Former Indiana lieutenant governors join push for no-excuse absentee ballots
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Two former Indiana lieutenant governors want rules changed to allow Hoosiers to vote absentee without having to give a reason why.
Indiana is one of several states that doesn’t allow no-excuse absentee ballots. To get an absentee ballot in Indiana, voters have to be overseas, out of town, working at a polling location other than their own, disabled, or unable to get to the polls on Election Day.
A petition is circulating around the state to ask Gov. Eric Holcomb to call the State Election Board into action.
State leaders delayed the May primary by one month due to the pandemic, which resulted in a record number of people who voted absentee.
Holcomb, a Republican, has repeatedly said he won’t expand voting to allow no-excuse absentee ballots for the Nov. 3 election.
Former Republican Lt. Gov. John Mutz says the pressure on Holcomb is coming from Washington, D.C.
“I realize that the president has made certain statements about what could happen with mail-in ballots,” Mutz said. “It’s clear to me that is erroneous kind of conclusion.”
Mutz and former Lt. Gov. Kathy Davis, a Democrat, are helping to lead a petition that asks the Indiana election commission to allow no-excuse absentee ballots for November.
“If we can eliminate any fear associated with voting, then we are serving both purposes,” Davis said. “I’m in enthusiastic agreement that this makes sense and it is going to take a process.”
The larger absentee numbers slowed down vote counting in several counties, including Marion County. The ballots had to be counted by hand, which takes time and a lot of people.
“We do need to know exactly what the operation needs to be in order to get the ballots out and receive them and get them counted and it is important that the operation works,” Davis said.
Republican President Donald Trump and others leaders have suggested mail-in voting leads to widespread fraud.
Marjorie Hershey is a professor emeritus of political science at Indiana University in Bloomington. She says 100 years of research and data indicates mail-in voting is safe.
“We found there is no evidence either that there is voter fraud in vote by mail or that voting by mail helps one party over the other,” Hershey said.
She also said a more recent study of 1 billion votes cast found 1 in about every 1 million votes cast was fraudulent.
The Indiana Election Commission will ultimately decide if expanded no-excuse absentee ballots will be allowed. There are currently no meetings scheduled, according to its website.