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Elkhart County board debates trimming vote centers, tables decision for more data
Summary
After hearing staff concerns about staffing, ADA access and security at several sites, the board unanimously tabled a plan to reduce the county’s 29 vote centers (statutorily required minimum: 13) and scheduled an August follow-up to gather more data and community input.
Elkhart County election staff presented a location-evaluation spreadsheet July 15 and urged careful review before shrinking the county’s vote-center footprint. The board unanimously agreed to table any final reductions until staff can gather additional turnout history, perform site evaluations and solicit community feedback.
Staff lead Amy Stricker told the board the county currently lists 29 vote centers while state statute requires one center per 10,000 active voters. "We right now have actively a 124,900. So we are by statute required to have 13 vote centers," Stricker said, and noted that many current sites are clustered closely together — examples included Saint Mark’s Church and First Presbyterian in Goshen and multiple sites in Elkhart — prompting recommendations to consider consolidations in some areas.
Stricker and other staff highlighted recurring operational problems at specific locations: construction that reduced usable space at one church, storage and equipment-delivery issues at the FOP building, electrical problems at Sunnyside Park, and ADA noncompliance concerns at Granger Community Church. The board discussed trade-offs, including retaining extra sites for presidential elections and the challenge of staffing primaries when county employees are not off work.
Members also raised data and procedural concerns. Staff said equipment reports are available for 90 days after an election unless manually saved, limiting historical turnout analysis unless reports are preserved. Several members favored gentle reductions focused on low-turnout sites rather than a large, immediate cut.
A motion to table the vote-center finalization and reconvene in early August passed unanimously; staff will evaluate suggested replacement sites (Trinity Lutheran, Salvation Army, local schools), check ADA issues, and bring more complete turnout data and community input to the next meeting.
