Late-voter registration to surge as deadline nears

INDIANAPOLIS – More than 70,000 Indiana residents have registered to vote since the May primary, and those numbers are rising as the deadline nears to vote in the Nov. 4 election.

Indiana had 4.39 million eligible voters as of Sept. 21. The deadline to register to vote in the state is Oct. 6, two days after Bureau of Motor Vehicles branches stop registering voters.

The May primary contests for presidential and gubernatorial candidates prompted a record number of new voter registrations this year, said Jim Gavin, a spokesman for the Indiana secretary of state’s office.

That trend shows no signs of stopping, which could pose some problems for election officials as people decide at the last-minute to register to vote before the Oct. 6 deadline.
“In the primary – on the last day – we got 7,000 registrations, so we’re always expecting more than expected,” said Regina Harris, the Lake County voter registration administrator.

Harris said most of the people walking into the voter registration office are requesting an application for an absentee ballot or information for registration drives.

A federal or state-issued photo ID is required to vote, but not to register, Gavin said.