Lake County election officials likely will learn Monday if their efforts so far to find a bipartisan resolution to consolidating the county's small precincts will be enough to stop a push by the Indiana Legislature to force their hand.

The House Elections and Apportionments Committee is expected Monday to review efforts made by local election officials to reach an agreement on how to consolidate small precincts and stop the progress of a bill aimed at forcing Lake County to consolidate precincts with under 600 active voters.

Elections Board Director Michelle Fajman said the small precinct committee created by the Board of Elections met Wednesday and made some progress but that did not include consensus on the number at which precincts should be consolidated.

"We agreed anything over 1,200 should be split. We all agreed to move the date to Feb. 15 to determine active voters. We did not come down to a conclusion on the lower end number," Fajman said. "We made some progress."

Dan Dernulc, chair of the Lake County Republican Party, said he received a report from the Republican committee members and acknowledge a compromise had been reached regarding the 1,200-voter threshold to split precincts and the date of Feb. 15 for use to pull the active voter count.

He said he is uncertain the two sides can reach an agreement on the number at which precincts should be consolidated. Dernulc said he thinks the best offers have been presented and there is still no consensus.

"I think there is still a big gap. I don't know if we will ever come to some type of resolution," Dernulc said.

A report of what has so far been accomplished was sent to the Elections and Apportionments Committee for consideration Feb. 13. A second similar piece of legislation entered in the Senate also has been introduced and is set for committee hearings soon.

The Lake County small precinct committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday prior to the regularly scheduled 10 a.m. board meeting. Fajman said what steps the committee next takes will depend on what action the Elections and Apportionments Committee takes.

Carrie Napoleon is a freelancer for the Post-Tribune

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Committee updates Legislature on precinct consolidation progress - Chicago Tribune