“Near flawless” election sent hundreds of Hamilton County voters away

By JOCELYN VARE
Guest Columnist

Ray Adler is correct in his May 13 column, “Few Snafus Prove Hamilton County’s Elections Work Well.” Indeed, Hamilton County’s election staff, poll workers, technicians, Clerk Kathy Williams, and Elections Administrator Beth Sheller deserve appreciation. Running elections in a fast-growing county is difficult work, and the people who make Election Day happen deserve credit.

But Adler’s conclusion is wrong that Hamilton County’s current precinct-based system works well. The question is not whether election workers performed admirably. They did. The question is whether Hamilton County is using the most voter-friendly system available. The 2026 primary election showed why vote centers are desperately needed.

Adler’s editorial left out the most important problem. Some voters arrive at Hamilton County polling places on Election Day and are told they could not vote there because they were assigned somewhere else. At the Holland Park voting location in Fishers, the Inspector reported that roughly 700 people arrived there to vote on Election Day, and about 220 had to be redirected to a different polling location.

Nearly one in three people who showed up there to vote were in the wrong place! Some may have been able to get to their correct voting location. Others may not have had the time, transportation, childcare, work flexibility, or patience to go to another location and try again.

If Hamilton County had vote centers, like 72 of Indiana’s 92 counties do, those voters could simply have voted.

Hamilton County had a plan to make that happen. The Hamilton County Council and County Commissioners had already unanimously approved moving from precinct-assigned polling places to countywide vote centers. At the Sept. 18, 2025, Election Board meeting, Republican County Clerk Kathy Williams and Democratic appointee Greg Purvis voted yes to voting centers. Ray Adler himself voted no. And because Indiana requires unanimous Election Board approval, the voting centers proposal failed because of Adler’s nay.

Hamilton County voters deserve to understand why. Adler did not simply vote no as an independent election official weighing the evidence and considering the voters. Adler voted no after being instructed to do so by the Hamilton County Republican chair, who appointed him to the Election Board. A broadly supported election improvement was denied to voters because one political party chair directed one appointed board member to block it.

A “near flawless” election is not satisfactory if hundreds of voters in Hamilton County had to be sent away. Hamilton County’s election workers did their job admirably. Now Ray Adler should do his and agree to make voting simpler and more accessible by adopting vote centers in Hamilton County.

Jocelyn Vare is a Fishers resident and Executive Director of ReCenter Indiana, Inc. has served as an Election Day poll watcher, At-Large Fishers City Councilor, State Senate candidate, and chairperson of the Hamilton County Democratic Party.