Indiana voter id law recently changed. With one exception, voters must present photo id issued by the U.S. government or the state of Indiana in order to vote at the polls. The id must be current or only expired after the most recent general election. Voters without the required id must cast a provisional ballot and take additional steps to ensure that the vote is counted.
The Indiana League of Women Voters is participating in a case in the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the Indiana state law requiring voters to present government-issued photo IDs to vote at the polls. SEIU is working with the Indiana League of Women Voters on this case.
If you are a registered Indiana voter and had trouble voting in this year’s election, or in the election of 2006 because of the photo ID law, we want to hear from you. Please contact Leslie Mendoza Kamstra of SEIU Local 3 at (317) 517-7494 or Rob Hicks of Macey Swanson and Allman at (317)637-2345.
We want to hear your story if
- You had to vote by provisional ballot because you could not obtain the appropriate photo identification; or
- You were unable to take time off from work to obtain a birth certificate or to obtain appropriate photo identification; or
- You had trouble obtaining proper photo id because you were born out of state; or
- You had trouble obtaining a proper photo id because you either cannot afford or lack the time to obtain a recognized birth certification with stamp or seal; or
- You are elderly and lack a birth certificate; or
- You were married and the name on your birth certificate does not match the name on your voter registration record; or
- The name on your photo id does not match the name on your voter registration record because the name on your photo id is misspelled or hyphenated; or
- You are a veteran who is unable to obtain a photo id or has a photo id that is insufficient to meet the requirements of the voter photo id law.
Voter Stories
Ronald Hardin
I never had a problem voting until I lost my ID about 2-3 months ago. I am registered to vote, but am worried about voting this year because I don’t have my picture ID. When I realized it was lost, I took my birth certificate- the exact same one I used to get my original ID- to get a new ID. This time, my birth certificate was not accepted because it says “infant Hardin” instead of Ronald Hardin. It doesn’t make sense to me. I paid for the birth certificate for the purpose of getting my ID and now I can’t even use it and I have to buy another one. I am the same person and I have the same birth certificate. That was enough to get my ID the first time, but now it’s not. They want me to go to the Dept of Health to get my name changed on my birth certificate before I can get my ID.
Although it’s hard to pay bills and cash checks without my ID I am able to do it because, luckily, I know someone at a store that will cash my checks. I can also get money orders there.
Crystal Griggs
I have had the hardest time getting my birth certificate. My wallet was stolen along with my birth certificate, social security card and ID. It took me a year to get my birth certificate from California because I did not have the money. You have to have a credit card to get it online (vitalcheck.com) and I don’t have a credit card. It costs $30. Luckily, one of my teachers bought it for me with her credit card where I am taking GED classes. You must have an ID to take the GED test so she was willing to help me out. My birth certificate just arrived on October 27th and I just got my State ID on October 30th, 2007.
I just recently registered to vote. I didn’t register before because I didn’t have the right ID because of the difficulties getting my birth certificate so I knew I couldn’t vote anyway. Unfortunately, I did not register in time to vote in the November 6, 2007 election.
Darnale and Kim Tillman
My husband and I moved from Kentucky to Indianapolis on April 30th of 2006. We lived in Kentucky for a little over a year. We never got drivers licenses or ID’s in Kentucky because they required a birth certificate to get an ID.
We are both originally from Michigan. We have drivers’ licenses from Michigan. Our vehicles are registered in Michigan. My mother lives in Michigan and Darnale’s mother and father both live in Michigan.
We knew that even in Kentucky how much it would cost to get our birth certificates. He was in school and working a part time job and the money went to pay bills, and we had nothing extra. We have 6 children.
We had our birth certificates when we lived in Michigan. We needed them to get married, but we lost them in the move. When we were moving we didn’t think about needing the birth certificate to get an ID.
I learned that it would cost me over $60 to get my birth certificate. They said that it would take 8 weeks to get it. Because of the cost for the ID itself and the delay, I thought I would just take a trip to Michigan at some point, but that turned out to be not economically feasible.
Darnale’s mother was able to go in person and get his birth certificate at a location that is local to his parents. For my birth certificate I would have to go to Lansing which is a much farther trip for my mother. My mother lives about 2 hours away from Lansing and it would be very costly for gas.
I want to be able to vote for the Presidential election. I am a person who likes to research the candidates. Because I knew I couldn’t vote as result of not being able to get my birth certificate and my ID, I didn’t even check out the candidates for the local elections. I am looking into presidential candidates because I hope that I will be able to vote next year. I think that it's not about parties. You should look at who the candidates are and what they stand for. I like to tell people to educate themselves about who to vote for. But if I don’t have my voter registration how am I supposed to tell people?
I can’t vote in Indiana because I can’t get an ID without my birth certificate. That has definitely affected me because how can I talk about what my views on what is going on with our elected officials if I haven’t cast a vote? In Michigan I voted ever since I was old enough to vote. How can you feel like a real resident of the state you live in if you can’t get an ID in that state to be able to vote? I feel very unwelcome.