Tippecanoe County Election Board reports 17,956 votes, staffing hiccups and site changes after 2026 primary

The Tippecanoe County Election Board met May 5, 2026 in Meeting Room C to review the April 4 reconvened primary election and reported an unofficial, unaudited total of 17,956 votes cast out of 116,710 registered voters, a turnout of about 15.4 percent.

Secretary Julie A. Roush told the board that 7,194 voters used in-person early voting and 437 voters had used absentee paper ballots as of the morning report; by 8 a.m. election-day participation stood at 858. Roush contrasted those figures with prior primaries: the 2022 primary drew 12,744 votes (10.4 percent turnout) including 2,305 early voters; the 2024 primary drew 14,943 votes (13.02 percent turnout) including 4,408 early voters.

Roush said two poll workers were no-shows and four arrived late but that all sites nevertheless opened on time; she reported that DolT staff assisted with setting up vote centers and provided support beginning at 5:00 a.m. that day. The board recorded one voter identification incident at the Cordova Recreation Center, where a person initially attempted to use a Purdue ID and instead indicated they would use a passport.

The board reviewed vote-center totals: in early reporting the John Dennis Wellness Center led with 101 votes, Wea Ridge Baptist Church had 98 and the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds 97; Cordova Rec Center at Purdue recorded the fewest (18) in that early snapshot. Later reconvenings showed the Fairgrounds receiving larger volume (558 votes during the luncheon report) while Cordova and TCHA recorded lower totals (134 and 125 respectively during midday reporting).

Board members discussed site-suitability concerns. Chairman Randall L. Vonderheide described the John Dennis Wellness Center as ‘‘not well-suited for voting’’ and asked staff to contact the City of Lafayette about reserving parking spaces at the County Building during early voting. The board agreed the Northend Community Center should use a larger room or be replaced by McAllister Center if the gym is unavailable; staff said returning to Calvary Church in West Lafayette would be a better option for that location.

At wrap-up the board said five absentee ballots were delivered to vote centers and would be counted the next morning; it also expected several provisional ballots and roughly a dozen absentee ballots with signature issues that would need curing. The board confirmed it carried out its statutory role in overseeing the canvass.

The meeting opened at 8:00 a.m. and adjourned at 8:45 p.m.; the board unanimously approved the April 2 meeting minutes earlier in the session.