Published: November 14, 2008 11:16 pm            

Election Board certifies vote totals

TERRE HAUTE — While the outcome of races remained unchanged, the Vigo County Election Board on Friday certified final numbers in the Nov. 4 election.

Board members first had to go through 94 provisional ballots, of which 15 were military ballots. Of the 94 provisional ballots, 27 were determined valid and 67 non-valid, with the majority invalid because they did not meet the Indiana photo identification requirement.

Telephone calls were made by the county clerk’s office and when possible, messages were left, to remind the voters to meet the provisional ballot requirements.

If a voter did not have a state or federal ID when at a voting poll, they could cast a provisional ballot. That voter then had until noon Friday to produce ID to the county clerk’s office for their ballot to be counted.

Vigo County Clerk Patricia Mansard, a member of the Election Board, said many of the provisional ballots not counted were made by college students.

“I really feel bad for the young people, especially, who wanted so to vote and had registered, but even though they were legally registered voters, couldn’t meet the state’s very restrictive voter ID law by having an Indiana-issued ID with an expiration date,” Mansard said.

Some students had driver’s licenses from other states and because on parents’ insurance, could not switch to an Indiana driver’s license, she said. Also, Mansard said many college IDs do not have expiration dates, as required by the photo ID law.

Of the military ballots mailed, all but one was counted. The one not counted did not include a ballot in the mailing envelope.

The certified voter turnout in the Nov. 4 election was 55.76 percent, with 44,294 ballots cast from 79,436 registered voters in Vigo County. Straight-party ballots cast totaled 9,550 Democrat; 5,066 Republican; and 277 Libertarian.

For president/vice president, Democrats Obama/Biden got 25,040 votes; Republicans McCain/Palin at 18,121; Libertarians Barr/Root at 524. There were 199 write-in votes.

For U.S. representative in District 8, Democrat Brad Ellsworth got 29,785 votes and Republican Greg Goode, 13,339. There were 23 write-ins.

For Indiana governor/lieutenant governor, Democrats Thompson/Oxley got 20,448 votes, Republicans Daniels/Skillman 21,941 and Libertarians Horning/Kelly, 1,011. There were 20 write-in votes.

For Indiana attorney general, Democrat Linda Pence got 22,951 and Republican Greg Zoeller, 18,355. For state superintendent of public instruction, Democrat Richard D. Wood got 23,015 and Republican Tony Bennett, 17,289. There were 31 write-ins.

For state representative District 42, Democrat F. Dale Grubb tallied 2,635; in District 43, Democrat Clyde Kersey got 13,001 and Republican Ryan J. Cummins, 9,918; in District 44, Democrat Nancy A. Michael got 544 votes, Republican Amos P. Thomas 356 and Libertarian Darrell Goldman, 35; in District 45, Democrat Rick Marshall got 1,713 and Republican Bruce A. Borders, 1,276; in District 46, Democrat Vern Tincher got 6,472 and Republican Bob Heaton, 5,966.

For Vigo County Superior Court Division 2 judge, Democrat Phillip I. Adler got 32,095; for Superior Court Division 5 judge Democrat Michael R. Raider tallied 23,731 and Republican Daniel W. Kelly, 18,257.

For clerk of the circuit court, Democrat Patricia R. Mansard got 27,900 and Republican Bill Treadway, 13,782. For county auditor, Democrat Timothy M. Seprodi got 31,459. For county recorder, Democrat Nancy S. Allsup got 26,579 and Republican Bruce H. Royer, 14,092.

For county treasurer, Democrat David R. Crockett received 31,825 votes; for county coroner, Democrat Dr. Roland M. Kohr, 32,663.

For county commissioner District 2, Democrat Judith A. Anderson got 31,125 votes. For Vigo County Commissioner District 3, Democrat Paul Mason got 22,439 votes and Republican Brad Anderson 19,130. For Vigo County Council at large, Democrats Mark D. Bird got 25,195, William C. Bryan 21,365 and Ed Ping, 20,824; Republicans Tim Hennessy 13,145; Angela Miller-Treadway 14,512 and Mike Morris 17,445.

For school board member District 1, Mel Burks got 19,307 votes, Larry Faulkner 11,408 and Jacqueline L. Lower, 24,388. For school board District 3, Donald V. Gamble got 10,772 votes and Paul G. Lockhart 20,761.

To retain state Supreme Court Justice Shepard, 20,635 voted yes and 10,438 no; retain Supreme Court Justice Boehm was 20,001 yes and 10,595 no; retain Supreme Court Justice Dickson was 20,276 yes and 10,176 no; retain Supreme Court Justice Darden was 20,178 yes and 10,221 no; retain Indiana Tax Court Judge Fisher, yes at 20,081 and no 10,510.

On Local Public Question No. 1, which would determine if the Harrison Township assessor should be eliminated and duties sent to the county assessor, the vote was 6,434 yes and 9,370 no.



Howard Greninger can be reached at (812) 231-4204 or howard.greninger@tribstar.com.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.