Dead people's votes would count under Indiana senator's bill

At the top of the Senate Elections Committee agenda this session is a measure that would allow the votes of certain dead people to count.

Under the proposal by committee chairman Sen. Greg Walker, if someone casts an absentee ballot in Indiana but then dies before Election Day, the dead voter's ballot would be counted.

The goal of the bill is not to allow dead people to vote, the Columbus Republican said. Instead, the measure is intended to save election workers time because they will no longer have to check absentee ballots against information about recent deaths.

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The Senate Elections Committee advanced the bill after a hearing Monday morning.

Walker said that county election officials have told him that instances in which a person casts an absentee ballot but dies before Election Day are rare.

"I’ve had some comments from county officials that say it’s a handful," he said.

Rep. Richard Hamm, R-Richmond, filed a corresponding bill in the House of Representatives.

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Several other bills involving voting rights were introduced this session.

Republican John Ford and Democrat Frank Mrvan filed bills that would allow no-fault absentee voting in the state, meaning that no reason would be required to be granted an absentee ballot.

A majority of states across the nation have no-fault absentee voting. Opponents argue the practice allows for easy voter fraud.

Mrvan's bill also advanced to the full Senate.

Sen. Greg Taylor, D- Indianapolis, has filed two bills that address early voting in Marion County.

An IndyStar analysis conducted last year found that GOP officials expanded early voting stations in Republican dominated Hamilton County and decreased them in the state's biggest Democratic hotbed, Marion County.

Taylor's bills, which would be effective July 2018 if passed into law, would repeal and replace rules governing the Marion County Election Board and make it easier to establish new early-voting sites.

Call IndyStar reporter Fatima Hussein at (317) 444-6209. Follow her on Twitter:@fatimathefatima.