Indiana AG pushes back against court effort to halt student ID voting ban before 2026 election
The case could determine whether thousands of Hoosier college students can use campus IDs at the polls.
The case could determine whether thousands of Hoosier college students can use campus IDs at the polls.
The Marion County Election Board voted unanimously on Friday to ask state investigators to look into what they suspect is a state law violation by Secretary of State Diego Morales.
The petition submitted by prominent conservative attorney Jim Bopp claims the Indiana Election Commission wrongly interpreted state law in allowing Alexandra Wilson’s name to remain on the ballot in the Senate District 38 primary.
The proposal for fewer early voting days was added Monday by the Senate Elections Committee through an amendment; no public testimony was allowed.
The motion asks the judge to “order reasonable limits on the government’s use of the seized data” and to prohibit the government from using the data for purposes other than the criminal investigation cited in the search warrant affidavit.
The affidavit provides the first public justification for an FBI search last month that targeted a county Trump and his allies have long seen as central to their claim that the 2020 election was stolen.
Several Democratic election officials, and some Republicans, have spoken out. Placing voting under control of the federal government would represent a fundamental violation of the Constitution, they note.
All nine U.S. House and 100 Indiana House seats are up for election this year, along with half of the 50 Indiana Senate seats. The candidate filing period ended last Friday.
Philip Foust, a Republican, worked in the Prosecutor’s Office from 2015 to 2021 and saw “how dramatically it has drifted from its core mission,” he said in a press release announcing his candidacy.
Secretary of State Diego Morales maintains that his office followed state law, but that hasn’t stopped many candidates from refiling this week at the Indiana Election Division office ahead of Friday’s deadline.
Voter registration in Indiana rose to 73.7% in 2024—the highest level in the last 14 years. That moved the state’s national ranking from 40th in the 2022 midterm election to 33rd in the 2024 presidential election, according to a new report from the Indiana Bar Foundation.
Indiana’s cities and towns would have the option of moving their elections to even-numbered years under a bill advancing in the Legislature.
The high court ruled 7-2 that Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill. has the legal right to challenge the law, even though the ballots likely had little effect on a race he won handily.
Another measure bans ranked choice voting, which isn’t used in Indiana.
All nine U.S. House and 100 Indiana House seats are up for election this year, along with half of the 50 Indiana Senate seats. The candidate filing period ends at noon Feb. 6.
The allegations were laid out in a Justice Department memo arguing that Brian J. Cole Jr., who was arrested earlier this month on charges of placing pipe bombs outside the headquarters of the Democratic and Republican national committees, should remain locked up while the case moves forward.
Officials confirmed during Thursday’s meeting that the Indiana Office of Inspector General has already referred the matter for criminal review, and that process remains ongoing.
District 31 is currently represented by Republican Kyle Walker, who announced earlier this month that he will not seek reelection next year.
On top of Independent Indiana’s list is eliminating straight-ticket voting in which those casting election ballots can vote for all of a party’s candidate with a single push of a button.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security must provide free verification services to all state and local governments and allow Social Secruity numbers to be used for verification purposes.