By Emily Ketterer | Daily Journal
For The Republic
INDIANAPOLIS — Counties around the state and across the country faced an Election Day like no other last November, and now, a state lawmaker wants to make sure Indiana is better prepared the next time that happens.
Senate Bill 398, authored by Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, is a massive piece of legislation that would address and tweak several state laws regarding elections to make the process smoother and more standardized.
This 63-page bill has 25 different components, so far. The bill is a cumulative response to a collection of election laws that needed to be tweaked based on issues Walker noticed the last two years, particularly during the 2020 presidential election when a record-number of Hoosiers voted by mail.
A main piece of the legislation is standardizing the process of counting and verifying absentee ballots.
A record-breaking 500,000 Hoosiers voted by mail in 2020. The influx of mailed votes left election officials overwhelmed and scrambling to come up with plans to count all the ballots on Election Day.
A total of 36,673 people voted in Bartholomew County, surpassing the previous record of 33,198, which was set in 2016, said Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps in an earlier interview. However, only about 25% of the votes in 2020 were cast in-person on Election Day after a record 20,843 people voted early at FairOaks Mall and 6,700 voters cast absentee ballots through the mail, according to the Bartholomew County Clerk’s Office.
“I think the clerks did a fantastic job and deserve our recognition of all the work they had to do to pull this off,” Walker said. “We just want to make sure they have the tools to continue to do outstanding work.”
Many of the details in the bill outline more specific procedures for handling absentee ballots, particularly if a signature on the envelope is questionable. If the bill becomes law, an absentee board would have to agree unanimously whether to keep or throw out a ballot if a signature is disputed.
If a ballot is rejected, the voter must be notified by mail or phone so they have enough time to come in and verify their signature, according to the proposed legislation. Notifying voters that their absentee ballot is rejected is not required by state law.
For the complete story, see Monday’s Republic.
