New location for early voting in the works

As the Pulaski County Election Board worked out the 2018 budget at a recent work session, they also took into consideration the increase in early voters and the possibility of a new early voting location. 
Election board members Jon Frain, Laura Bailey and Christi Hoffa, who is also the Pulaski County Clerk, discussed any foreseen changes, during a work session on July 13, that might need to be made to next year’s budget including an increase in supplies and whether the county will have an information technology director. 
The board also plans on expanding the number of early voting hours in Francesville. The tentative idea is to increase the amount of days for each election. 
Some of the budget numbers were kept the same such as the travel board line item and the amount per day the early voting workers receive. 
The board is also anticipating saving money by sending some of the election day workers to training so they can learn to fix the machines if something goes wrong. The board will pay for the training but it will later save them money because the board will not be paying for a MicroVote specialist. 
Bailey said she spoke with the president of MicroVote who informed her that the board is spending too much money because some of the services that MicroVote offers could be done in-house with the right training. The savings was estimated to be several thousands of dollars, $4,000-$5,000. 
Hoffa also plans on ordering extra supplies this year including envelopes. She said the 2017 budget was slimmed down and she didn’t purchase supplies. Purchasing of some miscellaneous items, such as printer paper and extension cords, may have to be made. 
One of the bigger concerns of the board is whether or not the county will have an information technology director next year. If the county does not, the election board will hire an outside source to help with the technology of the poll pads, minor setup and also posting the election results electronically. That expense could be one of the larger line items of the budget. 
The budget was not formally approved due to it being a work session but the tentative budget numbers were agreed upon. 
The budget will go before the county council for approval or changes. The election board will formally approve the budget at a later time.