Elkhart County election board declines travel-board to South Bend, approves conditional emergency visit for evacuated voter

The Elkhart County Election Board on May 4 rejected a request to send a traveling board to South Bend for a voter who submitted a travel-board form to St. Joseph County, and separately approved a contingent travel-board visit for an evacuated voter temporarily in Mishawaka.

The meeting opened with the chair presenting a travel-board application from a man who signed a form on March 18 but had the form submitted to St. Joseph County. A board member noted the applicant is registered in Elkhart County but has been listed inactive after failing to respond to statewide mailings in 2023 and 2025. "He reached out to Saint Joseph County and not to us," the board member said, arguing that the contact with St. Joseph County weighed against a clear intent to remain an Elkhart resident.

The board debated whether the applicant’s ambiguous responses—telling staff he would "not know for another week or so" about returning—constituted intent to remain a resident. A motion to send a traveling board to Stanley Probst at 4010 South Ironwood Drive, Apt. 104, in South Bend was made and seconded. After a roll-call vote during which multiple members recorded "no," the motion did not pass.

Later the board considered a time-sensitive request from an unnamed voter who said she was evacuated from her Elkhart County residence and temporarily staying at a Hellenic facility in Mishawaka. Staff reported the caller had indicated an intent to return to Elkhart County as soon as she could. A board member said the situation appeared to fit the emergency exception that permits a travel-board visit when a voter is unable to complete absentee voting before the deadline because of circumstances beyond their control.

Because staff lacked a confirmed address and contact, the board approved a conditional motion allowing the traveling board to visit if staff could locate and confirm the voter’s registration and availability and schedule a visit prior to 4:00 p.m. that day. The motion included a 4:00 p.m. cutoff: if staff could not make contact by that time, the visit would not proceed. The contingent motion passed unanimously.

The board chair concluded the discussion noting the logistical limits of the traveling board and the need to avoid unnecessary trips. The board’s approvals and denials were procedural, tied to the evidence of residency and on-the-ground verification of the voters’ availability.

The board did not take other action regarding either voter during the meeting; the contingent approval requires staff confirmation before the traveling board is dispatched.