Lake readies for Election Day
Election board makes final decisions, inspectors pick up PPE kits ahead of vote
The Lake County Election and Voter Registration Board met Saturday to address final concerns and inspectors picked up kits in preparation for Tuesday’s election.
During the meeting, the board received an update on the complaint filed by Larona Carter and Robert Buggs against district manager Paige McNulty as regarding the Gary Community School Corp.’s funding referendum.
According to the complaint, “the power to tax is a legislative function which cannot be delegated,” and the complainants “request that the results of the referendum question be placed under seal and not be counted or certified.”
Attorney Alfredo Estrada, representing McNulty, told the board Saturday that he received an amended complaint just before the meeting with new counts and a shift in the defendants. He was granted time to review the most recent complaint and the board will be updated on the complaint its Nov. 17 meeting with a possible hearing for Dec. 15.
Carter said regardless of Tuesday’s vote the issue still has to be addressed.
“Unfortunately, there’s consequences whether it passes or not. That’s where these constitutional issues really need to be resolved,” Carter said.
In a statement, McNulty said voters should remain “focused on our children, focused on our
future.”
“I’m putting my time and energy into providing our students with more support and opportunities while giving our teachers their first raise in more than a decade. We’re rallying our community around these goals, not unfounded accusations maliciously designed to disrupt progress,” McNulty said in the statement.
Also at it’s Nov. 17 meeting, the board will further discuss a potential election law violation stemming from a complaint made by Peter Panagas. In the complain, Panagas said when he went to the Lake County Government Center to vote on Oct. 6, the election worker assisting him said “just press the Democrat’s button and be done and then go through … for judges and others.”
“This to me is ‘steering’ a voter,” Panagas wrote in the complaint. “(The worker) should have offered to point out the buttons to push for each party.”
Director Michelle Fajman said that after she received the complaint she talked with the poll workers about how to properly assist voters.
As of Saturday, the county has surpassed 120,000 ballots cast through early in-person, absentee mail-in ballots, travel board and overseas absentee ballots, Fajman said. The dedline for early voting is noon Monday.
The board also approved a resolution to allow poll workers to start counting absentee mail-in ballots at 6 a.m. Tuesday. Fajman said that poll workers will probably start counting closer to 7:30 a.m. after signing in and watching an instruction video.
During the primary, the election board had arranged for 44 teams of two poll workers each to count absentee mail-in ballots, Fajman said, but only 38 teams showed up on primary election day. Fajman said she feels confident that on Tuesday all 44 teams will be there.
“We’re trying to make sure that everyone is here,” Fajman said. “We have a lot of ballots. We want to make sure they’re being counted efficiently.”
The government center was packed Saturday with voters, masked and socially distant, waiting in line to vote on the second floor. On the first floor, inspectors were coming by to pick up their election kits and personal protective equipment for their polling locations.
The inspectors were divided, by precinct, to four areas of the first floor: the garage, the cafe, the south entrance and the left hallway. In those areas, they picked up their election kits, which have iPads, WiFi connectors and documents, officials said.
Glenda Fuller, an inspector for the Concord Commons in Gary polling location, said she is excited about Tuesday and feels safe working the polls given the personal protective equipment – which included masks, hand sanitizer and plexiglass dividers – the election office provided.
“A lot of people have already voted, but I hope people come out on election day,” Fuller said.
Guadalupe Morales, an inspector at the Irving School in Hammond polling location, said she’s feeling anxious ahead of election day because “we’re expecting a lot of people.” She’s preparing for a busy day.
“They’re working class, so they can’t do early voting,” Morales said. “I remember four years ago, it was nonstop all day.”
Brandon Tamayo, an inspector for the Hammond Sports Plex polling location, said he is excited because it will be his first time being the inspector after 10 years as a poll worker. Given the personal protective equipment that was handed out, Tamayo said he feels safe working the polls.
Tamayo said he is looking forward to seeing the final voter turnout percentage after the election.
“I’m pretty confident we’ll have a higher voter turn out than previous years,” Tamayo said. “I’m excited to see the youth voter turnout.”