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Republican bill would force Hoosiers to register with political party to vote in primary elections

By Brandon Smith

Posted February 4, 2025

Mike Gaskill speaks on the Senate floor. Gaskill is a White man with white and gray hair. He is wearing glasses and a navy blue suit with red tie.

Sen. Mike Gaskill (R-Pendleton) said voters who don't affiliate with a certain political party shouldn't be allowed to help decide that party's nominees. (Brandon Smith/IPB News)

Hoosiers would be forced to register with a major political party to be allowed to participate in partisan primary elections under a bill headed to the Senate floor.

Indiana would join 10 other states with fully closed primaries.

The bill would automatically assign party registration to everyone who’s voted in a partisan primary election before. Voter registration forms would now have a party affiliation section.

And if a voter wants to cast a ballot in a partisan primary going forward, they must register with that party affiliation at least four months before the election.

Sen. Mike Gaskill (R-Pendleton) is SB 201’s author.

“What I don’t think is right is for people who are not a member of a political party or don’t affiliate with a political party to be able to choose that party’s candidates,” Gaskill said.

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Common Cause Indiana’s Julia Vaughn said there’s no evidence so-called cross-party voters are impacting outcomes.

“We already have abysmal voter turnout at primaries and this will simply make it worse,” Vaughn said.

The legislation would allow people to register without party affiliation or with, as Gaskill put it, “minor parties.” But they wouldn’t be allowed to cast a primary election ballot, except for voting for any ballot referendums.

The Senate Elections Committee voted along party lines to approve the bill.

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