Marion County Election Board Meeting – September 11, 2026
Marion County Election Board Meeting – September 11, 2026
The Marion County Election Board convened on September 11, 2026, at 10:03 AM in the City-County Building. The board approved the 2026 General Election Vote Center Plan, authorized an amendment to the cleaning services contract, and received updates from the Director of Elections and the Clerk. All actions were unanimous.
Discussion Items
- 2026 General Election Vote Center Plan: Director Patrick Becker presented the plan detailing 183 Election Day locations and 9 early voting sites. Early voting runs from October 24 to November 1, 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM daily, with one site in each township. Notable changes: First Friends returned as a site after a prior incident; Rocky Ripple Town Hall will not host voting this fall, but alternatives within 1.5 miles exist. The board confirmed that the plan reflects current equipment (updated iPads, e-pulse) and that no further approval is needed unless significant upgrades occur. The board approved the plan unanimously (3-0).
- Contract Approval – Pristine Imaging Amendment: The board authorized Director Becker to negotiate and enter into an amendment to the cleaning services contract with Pristine Imaging. The amendment adjusts internal pricing without changing the $50,000 not-to-exceed amount or other terms. The motion passed unanimously (3-0).
- Director of Elections Update: Director Becker reported that the court has not yet ruled on the judicial review of a candidate challenge decision; vote-by-mail testing faced a delay due to software issues with Blue Crest (targeting completion by week's end); poll worker recruiting is underway (call 327-5100, option 4). Next week, seasonal workers begin, and logic and accuracy testing of the ES&S voting system will commence. Security camera installation at the Operations Center is ongoing (target completion by end of September).
- Clerk Updates: The Clerk reminded viewers to apply for absentee ballots promptly via vote.indy.gov. She highlighted voter education outreach at Warren Township High School and encouraged students (16+ with 3.0 GPA) and registered voters to sign up as poll workers. She noted the recent Indiana Supreme Court decision affecting election commission actions and emphasized the importance of every vote.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the 2026 General Election Vote Center Plan (unanimous).
- Authorized Director Becker to amend the Pristine Imaging cleaning contract (unanimous).
- Next scheduled meeting: 2026 General Election Public Test on Friday, October 2, 2026, at 9:00 AM at the Election Operations Center (51 Koweba Lane, Room 116).
- The board adjourned without a specific time noted.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, everyone. I'll call the Marion County Election Board meeting to order here on September 11th. It is 10 03 a.m. Uh we'll do a round of introductions first for everyone in the room and on the phone on the uh TV. Uh start with uh the board, um staff and then council uh starting with myself, Nolita Stewart, Chair. Jennifer Ping, Vice Chair, Kate Sweeney Bell, Secretary. Patrick Becker, Director of Elections. Brad Boswell, outside council. Adam Wicker Corporation Council. Thank you guys. Um we'll get started with the agenda for the day. Um first is the 2026 General Election Vote Center plan. Uh Director Becker, you don't provide any updates. Thank you, Madam Chair. So I I believe I mentioned last week to the board um we have 183 um election day locations uh in this uh version of the vote center plan. Um this plan um is a uh it's a robust document. It goes through sort of the history of uh vote centers here in Marion County, how they came to be. It also details things like um you know security, accessibility, uh the type of equipment that we're going to use, uh the people that will be working there, um, who is designated to be in sites uh and and not uh you know uh a general layout of how things are gonna go. And then most importantly, as I mentioned, it has the uh 183 election day locations listed as an attachment. And then um on page 10 of your plan um also has the nine early voting uh locations. Um so these are the the locations that include the city county building. Um but uh as you may recall uh the clerk um will set uh clerk uh clerk office hours um herself. Um but we do anticipate the city county building hours mirroring um the rest of the satellite um hours as well. And just um for for the good of the the public, uh our satellite sites open um October the 24th, Saturday, October 24th, and they run all the way through uh Sunday, November 1st, and the hours of operation would be 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day. Um and again we have one in every single uh local every single township. Um so center township at the city county building, Decatur Township at the Township Government Center, Franklin Township at the Township Government Center, Lawrence Township at the Fort Bend Public Library, and again uh this year we'll be moved to the community room, so the larger room uh in the in the library. Uh Perry Township at the Perry Township Government Center, Pike Township at the Pike Township Library, Warren Township at the Warren Township Government Center, Washington Township at St. Luke's United Methodist Church, and again they're moving us uh to the larger room uh for the fall election. So we'll be in the in the Great Hall for um for this fall. And then uh Wayne Township out at Cranert Park. Um so uh the same locations we used in the spring, uh a couple of different rooms within those buildings to help accommodate uh what we're anticipating is higher turnout. So um and happy to answer uh any questions or or explain any more. Thank you, Director Becker. Any questions for the board? Any comments? Yes. Uh welcome back first friends. Uh that was one of our sites that uh after uh the prosecutor declined to uh move forward with the um the case of the man who showed up with weapons and political paraphernalia. Um the uh they declined again to be a vote center, and uh something changed with them. I think it probably has something to do with uh the work of our staff reassuring um first friends that we have a plan in place in the event of uh any sort of malfeasance. So uh kudos to you and welcome back, first friends. And uh my my my heart also goes out to we we did um there was one I think that you let us know the Rocky Ripple Town Hall. Yeah, I was just gonna uh I forgot to mention that Rocky Ripple Town Hall will not be a site again uh for this fall. Um we hope to have them back um next spring. Uh but there are um locations near there, uh Hinklefield House, Crooked Creek Baptist Church, St. Paul's Episcopalian, and St. Thomas Aquinas are all within one and a half miles of Rocky Ripple uh town hall. Well, on election day, I go to a different vote center every time just to test it out.
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