Voting In Indiana

To be eligible to vote in Indiana, you must be:

• A citizen of the United States
• Be at least 18 years old on or before Election Day
• Reside in your precinct at least 30 days before the election in which you will be voting.
• Not currently in prison after committing crime
• Apply to register to vote at least 29 days before the election in which you will be voting. Your registration application must be approved in order to vote

You are not required to show identification when registering to vote. However, if you are a first time voter who registered by mail, you may be required to provide additional documentation that matches the address on your voter registration record. Those meet the following qualifications will need to provide additional documentation:

• You registered to vote in the county between January 1, 2003 and January 1, 2006

or
• You registered to vote in the state after January 1, 2006

However, this does not apply if you submitted an application at a license branch or other voter registration agency. If you are a military or overseas voter, or presented this documentation to the county voter registration office with your registration application, you are also exempt from the additional documentation requirement. You should be notified of this requirement when the county receives your registration application or absentee ballot application.

You may present any of the following types of documents to meet the requirement:

• Indiana driver's license
• Indiana state identification card, with your current name and address

NOTE: An Indiana driver's license or Indiana state identification card may meet both the photo ID requirement and the valid and current address requirement.

To fulfill the photo ID requirement the document does not need to contain an address that matches the address on the poll list, but must meet the other requirements. However, to meet the additional document requirement, you only need to present a document that contains a matching name and current address to the poll list.

Other documents that meet the additional documentation requirement:

• Any other current and valid photo ID that contains your current name and address
• A current utility bill with your current name and address
• A bank statement with your current name and address
• A government check with your current name and address
• A paycheck with your current name and address
• Other government documents that show your current name and address

Photo ID is required of all voters casting a ballot in person. There are exceptions for certain confined voters and voters casting absentee ballots by mail. Acceptable forms of ID include: driver's license, passport, military ID or picture ID from the bureau of motor vehicles. The criteria for acceptable ID include:

• Photograph
• A name which matches the voter registration record
• An expiration date after Election Day
• Must have been issued by the U.S. government or the state of Indiana

• The deadline to register to vote is 28 days before the election. Mail-in voter registrations must be postmarked by this date.



• Certain military voters and their family members may have until 12:00 pm on Election Day.

To verify your voter registration status please use your state's voter verification tool.

For additional information, please contact your elections office or board of elections for your county, city or state.

If you wish to have your absentee ballot sent to you by mail or delivered to you by a traveling board, you must meet one of the following requirements:

• Have a specific, reasonable expectation that you will be absent from your county of residence on Election Day during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open (6:00 am to 6:00 pm)
• Are an election official
• Are confined on Election Day due to illness or injury during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open
• Are a voter with disabilities
• Are 65 years of age or older
• Are caretakers of an individual(s) confined to a private residence due to illness or injury and prevented from voting during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open
• Are scheduled to work for the entire 12 hours that the poll is open
• Are prevented from voting due to observing a religious discipline or holiday during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open
• Participate in the address confidentiality program

If you are eligible to vote absentee, you must fill out the application or request an application from your county clerk's office. Submit your application for an absentee ballot at least eight days before the election. If you are a confined voter or a voter caring for a confined individual, there are other deadlines and requirements that apply. Please contact your county clerk's office for more information.

Overseas citizens and U.S. military personnel can find information on how to register to vote and request an absentee ballot at the Overseas Vote Foundation.

In-person early voting can be done at your board of elections beginning 29 days before Election Day and no later than 12:00 pm on the day before Election Day.

Future election dates are to be determined. Please check with your local board of elections office for information on local elections.

In order to be a poll worker in Indiana:

• You must be registered to vote in Indiana
• You must be at least 18 years of age
• Political affiliation required
• You will be entitled to compensation
• You must be a resident of the precinct for the 30 days prior to the election
• You must complete required training

To sign up, contact your local board of elections.

Polling places are open from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm on Election Day.

Time off to vote is subject to the employer. Indiana state law does not require employers to grant time off to vote for employees.

You can find your polling place by utilizing VOTE411's poll locator tool. Some states and local jurisdictions provide their own poll locators. You can confirm your voting location by selecting from the following local resources: Indiana State Polling Place Locator Tool

If you have further questions on your polling place location, please contact your county clerk.

If you believe you are registered to vote in a precinct, but your name does not appear on the poll list, or if you have been challenged as not qualified to vote in your precinct, you will cast a "provisional ballot." A provisional ballot permits you to vote on Election Day. However, your provisional ballot will be kept separate from the other ballots cast in that precinct. After Election Day, the county election board will decide if you were qualified to vote in that precinct, and if your ballot should be counted. You will be able to contact your county election board to find out if your ballot was counted, and if not, why not.

The voting machine systems used in Indiana are optical scan and DRE.

Optical Scan: With this system, you will receive a card or sheet of paper, which you take over to a private table or booth. The card has the names of the various candidates and ballot measures printed on it. With a pen or pencil you fill in a little box or circle or the space between two arrows. When you are finished filling out all the cards, you may bring the cards over to a ballot box, where poll workers will show you how to put the cards in the box. Or in some places, you may feed the completed cards or papers into a computer device that checks your card or paper right there at the polling place to make sure you have voted the way you want to and counts the votes.

Direct Recording Electronic (DRE): This is the newest kind of system in use in the U.S. All the information about who and what you are voting for is on an electronic screen like a TV or computer screen.

There are many variations of DREs because lots of companies are inventing new ones, and many cities, counties and states are trying them out. Usually, after you have signed in, the poll workers will give you a card that you slide into a device to start your voting session.

Some of these devices will show all of the candidates and ballot choices on one big screen. Often, with these big screen devices you push a button next to the name of the candidate you want to vote for (or yes or no on a ballot measure). On other DREs, the screen is set up to show “pages.” On each screen or page, there will probably be one thing to vote on. For example, on one screen or page, you might vote for president. Then you might move to the next page to vote for senator. Often these small-screen devices have a “touch screen,” where you touch the screen next to the name of the person you want to vote for. Other devices have a key pad. And some have a keyboard, so you can write in the name of someone you want to vote for.

You let the system know you are finished voting by pushing a button, touching the screen or entering something on a keypad.

Information on local, state and federal candidates and ballot measures is available here.

The polling place for each precinct must meet accessibility standards under federal law.

The polling place must have facilities accessible to elderly voters and voters with disabilities so that these voters have the same opportunity for access, participation, privacy, and independence available to all voters. This includes:

• Parking spaces marked and available for voters with disabilities with blue signage
• An accessible path to the facility that an individual travels to reach the polls
• Accessible entrances to the facility
• The paths of travel within the facility to the space where the voting systems are located
• The space in the facility where the voting systems are located

If you believe that the polling place for your precinct does not comply with accessibility requirements, contact your county election board as soon as possible to inform them about this problem. It may be possible for the board to make temporary or permanent changes to the polling place to make it more accessible for all voters.

For information on federal campaign contributions, please visit Open Secrets.

For information on state campaign contributions, please visit your state's resource.