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Committee approves bill to flag motor-voter registrations submitted with temporary credentials
Summary
Senate Bill 137 would require the BMV to flag voter registrations submitted with temporary credentials so county clerks can follow up and confirm eligibility; the committee approved the bill unanimously, 13-0.
The Elections and Apportionment Committee unanimously approved Senate Bill 137, a bill aimed at reducing inadvertent registration of noncitizens through motor-voter processing by flagging registrations submitted with temporary credentials.
Sponsor Senator Bechaczek (identified in the transcript as the bill’s presenter) told the committee the bill addresses cases where foreign nationals and visa holders lawfully obtain driver’s licenses and, through motor-voter processes, may be unintentionally registered to vote. Under the bill, temporary credentials presented at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) would cause a registration to be flagged. County clerks would then contact the registrant and request additional documentation to "perfect" the registration before it is finalized.
Angie Nussmeyer, Democratic co-director of the Election Division, said the division already receives temporary-credential information from the BMV through existing data transmissions and that the bill clarifies state law to ensure that the data packet includes a temporary-credential indicator. She said counties already use such information and that the bill would formalize the data packet and the state’s memorandum-of-understanding process with the BMV.
Testimony opposing the bill came from Julia Vaughn of Common Cause Indiana, who called the bill unnecessary and warned it could generate fear among immigrant communities and mistakenly identify recent naturalized citizens as noncitizens. Witnesses discussed whether the bill could cause erroneous notices to recent naturalized citizens; witnesses from advocacy groups said outreach and education would be important.
Committee members asked whether the temporary-credential flag can be removed promptly when a person naturalizes. Witnesses replied that the BMV currently treats the temporary credential as a flag that typically remains until the credential is replaced or expires; the Election Division said it had discussed but not resolved a mechanism to immediately clear the flag upon naturalization.
The committee voted 13-0 to pass Senate Bill 137 out of committee. Committee discussion noted the bill was intended to protect individuals who may be put at immigration risk by voting while not eligible and to formalize the existing data flow from the BMV to the Election Division.
