Gary Crusader Staff Report
Despite modest improvements in some areas, the Indiana General Assembly received a failing overall grade on voting and election issues, according to the final 2025 legislative session report card released by Common Cause Indiana on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.
The report noted slight progress in voting access and voter registration — with grades improving from an F to a D in both categories — but criticized lawmakers for continuing to impose new barriers instead of addressing the state’s chronically low voter turnout.
“Again, this session, the General Assembly failed to enhance voting accessibility for the people. Instead, state legislators created more hoops for voters to jump through to cast a ballot,” said Julia Vaughn, Common Cause Indiana Executive Director.
Among the legislation drawing criticism were House Enrolled Act 1264 and Senate Enrolled Act 231.
• House Enrolled Act 1264 requires naturalized citizens to provide additional proof of citizenship when registering to vote, a move advocates say unfairly targets new Americans.
• Senate Enrolled Act 231 bars the use of student identification cards issued by Indiana colleges and universities as valid voter ID unless the cards meet new, stricter standards, which some institutions do not currently satisfy.
“From forcing naturalized citizens to prove their citizenship to prohibiting college students from using their school IDs to vote, Indiana legislators are ignoring our real issues and instead passing solutions in search of problems,” Vaughn said. “Our end of session report card shows they are not only failing to protect the voting rights of all Hoosiers but attacking our constitutional right to vote.”
The report card underscores Common Cause Indiana’s continued call for legislation that expands voting opportunities, citing practices like same-day registration, no-excuse absentee voting, and automatic voter registration as reforms that could help reverse Indiana’s poor turnout rates.
Common Cause Indiana is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization committed to promoting open, accountable government and empowering citizens to participate fully in the democratic process.
The full report card can be viewed online at Common Cause Indiana’s website.