Lawmakers in the Indiana General Assembly did not call two unpopular election bills for a second reading this week, causing them to die. 

SB201 would have closed Indiana primaries, meaning that independent voters – who make up at least a quarter of the electorate, would be silenced in picking their elected officials in some areas. Gerrymandered Congressional districts and state legislative districts mean that in numerous parts of Indiana, the primary election is the only competitive one.  This would have reduced independent voters ability to participate in the deciding election for some elected officials.  

SB284 would have shortened Indiana’s early voting period from 28 days to 14.  Early voting is extremely popular across the state – so much so that in many counties there were long lines during early voting.  Cutting the time in half would make those long lines even worse and make poll workers jobs even harder.

“Hoosier voters do not want their voice, or their rights, limited at the ballot box. They want options in primary elections and plenty of time for early voting, so seeing attempts to change these election policies fail to advance is cause for celebration. Common Cause Indiana will continue to work to increase voter participation in Indiana elections, and fight against attempts to limit voting rights through policy changes, strict ID requirements or targeted actions to certain groups of Hoosier voters,” said Julia Vaughn, Executive Director of Common Cause Indiana.