CROWN POINT | As midnight neared on May 6, the nation scratched its collective head: Why were Lake County's primary results taking so long?

"We shouldn't have this problem in November," Lake County Democratic Chairman Rudy Clay said Thursday.

But some state and local political experts aren't convinced the county has taken the necessary steps to avoid another national embarrassment. And one analyst believes another nationally televised controversy -- Lake County early voting -- could add to the embarrassment if satellite voting centers are deemed illegal and those votes are discounted.

Adding 40 local students to count Lake County's ballots in the government center's large cafeteria will help speed up vote counting and eke out quicker results in next month's general election, Clay said.

"Given what happened in May, it may very well not be enough," countered Marie Eisenstein, assistant professor of political science at Indiana University Northwest.

It might be best, she said, for Lake County to do on Nov. 4 what much of the country does -- release electronic totals as soon as the counts are ready even if absentee ballots are still being counted.

County election officials have blamed high voter turnout in May for overwhelming staff, who held out releasing electronic vote totals until paper ballots were counted. The delayed results drew the ire of national political media and pundits.

Clay said Thursday he has recommended the county release batches of vote tallies as the counts are validated on election night, suggesting more frequent updates of the results than were given in May.

Secretary of State Todd Rokita predicted Nov. 4 "is going to be one of Indiana's finest hours. What can complicate that is if we have a repeat of the primary situation."

Rokita said he understands why Lake officials want to count absentee ballots at a central location, where bipartisan teams can closely observe the process.

But, Rokita stressed, that should not prevent the county from releasing electronic voting machine totals while the absentee count is ongoing. Lake County is the only urban center in the state that still undertakes a central count of absentee ballots.

Rokita said the May primary marked the only time he recalled a problem getting preliminary vote totals from Lake County.

Rokita's thoughts come as Republicans and Democrats fight over whether early voting should be taking place in East Chicago, Gary and Hammond.

It's unclear what the fate will be of the votes already cast.

Rokita said if a judge shuts down early voting in East Chicago, Gary and Hammond but does not rule on whether to count the absentee ballots already cast there, the dispute would fall to the Lake County election board, which is controlled by a 3-2 Democratic majority. The Democrats have supported the early voting satellite locations, which are being challenged in the courts by Republicans who argue the sites were illegally formed.

Jim Wieser, an attorney supporting early voting spots, said that if a judge decides the satellite centers should not have been opened, he expects the votes already cast will count. He would not be surprised if the votes were challenged, he added.

Indianapolis-based attorney David Brooks representing the county Republican Party was not available for comment Thursday.

Eisenstein said if the election is close, "I feel very certain there will be some counting contention in the country."

Could a fight over early votes be the successor to Lake County's nationally publicized primary black eye?

"I certainly have the hopes we're not going to make that kind of news," Wieser said.

Times staff writer Patrick Guinane contributed to this report.