Voters encouraged to request Travel Board if needed for absentee voting

Vigo County eligible voters needing assistance during the voting process have a resource at hand for filling out their absentee mail-in ballots. Travel Board IC 3-11-10-24(b) is designed to provide assistance that does not infringe upon someone’s right to vote and provides trained, unbiased support. This service is designed to assist individuals with disabilities and the elderly. Apart from the Travel Board, no other individual is allowed to help a voter with an absentee mail-in ballot. 
 
When requesting Travel Board, one democrat and one republican from the Vigo County Election Board go to the voter’s residence and assist the voter in filling out their ballot.  
 
“The Travel Board in Indiana Code provides an added means to ensure that the voting process is easy for all eligible voters in Vigo County,” states Brad Newman, Vigo County Clerk. “No Vigo County voter will ever have to pass up their right to vote, including reasons such as wanting and needing assistance to fill out a ballot. This is a resource we highly encourage voters to take advantage of should it be needed.”  
 
With COVID-19, Travel Board workers are taking extra precautions to ensure all health and safety measures are followed.  
 
In-person voting also provides voters with assistance as an alternative to Travel Board. When voting in-person, an eligible voter may have assistance from an individual after completing a PRE-3 form, as long as the individual providing assistance is not the voter’s employer or union representative. The Democrat Judge and Republican Judge can complete the PRE-3 affidavit of assistance and are also on-site to provide voter assistance at vote centers.  
 
As stated in the Indiana Election Division Dispatch from September 2020, “state law requires the voter to be able to personally mark their own vote-by-mail ballot. If they cannot, then state law specifically requires the person to vote travel board. IC 3-11-10-24(b).”  
 
Travel Board is designed to assist individuals with disabilities who meet the following criteria: 

• are unable to make a voting mark on the ballot or sign the absentee ballot secrecy envelope; and  
• requests that the absentee ballot be delivered to an address within Indiana.  

Indiana code also states that “if a voter receives an absentee ballot by mail the voter shall personally mark the ballot in secret and seat the marked ballot inside the envelope provided by the county election board for that purpose.”  
 
To request Travel Board with your absentee ballot, voters are encouraged to call the Absentee Voting Office at (812) 462-3235. The due date to apply for an absentee ballot is October 22.   

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