INDIANAPOLIS — When it comes to ballot access and election security, lawmakers in neighboring states Indiana and Illinois diverge drastically on their priorities, with each state’s supermajorities mirroring the wishes of their national party counterparts.
Democrats in the supermajority in Illinois have expanded ballot access, allowing same-day registration, no-excuse absentee voting and no identification requirements.
In contrast, the Republican supermajority in Indiana has limited absentee ballots to those with qualifying disabilities or Election Day conflicts and prioritized early, in-person voting up to 28 days before Election Day and passed one of the nation’s first voter ID laws.
Indiana allowed no-excuse vote-by-mail for the 2020 primaries but didn’t for the general election in November. In contrast, Illinois expanded vote-by-mail following a surge of interest in their 2020 primary and now every voter can request an absentee ballot.
With her position as senior counsel with the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights, Ami Gandhi advocates for voting rights in both Indiana and Illinois. She said that her organization’s voter hotline noticed the split in public policy over absentee ballots for the 2020 general election.
“When the dates are the same and we’re getting calls in from Illinois and Indiana voters — it is just a remarkable difference in terms of the different sorts of systems they have access to,” Gandhi said.
In Illinois, most voting-day issues can be resolved in a collaboration with a local election authority in time for that voter to cast their ballot. But Gandhi said the opposite occurred in Indiana.
“In Indiana, if we get questions…. Sometimes
the person is just totally out of luck and out of options if they’re realizing (a) barrier all the way on Election Day,” Gandhi said.
Gandhi attributed the ease of access to the experiences of election administrators, who are more racially diverse in Illinois than other states. Because of their relative lack of privilege, Gandhi said they were more likely to experience barriers firsthand.
“We can see that Illinois has more racial diversity in elected leadership — in leadership of election administration — and other roles as compared to Indiana and other parts of the country,” Gandhi.
Indiana consistently ranks in the bottom 10 states for voter turnout, with just 61% saying they voted in the 2020 general election. More than 68% of Illinois voters cast their ballots, higher than the national average of 67%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Julia Vaughn, the Indiana policy director for Common Cause Indiana, questioned why Hoosier legislators don’t adopt policies shown to increase voter turnout. In the 2021 Indiana Civic Health Index the Indiana Bar Foundation pushed for changes for the state, which has some of the “most restrictive voting laws.”
“One would think that the recent publication of the civic health index — which indicates democracy here in Indiana is still on life support — would breathe life into efforts to improve voter access in Indiana but unfortunately that’s not what we’re seeing,” Vaughn said.
With most Democratic priorities already protected by law for Illinois residents, bills receiving public attention include an initiative to give incarcerated Illinoisans the right to vote. Regardless, Gandhi said Illinois voting activists want these rights guaranteed under federal law so new administrations don’t rescind them.
“Those sorts of regressive bills have not passed in recent years but that could certainly change in the future,” Gandhi said. “None of us want to see that happen.”
In contrast, a federal bill would transform Indiana voting access. With little movement on such issues in the Indiana Statehouse, Vaughn said Indiana needed federal reform.
“That’s why we need the United States Congress to step in and pass these laws that are so very needed in places like Indiana. They won’t mean much in places like Massachusetts but in Indiana it would be a whole new day,” Vaughn said.
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