SOUTH BEND - The St. Joseph County Election Board is planning for the special election Nov. 3, posing one question to voters: Should a transportation district be formed in St. Joseph, LaPorte, Lake and Porter counties?

The counties that vote for it could then see a tax of up to 0.25 percent to run the district, said John Parsons, spokesman for the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, or NICTD.

Parsons said the tax will apply only to those counties that vote for the district.

The district would govern the South Shore Line, which the NICTD runs, and also include regional bus services in Lake and Porter counties.

In St. Joseph County, voters will have access to 30 polls to register their “yes” or “no,” down from 160 polls in a typical election, the election board said at its meeting Tuesday.

That’s because there will be a simpler, one-issue ballot, said Chairman James Korpal.

But it also means that many voters will be redirected to new polling places, though just for this election.

And the election’s cost will come in at $30,000 to $40,000, down from the more typical $300,000, partly because fewer helpers will be required to run the election, Korpal said.

The board voted to order 40,000 ballots.

It’s hard to know how many voters will show up, officials said. The greatest challenge here may be whether they understand the question on which they’ll be voting and how it will affect each county, said county clerk Rita Glenn.

Going to court

Meanwhile, officials in Lake and LaPorte counties have sued the state to prevent the November election. They say the election is too costly for each county.

The referendum is being done because of Indiana House Bill 1607, which passed the Indiana legislature this year. It mandates the November election to ask voters whether they want to join the transportation district.

Staff writer Joseph Dits:
jdits@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6158