Voters line up outside the Johnson County Courthouse to cast their vote on Oct. 8, the first day of early voting.
Erin Landis wants to vote.
But a state program meant to protect Landis and her five children from a domestic abuser has complicated her access to the polls.
Landis, who described herself as a centrist Democrat with union roots, last tried to vote several years ago.
“It did cause a lot of chaos the last time I tried to vote,” she told the Capital Chronicle. “… Clerks couldn’t give me straight answers. I went through so many people, just trying to call office after office, explaining the same story. No one could help me.”
Landis doesn’t know if her vote was counted.
Her true address is shielded by the Address Confidentiality Program. The initiative, administered by the Office of the Indiana Attorney General, seeks to protect survivors of domestic abuse, stalking, sexual assault, human trafficking and other offenses.
A confidential post office box nearly three hours away has served as the family’s official address for about a decade, Landis said.
The P.O. box is what’s listed on their identification cards — which are required to vote in Indiana. The program changes how participants vote, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.
“Trying to use my I.D. for anything … it’s an issue,” Landis said. “It’s meant to provide safety for my family and myself, and it’s more of a burden.”
The 46-year-old and her voting-age children are among the million-plus eligible Hoosiers who don’t participate in elections.
Indiana’s voter turnout sank to 50th out of 51 — in a ranking of the U.S. states and the District of Columbia — in the 2022 midterm elections, according to the most recent Indiana Civic Health Index. The state landed at just 46th in the contentious 2020 election.
Candidates, issues drive decisions
Other Hoosiers show less interest in voting.
A plurality of more than 1,000 respondents — 38% — told the Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute that they didn’t know enough about the candidates or issues to vote, in a survey conducted November 2023 to February 2024.
Some confessed they didn’t know how or where to vote in written responses to the institute, which shared its survey results with the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
The organization administered the poll to thousands of current and former clients as part of community needs assessments, so that most respondents earn at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level, Director Erin Macey said. This year, that’s about $62,000 for a family of four.
Linda Hanson, who leads the nonpartisan League of Women Voters’ Indiana chapter, said a traditionally poor civics education has likely contributed to a voting-eligible population that feels uninformed about candidates, issues and even the mechanics of voting.
That’s why, she said, the League created a website guiding users through registering to vote, checking their registration and finding who’s on their ballot. An accompanying handbook lays out Hoosier voting rights and governance structures at the local, state and federal levels.
Riley Choe knows who’s on the ballot — but doesn’t like the options.
The Marion County resident, who reported leaning “a little bit left of a moderate Democrat,” said candidate quality is key.
The 20-year-old described participating in two elections thus far and volunteering with political efforts. But their vote isn’t a guarantee: “I have submitted a ballot with entries left blank, as in a vote of ‘no confidence.’”
Choe is deeply critical of Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, his administration, and by extension, the Indiana Democratic Party.
Allegations of sexual misconduct against a top aide and other staffers, first reported by the Indianapolis Star and Mirror Indy, have rocked the deep-blue city.
“Having to choose a party that lets sexual assault go unpunished because my rights … could go away if the other side wins — it doesn’t make me excited to vote,” Choe said.
Hogsett’s not on the ballot in November, but other Democrats are. Choe described scrutinizing how gubernatorial nominee Jennifer McCormick and other candidates have reacted to the allegations.
They plan to vote — but won’t necessarily complete the ballot.
Respondents in the institute’s survey thought similarly, with one writing, “All candidates are basically the same” and another adding, “There all liars.”
Other reasons
Respondents in the institute’s survey could pick multiple reasons for not voting. About 35% said they felt like their vote “doesn’t matter.”
Hanson said line-drawing strategies have contributed to the state’s notoriously uncompetitive districts. She recounted how software advancements in the early 2000s let ruling parties across the country — Republicans and Democrats — further entrench themselves during the 2011 redistricting cycle.
“That election changed the dynamics in our Legislature, so that it wasn’t like 50% or 60% — it was 80% of one party,” Hanson said. “That in itself helped to squash competition. And this is, I think, what contributes to that lack of voter interest.”
Hanson said her group has been encouraging voters to participate in primary elections, since, she said, that’s when electoral competitiveness peaks in Indiana.
But about 16% of non-voting survey-takers said they didn’t have the time to vote.
Indiana has limited Election Day polling hours — 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. — and many counties further limit hours and locations for early in-person voting.
Limited voting hours were also a barrier cited by Hanson.
“In Delaware County, for example, there is one place for all of that (month) for early voting. One place in all of Delaware County,” Hanson said. “It’s our county courthouse.”
Hanson, who teaches at Ball State University, said she told students “it’s not a bad walk.”
Those wanting to vote by mail must qualify for one of 17 excuses listed in law; lying on the application is a crime.
A small percentage of survey respondents cited a criminal record as a reason avoiding the polls, with one writing, “Felons can’t vote.”
Many states bar convicted felons from the ballot box — but Indiana isn’t among them. As long as a prospective voter isn’t physically behind bars during election season, they’re eligible.
Hanson encouraged Hoosiers to plan how they’ll vote.
“This is something that’s not just your right, earned by people dying for it, but also it’s your responsibility,” she said. “Because if we’re gonna have a democracy work, it’s every one of us has to be involved.”
And, she added: “You’re paying taxes, and that tax money is going to be spent by the people you elect. Don’t you want to have a say in who’s going to make those decisions?”
Landis, meanwhile, said she’ll try voting again.
She’s working on forms she received in the mail — two weeks delayed, as always — but doesn’t know how it’ll go.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.
By Leslie Bonilla Muñiz — The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
