The Lake County Board of Elections and Registration is thrilled to announce that two additional staff members – Campaign Finance Officer Kelley DePirro and Assistant Voter Registration Supervisor Lori O’Dea – have graduated from Indiana’s Certificate in Election Administration, Technology, and Security (CEATS) program. Designed to strengthen election integrity and foster leadership, the nationally-recognized, year-long program provides comprehensive education on election administration, including election law, cybersecurity, information technology, and operational best practices.
Participants then apply these learnings to improve all aspects of elections in their counties, often through their capstone projects: research initiatives that offer applied solutions to on-the-ground election issues. This year, Kelley DePirro continues the LCBER tradition of earning national recognition with an honorable mention for her project – Proactive Absentee Ballot Error Prevention Initiative – in the 2025 Clearinghouse Awards. Administered by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, these annual awards celebrate innovative efforts from state and local election offices and recognize best practices in election administration.
This brings the total number of LCBER CEATS graduates to five. Two additional LCBER staff are currently participating in the 8th CEATS cohort.
For LCBER Director Michelle Fajman, CEATS program participation is a key part of LCBER efforts to improve county elections:
“Here in Lake County, we are proud to lead the state in offering innovative, best-in-class elections services to our residents. Providing our staff with the most advanced training opportunities available is just one of the many ways we’re working towards this goal. I can’t wait to see what exciting new resources and ideas the next cohort brings back, so we can use them to improve civic education, increase voter access, and enhance confidence in our secure elections.”