Federal lawsuit challenges Indiana's voter signature law

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A government watchdog group is challenging the constitutionality of an Indiana law that allows election officials to throw out voters’ absentee ballots if they think the signature on the envelope doesn’t match other signatures on file.

The federal lawsuit filed Thursday in Indianapolis by Common Cause Indiana contends that the practice of discarding absentee ballots allowed under the law resulted in the rejection of “several hundred and possibly more than a thousand mail-in absentee ballots” submitted in 2018.

The complaint seeks an injunction to prevent enforcement of the law. It alleges that because Indiana’s law does not require election officials to notify voters that their ballots were discarded those voters have no way of knowing their vote wasn’t counted and no way to challenge the decision, The Indianapolis Star reported .

The suit emphasizes that Indiana lacks any rules or standards to determine whether a signature is genuine and that county election officials receive no training in handwriting analysis.

Read more: https://www.kokomotribune.com/news/state_news/federal-lawsuit-challenges-indiana-s-voter-signature-law/article_10b0c676-784e-11e9-a404-a7181148c232.html


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In Indiana, your ballot can be rejected and you would never know it, according to a new federal lawsuit.

The suit is challenging the constitutionality of an Indiana law that allows election officials to discard absentee ballots if they don't think the signature on the envelope matches other signatures on file with the county.

The practice resulted in the rejection of "several hundred and possibly more than a thousand mail-in absentee ballots" submitted in 2018, according to the lawsuit.

And because Indiana law does not require election officials to notify those voters, they have no way of knowing their vote wasn't counted and no way to challenge the decision, the lawsuit contends.

The lawsuit is filed on behalf of government accountability group Common Cause Indiana and four voters in St. Joseph County whose ballots were not counted because of questions about their signature.

Read more: https://www.jconline.com/story/news/politics/2019/05/16/indiana-common-cause-absentee-ballot-lawsuit-votes-thrown-out-illegally/3691931002/
(Lafayette Journal & Courier)