Clerk Explains Absentee Ballots In L'burg

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - There was no illegal scheme in place when hundreds of absentee ballots were submitted for the Lawrenceburg municipal elections last week.

Dearborn County Clerk of Courts Phil Weaver – the county’s top election official - tells Eagle 99.3 it appeared "something shady" was going on when Lawrenceburg had over 430 absentee ballots, while Greendale and Aurora each had less than 90.

Those votes may have been the difference in giving Democrats a sweep in Lawrenceburg. The race for mayor was close with Democrat Dennis Carr earning a 62 vote advantage over Republican Kelly Mollaun out of 1,062 votes total.

“The fact is some candidates and their supporters were obtaining absentee applications as they went door to door campaigning.  Other candidates did not,” Weaver said.

It is not illegal for a candidate to obtain an absentee application from a voter and deliver it to the clerk’s office for processing, Weaver said. The person collecting those applications must complete a form when turning them in.

An absentee ballot is then mailed to each person who qualifies. Four-hundred twenty-three were applied for in Dearborn County and voters mailed back 287 of those.

The other 136 mailed absentee ballots were not returned. Weaver said those voters could have either decided not to vote, forgot to vote, or waited to go to the poll on Election Day to cast a ballot, among other reasons.

Another 216 absentee ballots were submitted in person during early voting at Lawrenceburg Public Library from October 17 to November 7. Seven more were completed through the travel board the day before the election.

Submitted absentee ballots are delivered to their respective precinct on Election Day by the members of the bi-partisan county election board.

“The absentee ballots are then processed by the precinct election workers are tabulated in the machine the same as voters voting on Election Day.  All ballots, absentee and Election Day, are tabulated as a whole, so the results of absentee ballots and Election Day ballots are not separate,” said Weaver.

The method of voting by mail, while legal in Indiana, has its criticisms. Unlike those who cast a ballot in person, mail-in absentee voters are not required to show identification or provide a copy of identification. Candidates can hand out absentee voter applications as they campaign.