On Tuesday, Nov. 6, about 51 percent or 26,688 registered voters in Kosciusko County went to the polls. Most of them made use of an option on the ballot that should be expanded out to all elective offices that are not up for re-election, as I mentioned in my Oct. 25 letter to the editor. That option being the vote to retain in office or not along with the yes or no option that is allowed on public questions. Voters have a real choice when they can vote in the affirmative or the negative. There were also a significant number of undervotes on these options, most likely meaning that voters were undecided or did not have enough prior knowledge to make a decision either way. Perhaps adding an undecided option on vote to retain or not and public policy questions is something that should also be looked into.
2018 Results Vote to Retain or Not/Yes or No on Public Question
Statewide Public Question 1
“Shall Article 10, Section 5 of the Constitution of the State of Indiana be amended to require the General Assembly to Adopt balanced budgets for state government that do not exceed estimated revenues unless a supermajority of two-thirds of the members of the House of Representatives and two-thirds of the members of the Senate vote to suspend the requirement?"
Number of Votes Percentage of Votes
Yes 19,463 73
No 5,206 20
Undervotes 2,019 8
Total 26,688 100
Due to rounding of percentages they may not add up to 100 percent.
Indiana Supreme Court
Shall Justice Geoffrey G. Slaughter be retained in office?
Number of Votes Percentage of Votes
Yes 16,904 63
No 4,771 18
Undervotes 5,013 19
Total 26,688 100
Indiana Court of Appeals District 2
Shall Judge Robert R. (Bob) Altice. Jr be retained in office?
Number of Votes Percentage of Votes
Yes 17,039 64
No 4,562 17
Undervotes 5,087 19
Total 26,688 100
If an officeholder is removed such as for a local or state office depending on the type of office, one of the following would happen: a special election would take place or a replacement would be appointed by a party caucus or multi-partisan commission, or the vacancy would be filled by a deputy officeholder. There could also be different thresholds for removal depending on the type of office. For example simple majority (50+1), solid simple majority (51 percent), 11/20th or 55 percent, three-fifths, two-thirds or three-fourths could be required to remove an office holder.
I would urge readers of the Times-Union and residents of Kosciusko County to contact their state representatives and senators to expand this option out to all elective offices on an annual basis when those officeholder's terms are not up for renewal. This would also have the effect of increasing voter turnout.
My next letter on election reform for Indiana will be on the subject of a none-of-the-above option.
