PENDLETON, Ind. — Decision 2020 in Madison County was a question of how long voters were willing to stand in line.
People waited in lines for hours at multiple polling places. Combined precincts, fewer voter machines, and a big turnout made voters practice serious patience on Election Day.
At 10:00 p.m. Tuesday night, first-time voter Maggie Parrilla was the last voter at the Summerlake neighborhood clubhouse in Pendleton, four hours after the polls closed. Other voters there stood in line up to five hours.
"All the people in this neighborhood coming to this little building with three machines – you’ve got to be kidding me,” said Paul Phenice.
Two more voting machines were added later in the day. But 170 machines for the whole county is half of what Madison County Clerk Olivia Pratt said was needed.
"The Election Board basically had to run one of the biggest elections ever with our hands completely tied behind our backs,” said Pratt. “It was a horrendous situation that never should have happened. We deeply have apologized to all of the voters. They never should have had to have stood in those lines that long."
At Adams Township/Markleville Fire Territory, only four voting machines were available. Some voters stood in line seven hours to cast their ballot. The voting wasn't completed until midnight.
"I was going to vote,” said Nikki Dorsey. “If I would have had to stand in line for 11 hours, I would have voted. But it's just the idea. They need a better plan and we needed more machines."
The county commissioners rejected becoming a voting center county, where voters could cast their ballot at any polling place. They also would not authorize nearly $1 million to purchase more machines.
Madison County Commissioner President Kelly Gaskill issued the following statement Wednesday afternoon:
“In 2019, the Madison County Election Board chose to trade in over 400 voting machines in exchange for only 170. After the time for declaring candidacy for office had expired, and following the other well-publicized issues other states had experienced in their primaries or caucuses, and without any advanced study as recommended by the state, there was a request to change the way voting occurred in Madison County including to change from precinct vote to vote centers.
Then, just weeks before the primary, the election board requested nearly $1 million from the County Council to make up for the machines they had traded in in 2019. The County Council determined there were insufficient funds, and the primary was then conducted without incident. After the primary, there were no additional requests or concerns about needing additional machines for the general election. It is clear that the number of machines needs to be reviewed well before the next election.
I would note, however, that the election board could have provided scan-able paper ballots earlier in the day to avoid the lines, and they chose not to do that until well after four o’clock. Additionally, providing multiple early vote locations should be part of future discussions.”
All of the votes in Madison County were tabulated by 2:30 a.m. Wednesday. Fifty-seven percent of registered voters cast their ballots. But the clerk knows some people didn't vote because of the long lines.