(WSBT) Poll workers are training for next Tuesday's election. There are three write-in Green Party candidates and the South Bend clerk says workers will pay more attention to how those votes are cast.

The Green Party candidates have already faced several hurdles. To be recognized by Indiana as a political party, a candidate must run for Secretary of State and get 2 percent of the vote every election. To appear on the ballot, a minor party candidate must get several thousand signatures. Green Party candidates say it's time for change.

On Tuesday and Thursday nights, South Bend mayoral candidate Tom Brown rebuilds computers for low income families at Free Geek. It's a charitable organization he founded.

"For many years, Greens have done this kind of work and not partisan politics. And we decided recently to do both," said Brown.

He says he'd like attract different types of business to South Bend.

"A Green administration would be looking at diversifying the economy and creating something that is sustainable," said Brown.

He says he'd also like to decrease the reliance on property taxes.

"I think what is needed is a mix of taxes that is fair to property owners, fair to income owners," said Brown.

But first, he and the other three Green candidates say they'd open the lines of communication with the public.

"When you have that disconnect, then people lose faith in the system and tend not to vote," said Kathleen Petitjean, a candidate for 1st District South Bend Common Council.

In addition to Brown and Petitjean, Karl Hardy will run for South Bend Common Council At Large and Dave Tollrath will run for Mishawaka Common Council At Large.

But Petitjean will be the only Green Party candidate appearing on the ballot. The rest of the candidates will be write-ins, and in the past, write-ins have posed some problems. This year, some changes have been made so election results will come in faster.

"The scanner only picks up the oval, not the name," said Rita Glen, St. Joseph County clerk. "The people that are voting for a write-in candidate will put them in an auxiliary bin. We will have tally over there. We will count the certified candidate and run it through the scanner."

But Brown says it's not as easy as it sounds.

"If a person wants to vote for a Green Party candidate, they have to know they're running. They have to know how to spell their name," said Brown.

He says it's not ideal but it's a start.

"You have to start small, and you have to be persistent," he said.

The city clerk says 2,890 absentee ballots have been cast. That's 600 more than the last election.

Brown says he doesn't have be elected to win, getting 2 percent of the vote will be a victory for him.