve an additional appropriation or pay the election board or poll workers a certain amount.
At one point, Fields suggested that Hazelton cut his own pay, if the county is in such dire straits financially. In the end, Bedrock agreed that the board’s motion to cut its pay would stand, unless the county attorney determines that it isn’t legal.
