AG HILL ARGUES FOR END OF ABSENTEE VOTING FOR SENIORS

EVANSVILLE, Ind. –  Following the news that Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is seeking to eliminate Indiana seniors’ ability to vote absentee, today, Jonathan Weinzapfel weighed in.

On Sept. 9, Hill filed a brief  with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals arguing, in part, for an end to Indiana’s long-standing practice of allowing voters 65 years of age or older to automatically qualify to vote absentee. In Tully v. Okeson, plaintiffs argue that, in the midst of a global pandemic, all Hoosiers, regardless of age, should be entitled to vote absentee. 

Attorney General Hill, representing Republican Secretary of State Connie Lawson and the Republicans on the Indiana Elections Commission, is urging the court to totally eliminate the exemption for seniors, rather than extend the same opportunity to all Hoosiers (page 27).

“What Curtis Hill is advocating for in this brief is short-sighted, purely political and dangerous,” said Weinzapfel. “In the middle of a global public health crisis, he would rather deny thousands of seniors their ability to vote safely and throw our entire election into chaos, than allow all Hoosiers to vote absentee. It’s unbelievable.”  

Indiana is one of just six states that is not allowing citizens to use the COVID-19 pandemic as a basis to vote by mail using the absentee process. Weinzapfel has long advocated allowing all Hoosiers to vote by mail, as they were allowed to do in the primary election this past spring, a right that voters in 44 other states already have.

“As we continue to face down the coronavirus, every public official and every citizen should be working on ways to make voting easier, not harder,” added Weinzapfel. “We can’t allow people like Curtis Hill to force Hoosiers, especially seniors, into choosing between risking their health and exercising their constitutional right to vote.”

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