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Bill adding new voter ID requirements to mail-in ballot applications poised to become law

Justin Hicks

People applying to vote by mail in Indiana will face new identification requirements under legislation poised to become law.

Sen. Eric Koch (R-Bedford) said the bill he sponsored, HB 1334, aligns mail-in absentee ballot applications with the other methods of voting.

“It requires that these applications for absentee ballots by mail be accompanied by either a photocopy of a government-issued photo ID – as we do when we vote in person – or one of four numbers,” Koch said.

Those numbers are a driver’s license number, a non-driver state ID card number, a voter registration record number (which most people don’t know) or the last four digits of a person’s Social Security number.

READ MORE: Republicans reject effort to expand vote-by-mail to all Hoosiers

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Rep. Tanya Pfaff (D-Terre Haute) said the bill seeks to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. She said it will only make it harder to vote for people including older Hoosiers, those with disabilities and military service members.

“It won’t make elections safer and only serves to hamper democracy,” Pfaff said.

Republicans voted to send the measure to the governor’s desk. Every Democrat in the House and Senate – and a few Senate Republicans – voted against the bill.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Copyright 2023 IPB News. To see more, visit .

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.