The Allen County Election Board could not agree Wednesday to take over the duties and responsibilities of voter registration, so what happens next falls to the Allen County commissioners.
While two members of the board – Republican County Clerk Lisbeth Borgmann and Republican representative Zachary Klutz – said yes, Democratic member Andrew Boxberger voted no. Per state statute, the vote must be unanimous to become policy. Already dealing with massive budget cuts and facing a presidential election year in 2012, Boxberger said now is not the time for such a transition.
“It would be dangerous to voters and to the integrity of Allen County’s election process as a whole,” Boxberger said.
In July, the commissioners acted on a new law that gives them the authority to abolish the independent voter board and transfer the responsibilities of voter registration to either the election board or the county clerk.
“We don’t know what happens now,” Klutz said. “It’s out of our hands.”
Klutz said he was disheartened that the three could not agree.
“Both Lisa and I felt that there was no reason we could not absorb the tasks and responsibilities of voter registration without in any way compromising the integrity of the registration process,” Klutz said.
At the same time, Klutz said, the merger would have saved the county $100,000 and consolidated a government entity.
Full Article: Vote-registration transfer on hold | The Journal Gazette | Fort Wayne, IN.