The Lake County Board of Elections and Registration reviewed more than two dozen provisional ballots and absentee vote-by-mail ballots with mismatched signatures to determine if they should be accepted or rejected at its Thursday meeting.
The board reviewed 22 provisional ballots — a ballot someone can cast if they are missing photo identification or there are questions about a voter’s qualifications to vote at a precinct — accepting seven of them and rejecting the rest.
Six voters filled out provisional ballots after issues with a form or iPad when signing in: One voter lost their absentee mail-in ballot, four voters couldn’t be found in the iPad by poll workers, and one voter’s information showed a travel board vote was made, which wasn’t accurate, according to a board report. The board approved the provisional ballots for each of the six voters.
The board also approved a provisional ballot of one voter who didn’t bring an identification card to his or her precinct but came to the Lake County Board of Elections and Registration office the following day to show proper identification, according to a board report.
The board rejected five provisional ballots, as of Friday afternoon, where a voter didn’t have proper identification at their polling location. The five voters have until noon Friday to come to the Lake County Board of Elections and Registration office with identification if they want their votes to count, said director Michelle Fajman.
Two provisional ballots were rejected by the board for having registration issues: One voter had no record of voting at Hanover Township Precinct 02 but was adamant about voting there, and another voter, at the same precinct, didn’t have updated voter registration to vote in the precinct.
A 90-year-old voter cast a ballot during the early in-person period on April 7, but on Election Day, he went to Schererville precinct 07 to vote. Poll workers told him he already voted, but the man was adamant that he hadn’t voted so the poll workers gave him a provisional ballot, according to a board report.
The board voted to reject his provisional ballot and count his early in-person ballot.
Board president Kevin Smith said the poll workers took the correct actions with the adamant voter and Thursday’s board vote corrected his attempt to vote a second time.
“This is a great example of how the system works,” Smith said.
In another case, two voters chose Republican ballots when registering on the iPad, but once they were at the voting machine requested a Democrat ballot. The voters were told they couldn’t make that change after registering, but were given provisional ballots. The board voted to reject the provisional ballots.
One voter was not registered to vote in Lake County, and three voters registered after the deadline but filled out provisional ballots. The board rejected the four provisional ballots.
The board also rejected a provisional ballot of a voter who voted in the wrong precinct.
The board approved 46 emergency ballots cast in Cedar Lake on Election Day amid a power failure.
When reviewing ballots with mismatched signatures, the board rejected 14 ballots of voters who did not send in affidavits confirming their vote.
The board approved a ballot of a service member serving overseas who sent in an affidavit.
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The board then divided into two-person bipartisan teams to review 28 ballots with mismatched signatures where voters sent in affidavits to compare the signatures. Ultimately, the board voted to reject four of those ballots and accept the rest.