A panel discussion Thursday about the vulnerability of Indiana’s election system to cyberattacks and hacks impressed one piece of advice on Hoosier voters heading into the 2020 election: brace yourself.
A lawsuit being filed in Indianapolis on Thursday will ask a federal court to decertify voting machines in the state before the 2020 election that do not provide a voter-verified paper trail. The suit says about 58 of Indiana’s 92 counties continue to use machines at the polls that lack a paper trail and are therefore not sufficiently secure.
Indiana officials are launching a statewide election system upgrade that will add devices to perhaps 2,000 electronic voting machines and allow them to display a paper record to voters. The State Budget Committee voted Friday to approve releasing $6 million in funding for that project.
An Indianapolis resident who wanted to add his name to the November mayoral ballot cannot do so now that a federal judge has upheld a finding by the Marion County Election Board that the would-be candidate failed to acquire enough legitimate voter signatures. However, the court also raised concerns about language on a candidate form that could make it “more difficult for voters to support independent candidates,” yet found the language was not enough of a burden to overrule the board’s decision.
In a ruling that reminded Indiana of the need to protect the integrity of the voting process, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the state from kicking individuals off the voter rolls based solely on a match in the Crosscheck database.
Whether Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is officially running for re-election next year has yet to be announced, but the embattled AG claimed his political action committee scored a record fundraising haul in the past two months.
Indianapolis attorney Bryce Bennett, a founding partner with Riley Bennett & Egloff, has resigned as chair of the Indiana Election Commission effective Monday, according to a statement from the firm. Bennett has served two four-year terms under his appointments from Govs. Mitch Daniels, Mike Pence and Eric Holcomb.
A man accused of repeatedly making harassing phone calls to Indiana lawmakers’ aides and staff members at the Secretary of State’s Office must face multiple misdemeanor charges, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.
The National Election Defense Coalition filed a lawsuit Thursday against Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson alleging she’s violated state law in denying public record requests since September for her communications about election security with the National Association of Secretaries of State.
A voting security advocacy group is trying to force the former president of a group of state election officials to release documents on whether she wrongly asserted that electronic election systems are safe from hacking.
The heated dispute ignited by Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill’s effort to block Marion County’s early voting plan ended with a whimper at the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Monday after both sides acknowledged a change in the voting method nixed the need for a ruling from the federal appellate bench.
Common Cause Indiana and a group of registered voters in St. Joseph County are challenging the process Indiana uses to validate absentee ballots, calling it constitutionally flawed and asking a federal court to prohibit the state from rejecting absentee ballots based solely on perceived signature mismatches.
Smaller political parties would face lower requirements to get their candidates on Indiana's ballot under a bill backed by a legislative panel.
Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson said Tuesday in a statement that her office is investigating Johnson County’s problematic electronic poll books and hopes “to determine the root cause of the problem" after the poll books that are used to check in voters before they cast a ballot kept freezing on Nov. 6, stalling several voting machines and preventing some people from voting.
Indiana, like many states, has been amending and enacting new voting laws in the name of stamping out voter fraud. Lawyers and civic organizations are challenging laws and regulations that they believe are restricting the right to vote.
Voter participation in Indiana’s fall election was 51 percent, the first time since 1994 that the state topped 50 percent in a midterm election. Henry County had the highest turnout in Indiana with 64 percent of registered voters casting a ballot, while Vigo and Madison counties had the lowest turnout at 44 percent of registered voters.
On an election night in which Democrats took control of the U.S. House of Representatives and Republicans appeared to tighten their hold on the Senate, Indiana stayed reliably red, with Republicans winning seven of nine House seats and challenger Mike Braun defeating incumbent Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly. But in one of the biggest Election Day upsets, longtime Republican state Sen. Mike Delph lost the Statehouse seat he has held since 2005.
The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a decision granting summary judgment in favor of two companies who purchased real estate in a sale that was voided after the seller was found to have no authority to sell it.
Indiana’s top elections official is planning to use more than $7.5 million in federal funding to improve the state’s election security, but not to upgrade its voting machines. Indiana was among the states and territories to receive money from the $380 million approved by Congress amid ongoing threats from Russia and others.
After Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker on Thursday afternoon rejected his motion objecting to Marion County’s plan for early voting, Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill turned to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. Hill is proceeding over the objection of Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson, whose office is charged by law with election oversight.