Voters in McKean County will be faced with two referendum
questions on the May 15 primary election ballot – one dealing with
the Taxpayer Relief Act and the other using electronic voting
machines in Sergeant Township.
On Monday, Director of Elections Judy Ordiway said the county’s
three-member board of elections will meet on Thursday to vote on
placing the questions on the ballot.
Also that day, the candidates for the upcoming election will
draw lots to determine the order and position of their names on the
ballot.
The most significant of the two ballot questions will be whether
voters in school districts across the region will approve of an
increase to the earned income tax (EIT) through the Taxpayer Relief
Act, which was passed by the state Legislature last year.
As part of the act, local school districts were required to form
special Tax Study Commissions for the purpose of making a
non-binding recommendation to an individual school board regarding
the EIT tax. In turn, school boards had until March 13 to decide
whether to accept or reject the commission’s recommendations.
The act is designed to ease the burden on local homeowners
through the reduction of property taxes. The legislation – the
funding for which will be derived from gaming revenues – will
especially benefit senior citizens. Officials hope to generate more
than $1 billion a year in revenue for the property tax relief.
Most school districts across the region have decided to increase
the earned income tax by .5 percent. When voters head to the polls
on May 15, they will decide on whether to accept whatever increase
that particular district has set forth.
Meanwhile, voters in Sergeant Township will be deciding on
whether to join the rest of the county in using electronic voting
machines – again.
Residents there have twice before rejected using the new
machines; voters have been using paper ballots to cast their
choices during an election.
The electronic machines were installed by the county last year
as part of the mandated federal Help America Vote Act. The county
previously used bulky lever-type machines.
A similar measure passed in Corydon Township, where paper
ballots were also used.
“Elections officers from the township are requesting that it
(ballot question) be put on again,” Ordiway said. “In that district
there are two voting methods, which makes it very cumbersome.”
Ordiway said an electronic machine was placed in the township’s
polling location in order to comply with the HAVA law.
“Since it (electronic version) was already there, it just makes
sense,” Ordiway said.
Ordiway said that if for some reason township residents reject
going to electronic machines, the issue could be brought up again
in the future, adding there is not limit on how many times it could
appear on a ballot.
There are roughly 120 registered voters in the township.
