Elkhart County election board reviews dozens of provisional and absentee ballots; certification pending final entries

The Elkhart County Election Board on May 15 conducted a detailed, voter-by-voter review of provisional and absentee ballots from the May primary and approved many ballots cured through the state signature process while rejecting others that failed statutory requirements.

The meeting opened with a roll call and staff presentation of the provisional packet and the statewide system (SBS) workflows the office used to prepare each case. Chair (calling the meeting to order) told the board, “We are going to certify the 2026 primary election results,” contingent on staff finishing required data entry and the end of the challenge window.

Board members applied existing legal rules to individual cases. When a voter had already returned a valid absentee or early ballot that had been accepted, the board followed Indiana’s absentee rules and declined to count a second, in-person ballot; in one exchange the board cited the statute governing rejected absentee ballots and the ABS‑21 cure process. For ballots marked provisional because of machine or Wi‑Fi problems, members typically voted to accept the ballots when the voter was registered and the defect was traceable to equipment or supervisor handling.

Staff described the signature‑cure process for absentee mail ballots: the office issues an ABS18 letter for a missing signature or ABS18B for a signature mismatch, gives voters 10 days after the election to return the cure, and then forwards the returned material and history for the board to review. The board approved numerous ABS cases where the voter returned the cure; several ABS cases were denied where no cure was received.

The board also documented instances of supervisor error (missing fields on forms) and common‑name searches that could not be resolved; when staff could not verify a registrant, the board voted to reject the provisional ballot and said it would mail registration materials to the affected voters.

After members recorded determinations, staff sealed approved ballots in bipartisan bags for tally entry and placed rejected ballots in separate sealed bags to be spoiled; the board recorded bag/seal information for chain of custody and agreed a bipartisan team would finish tally entry on Monday before certification. The board noted no formal challenges had been filed during the open window; with no challenges pending a motion to adjourn passed unanimously and the board said it will certify results after staff completes the remaining updates.

What happens next: staff will complete the data entry and update official results before the certification deadline; ballots denied for missing registration or ID may receive mailings inviting them to register for future elections. The board also recorded procedural follow‑ups, including supervisor training to reduce user errors with the voting system.