(La Porte County, IN) - A mobile voting unit is expected to start hitting the roads in La Porte County soon for the November 8 election.

 

Last year, the unit was purchased for $67,000 with a grant. On Thursday, the La Porte County Election Board decided to develop a schedule for using the van for early voting.

 

La Porte County Clerk Heather Stevens, one of three election board members, said efforts are underway to secure locations throughout the county for people to use the van for early voting.

 

The election board also directed her to contact the respective chairman of the Republican and Democratic parties in LaPorte County to see if they have any suggested locations for the van.       

 

“A schedule is being put together right now,” Stevens said.       

 

Stevens said the election board would meet again on October 5 to approve and issue public notice of the schedule.

 

The election board regained control of the van on Wednesday. By a majority vote, the LaPorte County Commissioners placed the van under the authority of their office on September 7, citing frustration over the van not being used since the May primary for registering people to vote and early voting.

 

Two weeks later, the commissioners voted unanimously to give control of the van back to the election board after Stevens revealed she was prepared to file a lawsuit against the commissioners.

 

Stevens said the grant used to purchase the van was sought on behalf of the election board. She also said the clerk and election board are the election administrators, not the commissioners.

 

Mrozinski and Matias argued, however, that the van was titled to the commissioners. They later cited a desire to avoid spending tax dollars on a legal fight as one of the reasons for returning the van. 

 

The election board has not decided whether to use the van for registering people to vote. However, Stevens said there’s probably not enough time to use it for that purpose since the deadline for registering to vote statewide is October 11.