MUNCIE, Ind. — It was made official at an informational event Thursday night that a deal was struck by both political parties for a plan on vote centers for 2026. The three-person election board will meet on September 8, 11:00am at the county building to make a vote that’s required to be unanimous. While both county chairmen of each political party were invited last night, Republican Party chair Tim Overton did not show up to the event.

The event, hosted by League of Women Voters of Muncie-Delaware County, took place at Muncie Central Highschool and planned to be an educational event on the matter of vote centers. Executive Director of the Voting System and Technical Oversight Program Chad Kinsella gave a presentation to an audience of close to 30 people on what studies show on the effects that vote centers have on cost, accessibility, and turnout for each election cycle. This followed with Democratic chair Andrew Dale and County Clerk Rick Spangler announcing that compromises were made, after a dispute between the party chairs on where early voting site(s) would be placed. Dale originally asked for First Presbyterian Church to be an early voting site in addition to the county building, while Overton called the idea far left and radical. Dale said at the event that he would be open to the local GOP choosing a second early voting location, telling Overton “name your spot.”

However according to Spangler and Dale, First Presbyterian will still be one of the voting sites the day of election (though not early voting), as well as an eastside location where the former Claypool school was located. The plan effectively brings 45 sites down to 26 each with a future plan with MITS bus routes for accessibility. As for an early voting site, Spangler said that the Delaware County Fair Grounds would be the location as opposed to First Presbyterian or the Muncie Fieldhouse proposed by Overton.

Both Dale and Overton wrote Op-Eds in the Star Press in mid-June, although there previously hadn’t been any updates to a potential agreement since. According to one source Overton believed attending the Thursday event was pointless now that a deal has been made.