By Arthur E. Foulkes
TERRE HAUTE — The Vigo County Election Board voted unanimously Wednesday to once again provide satellite voting facilities in the weeks leading up to the upcoming general election.
The three-person board, consisting of a Republican, a Democrat and Vigo County Clerk Pat Mansard, approved a resolution providing in-person satellite voting at four locations in the Terre Haute area for four weeks beginning in early October.
The satellite voting sites will be at the old movie theater on the west edge of the Plaza North shopping center, The Meadows, the Southland Shopping Center and at Indiana State University, election officials said.
The Plaza North, Meadows and Southland voting sites will be open from Oct. 6-Nov. 1 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The ISU satellite voting site will also be open during the same period, only it will not operate on Saturdays, an official with the Vigo County Clerk’s office said.
All of the sites will be closed for Columbus Day on Oct. 13. The ISU facility will also be closed on Oct. 10 for Fall Break.
In addition, there will be a half-day of satellite voting available at all four sites on Monday, Nov. 3 from 8 a.m.-noon, election officials said. The general election will take place Tuesday, Nov. 4.
“These are very popular with people,” Mansard said of the satellite voting facilities.
In the last county-wide election in 2006, more than 3,600 voters took advantage of the satellite voting facilities.
In the 2007 city general election, of around 12,000 total votes cast, more than 2,200 were cast at satellite voting locations.
ISU student interest helped election officials decide to offer a satellite voting location on the college campus for the first time during the May primary this year, officials said at Wednesday’s meeting. ISU will pay for two of the four weeks of operating the satellite facility, said Nancy Brattain Rogers, director of the Center for Public Service and Community Engagement at ISU.
“We know that young people vote at lower percentages than other people, so if we can provide them a convenient opportunity and education about voting … it’s more likely that they will vote. And if they vote in this election, hopefully they’ll keep on voting,” Rogers said following the meeting.
More than 300 people voted in a two week period at the ISU satellite voting facility in the May Indiana primary, Rogers said. “We expect to have a lot more” in November, she said.
In the face of impending county government budget cuts, Mansard suggested operating the ISU satellite facility – which had not been offered before this year – for two weeks, not four. Election board official Richard Shagley objected, saying, “I think it would be irresponsible” to offer two weeks of satellite voting at ISU. “If the money is there, I think we should do it.”
Mansard and the election board agreed to operating the satellite voting site at ISU for four weeks when Rogers said ISU will pay for two of the four weeks. It costs around $1,400 per week per location to operate the satellite voting sites, Mansard said.
“An important part of any student’s education is educating them on the importance of being civically involved,” Rogers said after the meeting. “And you really can’t be civically engaged unless you vote.”
Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.
