HANCOCK COUNTY — The Hancock County Election Board is printing supplemental ballots after learning that a race for a Republican precinct committeeman seat was left off of ballots distributed in this year’s primary election.
The mistake is an additional complication for an election that is already unusual, taking place amid the COVID-19 pandemic and with a significant number of voters casting a ballot by mail.
The contest for Republican precinct committeeman in the Sugar Creek 7 precinct, in the New Palestine area, was omitted from all ballots intended for voters in the area. Two candidates, Scott Wooldridge and Ted Oesterreich, are in the running for the position.
Members of the election board said the error in printing was not noticed by several people who reviewed the ballots. It was pointed out to the board by the chair of the county Republican Party, Janice Silvey.
The election board called an emergency meeting on Friday, May 29, to address the error. The members voted to approve a supplemental ballot, to be distributed to each Republican SC-7 voter casting a ballot during the remainder of early voting and on Election Day, which will be counted alongside their standard ballot.
Some residents of SC-7 already cast a ballot without being aware of the error. By noon on Friday, Hancock County Clerk Lisa Lofgreen said, 48 SC-7 residents had cast ballots in person, and an additional 54 had cast absentee ballots.
Lofgreen said the Election Office intends to contact each of those voters to inform them about the mistake and offer them the opportunity to cast a vote for precinct committeeman.
Those voters will be able to go to any of Hancock County’s four polling places either during early voting hours or on Election Day to fill out the supplemental ballot.
GOP precinct committee members serve as members of the Indiana Republican State Committee, which sets policy for the state party. Each precinct race, limited to a small geographic area, typically draws a small number of votes.
Wooldridge, who attended the election board meeting, described the mistake as “not a big deal,” saying it was unlikely many people were interested in the race and that both candidates are involved members of the county Republican Party.
Oesterreich did not respond to a phone call requesting comment.
Voters with questions about the election can contact the Hancock County Election Office at 317-477-1109.