Indiana Class Action Requests Vote-by-Mail Option Amidst COVID-19

Indiana voters filed a class action lawsuit requesting vote-by-mail options, stating there could be COVID-19 outbreaks during the November general election.

This request for mail voting in Indiana joins requests made in other states to adapt voting policies and procedures to enable residents to participate despite the limitations imposed by the pandemic.

The voters who filed the Indiana COVID-19 voting class action lawsuit include Barbara Tully, Katherine Black, Marc Black, Shelly Brown, David Carter, Rebecca Gaines, Janice Johnson, Elizabeth Kmieciak, Chaquitta McCleary, Katherine Paolacci, David Slivka, and Dominic Tumminello.

The voters are joined by Indiana Vote by Mail Inc., a nonprofit aimed at expanding the right to vote-by-mail to all those voters who wish to do so. The organization stresses the importance of this expansion during the coronavirus pandemic, because voting in-person allegedly poses a significant risk to human health.

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These voters claim they are concerned about the impact of voting on their health. Some are allegedly at particularly high risk for contracting the coronavirus, while others say they are in contact with loves ones who are at a high risk for contracting the disease.

Still others say they are worried that they will not be able to maintain the recommended social distancing while at the polls, and believe that voting-by-mail will allow them to maintain appropriate social distance.

They note that in other states, cases of coronavirus have been attributed to exposure at the polls, and they worry that such may be the case in Indiana, if state officials do not allow more residents to vote-by-mail.

The Indiana COVID-19 general voting class action lawsuit states that experts have predicted that the coronavirus pandemic will come in waves, with another wave expected to hit during the fall, around the time of the primary elections. Allegedly, the disease will continue to afflict society until a vaccine is discovered.

According to the voters, social distancing is the most effective way of preventing the spread of the disease.

They note that even if the numbers of cases are stabilized at a certain point, after social distancing has been effectively implemented, the number of cases could rise again once social distancing measures are loosened.

The voters state that the polls likely pose a risk to voters’ health, because in-person voting usually brings people together in closer proximity than distancing recommendations advise.

Additionally, in-person voting would require many people to touch the same surfaces, an element identified by experts as a mode of transmission.

Allegedly, Indiana officials have recognized this risk, and adapted some of the state’s voting procedures accordingly. According to the voters, the state postponed the primary elections in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, and then took steps to allow more voters to vote-by-mail.

The vote-by-mail class action lawsuit says that in expanding this option, the state extended the eligible “voter with disabilities” category to include a voter “who is unable to complete their ballot because they are temporarily unable to physically touch or be in safe proximity to another person.”

The voters explain that this is an expansion of the state’s usual requirement that to be eligible to vote-by-mail, a voter must be disabled or “confined on election day to the voter’s residence because of an illness or injury.”

The Indiana voting class action lawsuit states that in all likelihood, the risks around the coronavirus will continue through the fall to some degree.

If social distancing measures are effective, then cases will likely go down for a period of time, they say. However, once these measures are lifted, then the cases will allegedly likely rise. The voters say that experts anticipate these waves to continue until a vaccine is discovered.

Because of these continued risks, the voters ask that their state lift restrictions on voting-by-mail, like the officials did for the primary election. They allege that if the state does not implement broader vote-by-mail policies, voters will be forced to choose between exercising their constitutional right to vote or protecting their health.

The voters are represented by William R. Groth of Macey Swanson LLP and Mark W. Sniderman of Findling Park Conyers Woody & Sniderman PC.

The Illinois Vote-By-Mail Coronavirus Pandemic Class Action Lawsuit is Barbara Tully, et al. v. Paul Okeson, et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-01271-JPH-DLP, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division.

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