As of April 16, members of the Indiana General Assembly, which includes the Indiana House of Representatives and the Indiana State Senate, have passed five bills related to election administration since the beginning of the year. Of those five bills, legislators passed one during the week of April 10-16. A bipartisan group of legislators sponsored the bill. The bill is:
- IN HB1336: Various election law matters, Reps. Tonya Pfaff (D) and Timothy Wesco (R) and Sens. Jon Ford (R) and Linda Rogers (R).
- As introduced on Jan. 17, 2023, this bill:
- Prohibits signatures under IC 26-2-8-106 from being sent by fax or email but allows electronic signatures for candidate and campaign finance committee chairman or treasurer on campaign finance filings.
- Makes election forms obsolete if they become part of the voter registration system.
- Allows the secretary of state to provide voting history to law enforcement for an investigation.
- Allows notification to absentee voters regarding additional documentation to be used without forms management approval.
- Requires the statewide voter registration system to identify nonresidential addresses that have been used on registration applications.
- Click the hyperlinked bill for more information.
- As introduced on Jan. 17, 2023, this bill:
Of the five bills passed this year, one has been enacted. This is two fewer than this point a year ago. A bipartisan group of legislators sponsored the bill. The bill is:
- IN SB0106: Local powers concerning elections, Reps. Patricia Boy (D), Cherrish Pryor (D), Robert Cherry (R), and Timothy Wesco (R) and Sens. J.D. Ford (D), Liz Brown (R), James Buck (R), Jon Ford (R), Aaron Freeman (R), and Greg Walker (R).
- As introduced, this bill clarifies a jurisdiction does not have the power to adopt an ordinance, a resolution, or an order concerning elections unless the power to do so is expressly granted by statute. This bill also voids an ordinance, a resolution, or an order concerning an election before Jan. 1, 2023, unless the jurisdiction was explicitly granted by statute.
From April 10-16, legislators passed 11 bills related to election administration nationally. As of April 16, South Dakota legislators have passed the most bills this year with 18, while legislators in 23 states have passed none. The state with the most enacted bills is South Dakota with 16, while 29 states have enacted none.
The Indiana General Assembly is scheduled to be in session from Jan. 9 to April 27 this year. In 2022, Indiana legislators passed three election-related bills, two in the state House and one in the state Senate. All three bills were enacted into law. Indiana is a Republican trifecta, meaning Republicans control the governorship and both chambers of the state legislature.
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