Election Board member resigns; St. Joseph County commissioners seek ballot protocol review

SOUTH BEND — A week before early voting begins for the Nov. 8 midterm election, St. Joseph County commissioners will seek an "independent third-party review" of the county's process for storing and counting absentee ballots amid questions swirling around the handling of the May primary.

The controversy reached a peak last week when the Republican member of the county Election Board, Ben Horvath, stepped down from his role. Horvath said in a resignation letter he was "deeply troubled" by what he viewed as the county's lackluster response to allegations that County Clerk Rita Glenn failed to adhere to Indiana law that governs how absentee ballots are processed.

The three-member board of commissioners ― all of whom are Republicans ― approved a resolution to seek a third-party review at the urging of recently appointed board chair Carl Baxmeyer. Commissioner Derek Dieter opposed the action, calling it "political theater" that's redundant because of an ongoing Indiana State Police investigation into the same matter.

More:State police investigating county clerk as ballot room access problems persist

The resolution was sponsored by Baxmeyer, who's also a candidate in this election cycle because he was chosen in August to replace former District 1 Commissioner Andy Kostielney. He told The Tribune his primary concern is where ballots were stored the Monday night before the May primary, after video surfaced of Glenn throwing something away while standing alone near a ballot storage room.

Glenn's attorney, Jim Korpal, told commissioners she was merely cleaning up and the ballots weren't in the room, but that only increased suspicion.

"It’s after hours. It’s the night before the election. They should be all sorted to be counted the next day," Baxmeyer said. "Why weren’t they in the room? Where were they? That really raised a red flag that the integrity of the handling of the ballots was being called into question.”

Asked to comment, Glenn deferred to Korpal, who didn't respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Democrat fears move will 'sow distrust in early voting'

The acting Democratic Election Board member, Michelle Engel, has raised doubts about the validity of Republican concerns. She told The Tribune the timing of the third-party review could erode trust in early voting.

"I think it’s being used to sow distrust in early voting, and that’s very disturbing to me," Engel said Wednesday. Standing in for Democrat Charles Leone, the Election Board chair who's out of the country, Engel has served since Sept. 8. Her final day as chair is Saturday.

Asked if he feared this might weaken faith in the election process, Baxmeyer told The Tribune, "No." Whether Glenn was "in compliance or not, either way, having that information come out to me is going to help establish trust.”

Suspicion about the process for counting absentee ballots led Horvath, the Republican member of the three-person Election Board, to step down Sept. 30, he confirmed Wednesday.

He said in a statement to The Tribune "he is deeply concerned with the Clerk's office's handling of absentee ballots (and) the Board's apparent unwillingness to adopt the recommendations that would ensure full compliance with state election law."

Having accepted a full-time role in June as director of Hoosier Conservative Voices, a conservative political action committee in Northern Indiana, Horvath said he also wants taxpayers to have an Election Board member who can devote more time to the role.

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Dieter, also a Republican, told The Tribune on Wednesday the third-party review is "political theater" led by the county GOP. If the offense were serious, he said, it should have been scrutinized immediately after the primary.

Dieter criticized the choice to spend money on a review while State Police appear to be investigating Glenn's actions. Though the exact focus of the police investigation is unclear, Election Board members believe the root of the inquiry is that more than two keys were able to unlock the ballot storage room during the May primary.

According to state law, a room with two locks — one controlled by the Democratic Party and one controlled by the Republican Party — is supposed to be used for early voting and mail-in ballots for primary and general elections. Practically, the law means that both parties know when the room is opened and being accessed.

In the leadup to the primary election in May, Horvath, the Republican key holder, and Democrats opened the room on numerous occasions to begin counting early-voting ballots. But the day before the election, Election Board members realized there were two Republican keys to the lock.

The discovery was made when clerks wanted to open the room to begin counting early-voting ballots, but Horvath wasn't responding to calls. Glenn, a Democrat who's the third member of the Election Board, said she then enlisted a Republican staff member and used the spare Republican key to get into the room.

A review of election protocol led by county attorney Mike Misch appeared to show the county was in violation of state law on multiple points. But Engel, an attorney for nearly three decades, recently questioned his interpretation of how prominent a county clerk can be in election administration.

Glenn has "tacit approval to do some of the everyday functions within the Election Board, and that is well within Indiana law," Engel said, citing Indiana Code. "I don’t see where she has not followed the law. And the timing of it just seems questionable."

“They’re just trying to make the Democratic Party look bad," Dieter said of his fellow Republicans, from whom he's become somewhat estranged for his view of the party's dysfunction.

"This stuff happened back in the primary," Dieter added. "If (fraud) did happen, why would anybody cheat in a primary?"

Baxmeyer maintained his belief that a third-party review will bolster trust in election procedures. He said the Board of Commissioners aims to approve a contract with lawyers in the next few days. The cost of a contract is yet unclear.

Reporter Marek Mazurek contributed to this story.

Email South Bend Tribune city reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jordantsmith09