INDIANAPOLIS — Today, the Senate Elections Committee adopted an amendment to House Bill (HB) 1116 to eliminate new restrictions on absentee mail-in voting that the House-passed bill would have created. Previously, the legislation would have required individuals to attest that they wouldn’t be able to vote in person on election day or during early voting. Senate Elections Committee Ranking Minority Member Senator J.D Ford (D-Indianapolis) made the following statement:

“I’m thankful for the bipartisan opposition to the extreme efforts to limit absentee mail-in voting. The amended HB 1116 is a significantly improved bill. Our current restrictions on mail-in voting are already unenforceable, we should be moving towards a no-excuse vote-by-mail system. I agree with Senator Greg Walker’s (R-Columbus) support for Marion County’s ballot-tracking technology as a safe and secure way to administer mail-in voting. I’d also like to thank my colleagues for their support of my amendment. This bill is improved from the House-passed version, but still has issues that need to be addressed. I will continue to work with my colleagues to improve the bill as it moves through the process.”