Jonathan Miano, file, The Times
Four voting rights organizations filed suit in federal court Tuesday seeking to halt the enforcement of two Indiana laws they claim make it more difficult for naturalized U.S. citizens to cast a ballot in the Hoosier State.
House Enrolled Act 1264 (2024) and House Enrolled Act 1680 (2025) require individuals lawfully admitted to the United States, who hold a temporary driver's license or identification card issued by the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), to speedily produce proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote or maintain an existing registration.
Individuals who fail to provide the requested citizenship documentation to their county elections office within 30 days must have their voter registration application rejected or their registration canceled, according to the statutes.
The lawsuit's plaintiffs — League of Women Voters of Indiana, Common Cause Indiana, Hoosier Asian American Power and Exodus Refugee Immigration — assert the proof of citizenship requirement violates multiple federal election laws, in part because individuals with temporary BMV credentials are not obligated to replace them when they become U.S. citizens legally entitled to vote.
"Using the BMV database of temporary driver's licenses and identification cards to identify non-citizens, as required by (Indiana law), will misidentify numerous U.S. citizens who have a temporary credential as non-citizens," the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, there are at least 179,360 Hoosiers who were born elsewhere but have since become naturalized U.S. citizens and may still hold a temporary BMV credential because it's good for six years and the BMV charges a fee to update it.
Naturalized citizens also may face long delays and hefty fees to obtain sufficient proof of U.S. citizenship and stand to lose their right to vote in the meantime, while citizens born in the United States are not required to leap similar hurdles, the lawsuit says.
"Our democracy depends on every eligible voter being able to cast a ballot free from intimidation or discrimination," said Celina Stewart, CEO of the League of Women Voters of the United States.
"Indiana's new laws are part of a broader, troubling trend to undermine the fundamental right to vote. By targeting naturalized citizens, these provisions break federal law and betray the promise of equal participation at the heart of our democracy."
The defendant, Republican Secretary of State Diego Morales — a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Guatemala — has yet to respond to the lawsuit.
Morales has long advocated for citizenship checks on all Indiana voters.
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