By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — Did you know there are 12 reasons Hoosiers can use absentee ballots?
That’s one of the many facts highlighted in three videos recently released by the Kosciusko County Clerk’s office ahead of the Nov. 5 Election Day.
The videos were made available through grant money from the Indiana Secretary of State and the federal government and are the most comprehensive social media campaign on the issue the county has ever promoted.
County clerk Ann Torpy applied to participate with the Secretary of State’s office and chose to focus on election outreach.
The videos, produced by DreamOn Studios at a cost of $21,185, highlight details on how to register, the absentee voter process and how to cast ballots.
“I think it’s important that our younger generation be active and involved and so if we can make this as less intimidating as we can, that’s important to me.”
Locally, voter registration is on the rise. A local chapter of the League of Women voters was established recently and Torpy said that “maybe” that’s part of the uptick
She said she’s seen a steady flow but some of that normally accompanies a presidential election.
“We have seen an increase, but that’s typical for this election year,” Torpy said. “We have seen a lot daily people registering to vote through the online voter registration process.”
Torpy is wrapping up her second term in office and was unable to run for another term because of term limits. She is expected to continue working in the office next year when her Chief Deputy, Melissa Boggs, (who is unopposed in the fall election), is set to win in November.
In her eight years, Torpy has made significant strides in improving election access and security.
She helped usher in the establishment of vote centers, which allow voters to cast ballots at any of the 21 vote centers in the county instead of being limited to an assigned polling place.
She and the county election board also oversaw the installation of new voting machines that improve election security.
The videos represent a final push during her eight years in office to improve elections.
“I had a lot of help and encouragement from both party chairs and election board members working with me,” Torpy said. “The availability that the state has in laws that allow you to use technology as far as vote pads — if we weren’t able to do that we wouldn’t be able to do vote centers. That helps a lot for us.”
She was asked if she hears concerns about voter fraud.
“Every once in a while. Not as frequently as much as I feel other states or other counties may have, but once or twice a week,” she said.
She said she has not heard concerns from poll workers unlike what has happened in other states.
Torpy said they’ve worked with a cybersecurity firm on election preparedness for cyber attacks as well as interaction with “difficult voters” who show up to polling sites.
She said emergency management and systems management have been included in those discussions about the potential for voter intimidation at polling locations.
To see the three videos, go to News Now Warsaw’s Facebook page.
