Elections Bill HB1264 Has Major Flaws, Must be Paused

Seventeen organizations sent a letter to Indiana State Senate leadership calling for them to not pass HB1264 – a bill that would allow checks of residency and citizenship using questionable data sources — out of committee this legislative session due to the bill’s numerous flaws.

You can see the full letter and all the signers at this link.

According to the letter, HB1264 has several major flaws, including: 

• Similar citizenship language as a Texas law that was struck down 
• Using outdated BMV data to cross-check the voter file 
• Using credit reporting agencies to verify information 
• Inadequate time to remedy any challenges made to a legal voter’s status 

“Indiana’s civic health is on the decline, and last election we ranked 50th in voter turnout. This bill will most certainly entrap legal voters and endanger their right to vote, meaning even worse voter turnout. Using bad data to fix a virtually non-existent problem will only make things worse. Senate leadership needs to pause this effort,” said Julia Vaughn, Executive Director of Common Cause Indiana.  

The groups are encouraging the bill to be changed to a summer study committee to address these flaws. The Senate Elections Committee is scheduled to hear HB1264 on Monday, Feb. 19, 2024.  

Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.