SB 526: Absentee ballot retraction. - Indiana

Senate Bill (S) → Senate Bill (H) · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was amended and engrossed with updated dates and sponsor information, reflecting House approval and final passage. The substantive policy content regarding absentee ballot retraction requirements remains consistent, though the synopsis was expanded to clarify testing obligations and Voting System Guidelines compliance.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on absentee ballot retraction requirements for voting systems, with no substantive changes to applicability or eligibility criteria.

TIMELINE

Updated dates throughout the document from February 11, 2025 to March 27, 2025, reflecting House action and final engrossment.

REQUIREMENT

Expanded synopsis to clarify that county election boards must test voting machines for absentee ballot retraction functionality and that systems must meet Voluntary Voting System Guidelines.

ELIGIBILITY

Added provision allowing counties to continue using existing optical scan or electronic voting systems if certain approvals were granted before October 1, 2025.

TECHNICAL

Changed bill identifier from SB 526 to ES 526 (Engrossed Senate) and updated sponsor information to include House sponsor Donato WESCO.

Enrolled Senate Bill (S) → Senate Bill (S) · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was renumbered from an enrolled act to a Senate Bill and updated with legislative history. The substantive policy content regarding absentee ballot retraction requirements and voting system testing procedures remains unchanged, maintaining the same effective date of July 1, 2025.

Scope change

The bill's scope and applicability remain unchanged; only the document format and numbering were modified from enrolled act to Senate Bill format.

TECHNICAL

Bill renumbered from 'SENATE ENROLLED ACT No. 526' to 'SENATE BILL No. 526' with updated legislative history dates

Added digest section with synopsis explaining the bill's purpose regarding absentee ballot retraction and voting system testing

Reorganized document structure from enrolled act format to standard Senate Bill format with line numbering

REQUIREMENT

Core requirements for voting system testing and absentee ballot retraction procedures remain identical to original enrolled version

Engrossed Senate Bill (S) → Enrolled Senate Bill (S) · 6 edits · May 6, 2025

MODERATE

SB 526 was enrolled as a Senate Enrolled Act, finalizing its passage into law. The bill establishes new definitions for 'retraction' and 'tabulated' in the Indiana Code regarding absentee ballots and voting machines. It mandates that county election boards test voting machines to ensure they can properly retract absentee ballots for disqualified voters before tabulation. The bill also outlines specific procedures for machine selection, testing, and certification, including requirements for public notice and additional testing under certain conditions.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on election administration in Indiana counties, specifically concerning absentee ballot retraction procedures and voting machine testing requirements.

DEFINITION

Added new definitions for 'retraction' and 'tabulated' to clarify how absentee ballots should be handled when voters are found disqualified.

REQUIREMENT

Requires county election boards to test voting machines to verify they can correctly retract absentee ballots before tabulation.

Establishes a procedure for selecting at least 5% of voting machines for testing, with specific selection criteria and public notice requirements.

Requires additional public testing if ballots must be reprinted or corrected due to omissions or candidate changes.

TIMELINE

Sets specific deadlines for machine testing, including testing must begin before absentee voting begins and certification must occur within seven days of testing.

ENFORCEMENT

Allows county election boards to send public test forms to the election division via electronic mail or fax, rather than requiring physical delivery.

Engrossed Senate Bill (H) → Engrossed Senate Bill (S) · 5 edits · Feb 20, 2025

MODERATE

The bill was reprinted with updated dates and sponsors, and the legislative text was modified to add new definitions for 'retraction' and 'tabulated' while expanding the scope of affected code sections. The bill now explicitly allows voting systems to include retraction features for absentee ballots and clarifies that counties must test machines to ensure rejected ballots can be retracted before tabulation.

Scope change

The scope of affected Indiana Code sections was expanded from IC 3-11 and IC 3-11.5 to include IC 3-5, and the bill now explicitly addresses retraction features concerning votes cast on absentee ballots.

DEFINITION

Added new definitions for 'retraction' and 'tabulated' to clarify how votes are removed from ballots and counted in totals.

REQUIREMENT

Modified the requirements for testing voting machines to explicitly include testing retraction of absentee ballots before tabulation.

SCOPE

Added explicit allowance for voting systems to include retraction features concerning votes cast on absentee ballots.

TIMELINE

Updated reprint dates from February 18, 2025 to April 1, 2025, and added House action dates from March 2025.

ELIGIBILITY

Added House sponsor information (WESCO) and updated the digest to reflect the new House action timeline.

Introduced Senate Bill (S) → Engrossed Senate Bill (H) · 4 edits · Feb 20, 2025

MODERATE

SB 526 was amended to update its digest and add provisions requiring voting systems to meet Voluntary Voting System Guidelines standards. The bill now allows counties to continue using optical scan or electronic voting systems if certain approvals were granted before October 1, 2025, extending the transition timeline for voting system compliance.

Scope change

The bill's scope was modified to include specific standards for voting system approval and an extended transition period for counties using existing systems.

REQUIREMENT

Added requirement that voting systems must meet Voluntary Voting System Guidelines adopted by the United States Election Assistance Commission on February 10, 2021

TIMELINE

Added provision allowing counties to continue using optical scan ballot card or electronic voting systems if approved before October 1, 2025

ELIGIBILITY

Modified eligibility criteria for voting system approval by Indiana election commission

TECHNICAL

Updated bill digest date and authorship information from single sponsor to multiple sponsors

Absentee ballot retraction.

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