Early voting days in Indiana would be cut nearly in half after an amendment was quickly added to a bill on Monday.
The language was slipped into HB 1359 and would shorten Indiana’s early voting days from 28 to 16. It comes as lawmakers near the end of the legislative session.
The bill’s original intent was only to focus on changing the process of when in-person early voting ballots were scanned into county systems to save on time and costs for counties.
However, the Senate Elections Committee Chair Sen. Mike Gaskill (R-Pendleton) introduced an amendment, saying that cutting the number of days will save money, make elections easier and align Indiana with the number of days many other states have for early voting.
“I'm sure many of you have heard the argument that, even here at the legislature, that it's election day, not election month,” Gaskill said during the committee meeting.
The bill did not get a public hearing on Monday.
Democrats on the committee strongly opposed the change, saying it could take away voting access for working families who don’t have time to vote on election day.
Sen. Fady Qaddoura (D-Indianapolis) said he knows of some polling stations in his district that have had wait times up to six hours.
“I think between the policy of saving dollars versus allowing access and increasing voter participation at a time when Indiana ranks in the bottom five nationwide on voter participation, I think it's extremely problematic,” Qaddoura said.
Indiana has ranked near the bottom in the country in terms of voter turnout for many years, but did see an increase this past year from 50th to 41st, according to the Indiana Bar Foundation’s Civic Health Index for 2025.
Julia Vaughn, Executive Director of Common Cause of Indiana denounced the move in a statement.
“This amendment will give Hoosiers even less time to cast a ballot, making it harder for them to participate in the democratic process,” she said.
The average number of early voting days across states is 20, with states ranging from three to 46 early voting days, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Indiana is currently aligned with about 14 other states who allow for 28 or more days of early voting.
Questions over election security and integrity weren’t the main topic of discussion on the amendment, although Gaskill did mention that the shortened time frame was meant to be a compromise for those who view a longer early voting period as a risk to election security.
Sen. Greg Walker (R-Colombus) also shared concerns with the committee about limiting early voting time, saying that, for the counties he represents, around half of voters chose to vote in-person absentee in recent elections.
Walker, who represents parts of Johnson and Bartholomew counties, said that voters in his heavily Republican district choose in-person early voting and rust the system currently in place.
“So for them to show that degree of confidence in the system as to be part of that early vote, I think that is actually data we can look at to say that the public doesn't have concerns,” Walker said during the committee.
Early voting has been on the rise in Indiana in recent years, with nearly one-third of voters casting ballots early during the 2024 general election.
Walker voted against the amendment along with Qaddoura and Sen. JD Ford (D-Indianapolis). The bill passed out of committee with a final vote of 7-2.
It now heads to the full Senate but will have to be sent back to the House before it goes to the Governor’s desk. The session is expected to end by the end of February.
Contact Government Reporter Caroline Beck at cbeck@wfyi.org