The (Fort Wayne) Journal Gazette
Indiana voters scored two legal victories in recent days. One court decision prevents county election officials from purging voter rolls without notice; a second bars officials from approving or rejecting ballots based solely on matching signatures.
In addition, an expedited appeal has been filed in a suit seeking no-excuse voting in the midst of the pandemic.
Combined, the lawsuits offer strong evidence of efforts to discourage participation in the most fundamental of our constitutional rights. When casting ballots this fall, Hoosiers shouldn’t overlook candidate views on voting rights.
Legal challenges by Common Cause Indiana, the NAACP, the ACLU of Indiana and other groups highlight a series of wrong-headed decisions by elected officials:
In Indiana NAACP vs. Lawson, a federal court has permanently blocked state law allowing county election officials to purge voter rolls under a new law. The problems began with Indiana’s participation in the Crosscheck program created by former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Its database compared voter registration data across 28 participating states to find potential matches. Once tagged as a match, the registration was immediately deleted. But the program erroneously tossed voters from the rolls, particularly those with common names. Two federal courts agreed it was unconstitutional, so Indiana withdrew from Crosscheck and the Republican-controlled General Assembly adopted legislation in the last session to create the Indiana Data Enhancement Association. It essentially performed the same function as Crosscheck. Again, a federal judge ruled it illegal.
“As the court recognized, purging voters with no notice based on a system that disproportionately targets Black and brown voters violates our democratic principles and undermines the democratic process,” said Stuart Naifeh, senior counsel for Demos, one of the plaintiffs.
In Frederick vs. Lawson, Common Cause challenged Indiana’s signature matching process for mail-in absentee ballots. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana ruled the requirements violate the due process and the equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution because affected voters are not given notice or an opportunity to address questions before their ballots are rejected for a perceived signature mismatch. Importantly, the court ordered the Indiana secretary of state to notify election officials statewide of the ruling and to implement legal procedures in time for the Nov. 3 election.
“This is a historic win for Indiana voters,” said Julia Vaughn, policy director of Common Cause Indiana. “This victory helps ensure no Hoosier voting by mail will be disenfranchised by Indiana’s flawed signature matching law. Election laws should protect people’s right to vote and the integrity of our election system. Indiana’s signature matching law failed to do either, and wrongly disenfranchised Hoosiers. The court made the right decision to block its enforcement.”
Both measures were embraced by Statehouse officials as ways to counter voter fraud. Federal judges rightly recognized they were instead voter suppression tools.
Both rulings are expected to be appealed by Indiana’s Republican attorney general — more reason for voters to closely examine the views of the current candidates for attorney general.
Voters should also note the continued resistance to no-excuse absentee voting by Secretary of State Connie Lawson and Gov. Eric Holcomb. As the state’s election law is repeatedly ruled unconstitutional, they continue to stand on the side of making it more difficult to vote, as they did Wednesday in insisting COVID-19 concerns will not be a valid reason for voting by mail.
A ruling on the expedited appeal could allow no-excuse absentee voting, but voters shouldn’t overlook the reason a lawsuit was necessary.
