03-07-2025
Boone County Clerk Lisa Bruder attends D.C. election conference
Boone County Clerk Lisa Bruder recently visited Washington D.C. at the invitation of Secretary of State Diego Morales for a national conference on election integrity.
Bruder was among 11 Hoosier county clerks to attend the conference sponsored by Election Assistance Commission and VSTOP, Voting System Technical Oversight Program.
Clerks from all over the nation shared best practices for election system testing and management to ensure reliability, transparency, and integrity of elections and election system testing, according to conference literature.
Morales paid for the Hoosier clerk's trips and said the conference focused on election integrity, safeguarding elections, and building stronger partnerships with the Donald J. Trump administration.
Bruder said discussion also focused on engaging local voters, increasing voter turnout, and election accessibility locally, among other topics.
'I feel like I've come away with a better understanding of the tools and resources available to counties, and I had a great time getting to know the other clerks,' Bruder said.
Discussions included the use of technology, such as electronic voting machines, during elections.
Boone County has for years used electronic voting machines and ballots, but a contingent of conservative voters lobbied unsuccessfully to have the county return to paper ballots for the 2024 presidential election. One of their concerns was possible voter fraud.
The Boone County Election Board refused the request for paper ballots. And Bruder, in an abundance of caution, asked VSTOP to audit the county's 2024 primary election for accuracy and transparency.
VSTOP scrutinized contested races and found the primary to be 99.9% accurate, the highest score possible without testing every category, Bruder said.
Bruder said she is committed to transparency and continuous improvement.
