Counting votes the old way

Could we be in for a long night awaiting election results in Jackson County?

Maybe so.

With a number of Jackson County's 33 precincts running out of Democratic paper ballots -- and many voters preferring not to cast their ballots on the touchscreen I-Votronic system -- means election board officials must count paper ballots and then enter them into the electronic system to yield vote totals.

Of course, the I-Votronic wasn't an option for voters at Jackson 5 North at Seymour High School when it ran out of Democratic ballots. That's because its touchscreen machine broke down with 55 votes on it about midday. The inspector there, Joe Robertson, said those 55 ballots will be electroncially transferred out and counted.

Why did the precincts run out of Democratic ballots? That's probably a combination of at least three things: more people voted, perhaps most attributed to Indiana's presidential primary actually meaning something for the first time since 1968; ballots had to be ordered before anyone ever dreamed that our primary could mean something and stir more people to vote; and it's pretty clear that a number of Jackson County Republicans crossed over and took Democratic ballots, for whatever reason.

Anyway, we still have staff at the courthouse, waiting for the final results. As soon as we have them, we'll post them online.

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Dan Daivs is editor of The Tribune.