County elections office previews May special election, flags ballot proofing error and vendor invoice

Grant, a staff member with the Williams County Board of Elections, told the Board of Commissioners during the regular session that the office has slowed since the last election but is preparing for a statewide special election set for May 6.

The elections office is updating routine procedures and said machines are current. “There are no major updates that need to happen soon,” Grant told the commissioners. He said vendors demonstrated next‑generation voting equipment at a recent conference but characterized such upgrades as long‑term possibilities that would likely depend on future state funding.

The office described the county’s statutory post‑election processes as a key safeguard. “It’s now statutory actually that we conduct audits of the election results, after every single election,” Grant said, describing the audit process and its scope. He said audits are done by randomly selecting whole precincts and that audits must cover at least three contests when three contests exist on a ballot. Grant said the county’s recent audits demonstrated “that our results were counted, they were 100% accurate.”

Grant also addressed proposals and legislative discussions the office has watched at the state level about eliminating electronic tabulation in favor of hand counts. He said demonstrations of hand tabulation at a conference illustrated how much longer and how more error‑prone manual counting could be. “It was very complicated. It was something that made having results much less timely,” he said, adding that hand counts could delay unofficial results by days and increase the chance of mistakes.

A ballot proofing error and resubmission to the ballot

Grant said the office discovered a ballot error 10 days after the election that affected a Saint Joseph Township fire levy. Because the county learned of that error after certification, available remedies were limited; local petitioners pursued nullification and the commissioners agreed that re‑placing the issue on the ballot was the appropriate remedy. That fire renewal levy will appear again on the May 6 special election ballot for the affected precincts.

The error, Grant said, was a missing contest on one ballot style: contest checkboxes for one precinct’s ballot style had been set incorrectly so the levy did not appear on the village of Edgerton ballot. “The error is as simple as you’re supposed to check two boxes and only one got checked,” Grant said. He described efforts to tighten proofing: the office will provide ballot proofs to the filer and ask filers to sign off on the proofs before ballots are finalized.

Grant said similar earlier problems during early voting had been identified and corrected in time; the Saint Joseph case, by contrast, was not discovered until after election certification. For one earlier Springfield Township issue, staff were able to print corrected ballots and distribute supplemental absentee ballots before election day.

Vendor maintenance invoice and upcoming contract cycle

Commissioners were notified of an expected vendor invoice connected with a five‑year equipment/maintenance cycle. Grant identified Hart as the county’s vendor and said the county will face an invoice in the neighborhood of $111,000 tied to the standard multi‑year contract and maintenance schedule. He said there had been confusion about timing because the state originally paid equipment costs up front and counties then covered maintenance in subsequent years.

Staffing and internal checks

Grant described office tenure and staffing: several technical staff have long tenure, with other staff hired in recent years; he said the office conducts logic and accuracy tests for each machine each election and believes that those processes, together with the post‑election audits, build voter confidence. “I always feel that that’s pretty impressive,” he said of showing audit results to the public.

Speakers

Grant — Board of Elections staff member, Williams County Board of Elections (identified in meeting as “Grant”) Commissioner (named in roll calls) — Commissioner (several commissioners participated in roll calls and later business but did not provide substantive quotes on elections in the transcript excerpt)

Authorities

No statutes were cited by exact chapter number in the transcript. The elections staff referred generally to state audit requirements and to statutory post‑election auditing; the article uses only that phrasing because no statute was named.

Actions

No formal vote on election policy was taken during the portion of the meeting recorded. Commissioners were only briefed and asked questions. The commissioners were informed that the Saint Joseph Township fire levy will be resubmitted to the May 6 special election and that an approximate $111,000 vendor invoice will be forthcoming for Hart maintenance/services.

Clarifying details

• Ballot error: a fire‑levy contest intended for two ballot styles appeared on only one; missing checkbox on Edgerton ballot style caused omission. Source: Grant (Board of Elections). • Upcoming re‑ballot: the affected fire levy will be placed on the May 6, 2025 statewide special election ballot for the impacted precincts. Source: Grant. • Vendor invoice: Hart invoice described in discussion as approximately $111,000 tied to the routine five‑year contract/maintenance cycle. Source: Grant and commissioners’ discussion. • Post‑election audits: county conducts precinct audits that must be a whole precinct random draw and cover at least three contests when available; audits are performed after every election. Source: Grant.

Community relevance

Geographies: Williams County (affected precincts in Saint Joseph Township and village of Edgerton). Impact groups: voters in affected precincts, election staff.

Provenance

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