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Handling voting issues on Election Day

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Election officials and voters always hope there aren’t any hiccups in the process on Election Day, but that’s not often the reality.

If voter registration numbers are any indications, record numbers of people are expected to vote Tuesday.

That means there could be some speed bumps at the polls.

Dawn Adams wants to make sure everyone who’s eligible can vote Tuesday,

“They should not be deterred by anything that may be preventing access into the poll,” Executive Director of the Indiana Disability Rights Group, Dawn Adams said.

She said oftentimes people with disabilities run into issues at the polls.

“If there’s not accessible parking, if they need assistance and the poll workers are not being helpful, they can call us and we can intervene on their behalf,” she said.

Her group will run a live hotline all day if anyone has issued regarding accessibility.

“We have disability rights attorneys on staff who will actually be the ones answering the phones,” she said.

If you run into other issues such as not having your name in the system, Johnson County Clerk Susie Misiniec said the poll workers should be able to help.

“All registered voters in Johnson County will be in our e-poll book system,” she said, “The election staff that’s there checking folks in are instructed to call the voter registration office here in the courthouse, we can sometimes look people up a little bit differently.”

She said it’s key that voters remember their driver’s license or other state issued ID.

“It must be an Indiana issued photo ID,” she said.

Even if you forget that, you can vote by provisional ballot.

You will just have to go to the election office with your ID within ten days to have your ballot counted.

She said please remember the election staff is on your side and wants to help people cast their votes.

“They need to be able to vote and we’re so glad we’ve had so many turn out and we do not want to turn them away,” she said.

The disability advocacy hotline number is 800-622-4845.

And you should always be able to call your county’s election office if you have issues.

Also, if you experience any voting issues at your polling location, tweet at us using #YourVote2016.