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Record of Proceedings

Lake County Board of Elections and Registration Meeting - May 15, 2026

County Boards & Commissions — Friday, May 15, 2026
BodyLake County, Indiana
SessionCounty Boards & Commissions
DateFriday, May 15, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:06

I'm going to call the uh Thursday, May 14th, 2026, Lake County Board of Electrons and Registration Board leading to order.

0:12

If we can please all stand for the clearance to the flag of the United States of America.

0:21

And to the Republic for which it says one nation under a guy indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

0:29

Thank you and welcome everyone.

0:34

Present.

0:35

Ms.

0:36

Here.

0:37

Mr.

0:37

Reed?

0:38

Here.

0:41

Can we rear?

0:42

Here.

0:43

And Kevin Smith.

0:44

I am here.

0:45

We are all present.

0:46

All board members are present in person.

0:48

We do have a quorum.

0:50

Next order assist is the approval of the 421 264 minutes.

0:56

I'll entertain a motion to approve those as presented.

0:58

Most things to approve, Mr.

1:00

Chair.

1:02

Second.

1:03

Second.

1:04

Second by Mr.

1:05

Reed to approve the board meeting minutes at 421 as presented.

1:08

Is there any discussion on that motion?

1:11

Okay.

1:11

Hearing none of those in favor, do you know how we say aye?

1:13

Aye and opposed.

1:14

Motion carries.

1:16

I don't show any old business.

1:17

Um down.

1:18

Is there any old business?

1:20

Hearing none.

1:21

Moving down a new business.

1:22

Uh first item of new business is item 5.1, which is provisional ballots on election day.

1:28

Each board member should have a uh eight and a half by 11 landscape printed sheet entitled provisional ballot hearing 514 2026.

1:37

Um it's we have IDs one through 22.

1:41

I understand from Jessica that we may have a 23, but we'll get to that point when we get to it.

1:46

Um, and I believe uh uh Mr.

1:49

Schmidt and Mr.

1:49

Aguilar will be uh helping us along.

1:52

Is that fair?

1:53

Yes.

1:54

All right.

1:54

So um Jerry, if you'd like, I understand that you'd like you have these in groups.

1:58

So the first group is ID number one through six.

2:02

Um go ahead and address these ballots, please.

2:07

Um the voter lost her ABS mail ballot, came into the uh precinct, and instead of give it being given a free five form, she was given a provisional ballot form.

2:20

Um the record shows that uh the ballot was not turned in and we did not receive it.

2:28

And uh the recommendation is to go ahead and count the provision.

2:34

Okay.

2:35

Um why don't you go through one through six, then if there's any unless the board would like me to go ballot by ballot if there's any questions.

2:42

Okay, let's go through the group and then we'll ask if there's any questions by the board for that group.

2:46

So go ahead through two through five.

2:51

We're not quite sure why the poll worker couldn't find all four of these on the iPad, but they were in the SBRS system, they were active voters.

3:02

And um the precinct was having trouble with the uh driver's license scanner, so they were having to do them all manually, and they said that they couldn't find these four voters, so they were given a provisional ballot.

3:20

Uh number six was um an entry was made on the uh travel board record of the voter that uh she voted.

3:32

Uh paperwork shows that she was not even there at the time, uh so she did not vote.

3:39

So the uh the travel vote board vote uh if you approve the provisional travel board vote would be canceled and the uh provisional would be counted.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Election Administration█████████████████████████████████████████████46%
Election Procedures████████████████████████████████33%
Procedural██████████████14%
Public Engagement███████7%
Summary of Proceedings

Lake County Board of Elections and Registration Meeting - May 15, 2026

Note: The transcript date is Thursday, May 14, 2026, but the user-provided date is May 15, 2026. This summary uses the user-provided date.

The meeting was called to order at 11:45 AM. All board members were present: Ms. Here, Mr. Reed, Ms. Rear, and Kevin Smith (Clerk Brown). A quorum was established. The board approved the minutes from the April 21, 2026 meeting unanimously.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes (April 21, 2026): Motion by Mr. Reed, seconded, approved unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments were made.

Discussion Items

Provisional Ballots (Item 5.1)

Staff presented 22 provisional ballots (IDs 1–22) with a potential 23rd. The board reviewed them in groups and voted on each recommendation.

  • IDs 1–6: All recommended to count. Staff noted that ballot 1 involved a lost absentee mail ballot; ballots 2–5 were due to iPad issues; ballot 6 involved a travel board record error. Motion to count (contingent on proper completion) passed unanimously.
  • IDs 7–12: Ballot 7 recommended to count (voter provided ID later); ballots 8–12 recommended to not count (no ID provided or follow-up). Motion to count ballot 7 and reject 8–12 passed unanimously.
  • IDs 13–14: Both recommended to not count (registration address not updated). Motion to reject passed unanimously.
  • ID 15: Voter early voted but later attempted to vote in person, claiming he forgot. Staff recommended not counting the provisional (early vote stands). A board member praised the system for handling such cases. Motion to reject passed unanimously.
  • IDs 16–17: Voters selected a Republican ballot on the iPad but later wanted a Democratic ballot. Discussion about training and voter confusion. Staff recommended not counting. A board member noted state law requires the voter to select their own party on the iPad. Motion to reject passed unanimously.
  • IDs 18–21: Voters not registered in Lake County or registered after the deadline. Staff recommended not counting. Motion to reject passed unanimously.
  • ID 22: Voter went to wrong precinct, refused to go to correct one, and ballots were not properly filled out. Staff recommended not counting. Motion to reject passed, including any other ballots in the same envelope.

Emergency Ballots (Cedar Lake Power Outage)

Staff presented emergency ballots from Cedar Lake due to a power failure. All ballots were accounted for and recommended to be counted. Motion to approve all emergency ballots passed unanimously. Board members commended staff and poll workers for handling the situation well.

Mismatched Signatures (Item 5.2)

Staff reviewed 36 mismatched signature ballots and 7 missing signature ballots.

  • IDs 26–36 (mismatched, no response): Recommended to reject as voters did not return affidavits. Motion to reject passed unanimously.
  • IDs 5–7 (missing signatures, no response): Recommended to reject. Motion to reject passed unanimously.
  • ID 25 (overseas voter): Staff recommended counting because the voter’s signature was on the application and they voted electronically. Board agreed. Motion to count passed unanimously.
  • IDs 1–24 and 1–4 (responded): The board recessed to review these individually. After review, the board voted to reject four ballots (IDs 4, 5, 9, and 16) and to accept all others. Motion to reject the four and accept the rest passed unanimously.

Reconciliation Report

Staff presented a reconciliation report comparing voter counts to EMS public count. The report showed discrepancies, mainly due to the power outage and encoder issues. Staff noted that a 51-vote discrepancy at one precinct was actually a zero when accounting for paper sign-in sheets used due to encoder failure. The board accepted the report unanimously.

Travel Board Applications (Discussion)

Board members raised concerns about travel board applications for a convalescent home. At a previous meeting, the board had directed staff to correct improperly filled forms. However, despite staff providing sticky notes and instructions, the returned forms were still incomplete or worse. Board members expressed frustration, noting that they do not want to disenfranchise voters but must follow the law. They emphasized the need for better training for travel board workers, especially with the general election approaching. Staff acknowledged the issue and promised to improve training and outreach.

Key Outcomes

  • Provisional ballots: 6 counted, 16 rejected (including IDs 8–12, 13–14, 15, 16–17, 18–21, 22).
  • Emergency ballots: All approved.
  • Mismatched signature ballots: 26–36 rejected, 5–7 rejected, ID 25 counted, IDs 1–24 and 1–4 accepted (with four rejected after review).
  • Reconciliation report: Accepted.
  • Next meeting: Scheduled for June 16, 2026, at 10:00 AM in the Commissioner's Courtroom. The next week's meeting was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict.
  • Travel board issues: No formal vote; staff directed to improve training for the general election.

Meeting Transcript

I'm going to call the uh Thursday, May 14th, 2026, Lake County Board of Electrons and Registration Board leading to order. If we can please all stand for the clearance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the Republic for which it says one nation under a guy indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you and welcome everyone. Present. Ms. Here. Mr. Reed? Here. Can we rear? Here. And Kevin Smith. I am here. We are all present. All board members are present in person. We do have a quorum. Next order assist is the approval of the 421 264 minutes. I'll entertain a motion to approve those as presented. Most things to approve, Mr. Chair. Second. Second. Second by Mr. Reed to approve the board meeting minutes at 421 as presented. Is there any discussion on that motion? Okay. Hearing none of those in favor, do you know how we say aye? Aye and opposed. Motion carries. I don't show any old business. Um down. Is there any old business? Hearing none. Moving down a new business. Uh first item of new business is item 5.1, which is provisional ballots on election day. Each board member should have a uh eight and a half by 11 landscape printed sheet entitled provisional ballot hearing 514 2026. Um it's we have IDs one through 22. I understand from Jessica that we may have a 23, but we'll get to that point when we get to it. Um, and I believe uh uh Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Aguilar will be uh helping us along. Is that fair? Yes. All right. So um Jerry, if you'd like, I understand that you'd like you have these in groups. So the first group is ID number one through six. Um go ahead and address these ballots, please. Um the voter lost her ABS mail ballot, came into the uh precinct, and instead of give it being given a free five form, she was given a provisional ballot form. Um the record shows that uh the ballot was not turned in and we did not receive it.

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