A state senator appointed to the Indiana legislature’s Interim Study Committee on Elections says Indiana residents should expect “modest changes” in election rules as compared to other states.
Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, who has just been appointed to the elections subcommittee, says election law changes made in the Hoosier state are expected to remain relatively tame in comparison to those made in battleground states of Georgia, Florida and Arizona after the 2020 presidential election.
“You have other states proposing some very significant changes in voter verification,” Walker said. “But I think Indiana is just looking at some modest changes.”
Former Secretary of State Connie Lawson, who supervised the 2020 elections, stepped down in March and was succeeded by Holli Sullivan, Walker said.
“(Sullivan) is still getting established in her office, as well as deciding what kind of leadership she wants to take,” Walker said. “I think there’s still a learning curve for her, and we need to let that run through its course.”
While the senator said he doesn’t think lawmakers “did anything that was all that controversial” regarding elections earlier this year, there are others who disagree after the passage of Senate Bill 398, which was co-authored by Walker.
The measure was written after voters in South Bend successfully challenged Indiana’s practice of rejecting mail-in ballots without notification when a voter’s signature on the envelope was determined not to match that individual’s signature on file. The Southern District of Indiana ruled the practice unconstitutional, and the state did not appeal.
Walker’s bill allows county election officials to set the mail-in ballot aside and contact the voter through mail, email and by phone when the signatures appear to be mismatched. The voter will then have until eight days after the election to file a signature verification affidavit. The legislation was approved in both chambers and signed into law by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb on April 23 to become Public Law 109.
There were more detailed proposed voter requirement changes that didn’t make it through the statehouse last year, Walker said.
One was Senate Bill 353, which would have required a voter to give either a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number in order to get an absentee ballot online.
Last year, Indiana became one of four states to require an approved reason to vote by mail, with COVID-19 not considered a valid reason. However, Walker said he fought against listing the virus as a non-valid reason for requesting to vote by mail.
Besides his belief that the bill is unenforceable, Walker said any serious health concern, including COVID-19, would be a valid reason to be allowed to vote by mail.
However, Walker said he has other concerns about mail-in ballots. He maintains they create conflict that have nothing to do with trying to steer voters in one direction or another. The conflict has more to do with county clerks dealing with substantial regulatory conflicts when they have to tally both machine and paper ballots in large numbers.
“How do you treat all voters the same when they all don’t vote in the same manner?” Walker asked. “It’s a matter of getting logistics right.”
Walker anticipates his committee will hear bipartisan proposals from county clerks all across the state as to how to manage their work flow, he said.
While most states have eliminated straight-party voting, Indiana lawmakers did not resolve the issue this year. Walker said he anticipates substantial debate on that issue from this summer through next year’s session of the General Assembly.
The Interim Study Committee on Elections is also expected to discuss what redistricting might look like, Walker said.
Because of COVID-19, lawmakers haven’t received the finalized census numbers needed for redistricting, which is a process that happens once every 10 years. With data projected to arrive sometime in the fall, legislators extended the session’s end date to Nov. 15.
“Once we have the opportunity to start reviewing the census information, we’ll schedule some public hearings across the state to take input and feedback,” Walker said.
But as it gets closer to the time when lawmakers reconvene to consider redistricting, Walker believes different committees will go off on separate tracks regarding the controversial issue.
With super-majorities in both chambers, the Republicans who will control the process already have rejected efforts to create an independent commission to redraw the boundaries for the state’s congressional and legislative districts.
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Besides the Interim Study Committee on Elections, State Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, will serve on three study committees.
- Employment and Labor. While a major topic in the private sector, Walker says committee discussions will deal mainly with state employees.
- Pension Management Oversight. Looks at the financial health of pension funds, and updates the Indiana Public Retirement System that oversees day-to-day activities.
- Native American Indian Affairs Commission. Focuses on heritage, education and special considerations for the state’s Native American population. Also focuses on trying to improve cultural awareness and sensitivity regarding the tribes in Indiana.
To view study committee agendas and stream hearings online, visit iga.in.gov.
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