Randy Vonderheide

It’s unlikely Tippecanoe County will have new election machines to use in the 2020 election.

Election Board Chairman Randy Vonderheide calls it “very unlikely” machines can be purchased, certified and made compatible with existing e-pollbook software before the end of the year.

County Clerk Julie Roush says Indiana law mandates each county to take those steps by the end of the year preceding an election. So the deadline for the 2020 presidential cycle would be December 31, 2019.

The Tippecanoe County Election Board and Clerk Julie Roush have met stiff opposition upon beginning a conversation about whether Purdue University ID cards will continue to be considered valid voter IDs in future elections.

At an election board meeting Friday, the chair of the county Democratic Party, an official from the League of Women Voters, the Democratic co-chair of the county’s Election Division and a Purdue official all questioned why Roush was thinking about making a change.

Despite some opposition from the head of the Tippecanoe County Election Board, voters will receive pamphlets this year reminding them of rules for voting.

The League of Women Voters of Greater Lafayette asked to hand out literature to those standing in line for this year’s primary – advice officials refer to as “queue tips.”

The Tippecanoe County Election Board Tuesday found a procedural way to release itself from investigating admittedly illegal cell phone use by Republican sheriff candidate Jason Dombkowski.

Dombkowski has paid the City of West Lafayette back for using his city-issued cell phone for duties not related to his job as police chief, but instead to his run for political office.

But despite that admission, Board chair Randy Vonderheide made it clear he considers the issue closed.