Indiana’s secretary of state candidates are being challenged to sign on to a new voter bill of rights to protect voters and make the voting process easier in the state.
Advocacy groups including the League of Women Voters and Common Cause Indiana gathered at the statehouse this week to outline the proposal.
Voter advocacy groups issued a number of recommendations - from same-day voter registration to keeping Indiana’s primaries open. State republicans, including Secretary of State candidate Max Engling, are pushing for closed primaries.
All three of the other candidates - Democrat Beau Bayh, Libertarian Lauri Shillings, and Independent Greg Ballard - have said they support keeping the state’s primaries open.
Julia Vaughn is the executive director of Common Cause Indiana. She said their proposals are about improving the state’s “abysmal” voter participation.
“We've ranked 50th for voter turnout twice, and never gotten out of the bottom third for all states for voter participation,” she said.
Vaughn was also joined by representatives from Count Us Indiana, MADVoters, and other members of the All IN for Democracy Coalition.
She said under current Secretary of State Diego Morales, the state hasn’t had a strong voter advocate. One of the group's policy positions is confidentiality of voter files. Last year, Morales sent Indiana voters’ personal information to the federal government.
“We need a positive pro-voter voice in the secretary of state's office, and that's something we haven't had,” Vaughn said.
Vaughn and others acknowledged that the secretary of state’s office cannot enact policies on its own, but called for the office to be an advocate for some of their proposals. Those include a ban on weapons at polling places, ending straight-ticket voting, and lowering the threshold for Independent candidate ballot access.
Advocates also want to see more competitive elections. To get there, the group proposes a citizen-led redistricting commission and a law outlining that redistricting efforts can only take place once a decade, something that would have stopped last year's failed redistricting effort from ever taking place.
Mary Blackburn is with the Indiana Friends on Legislation, a Quaker legislative advocacy group. Blackburn said she wants to have a more comprehensive state and county voter guide.
“We vote for judges, and how do we know their reputation, or what their judicial philosophy is? Voters need to have a clear understanding of who is seeking to represent us and why,” she said.
Independent Secretary of State Candidate Greg Ballard has said he would create such a guide if elected.
The coalition plans to ask secretary of state candidates which of the proposals they will support if elected.
The group does not endorse any of the candidates.
Contact Government Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org
