© 2024 Northeast Indiana Public Radio
A 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Public File 89.1 WBOI

Listen Now · on iPhone · on Android
NPR News and Diverse Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Support for WBOI.org comes from:

April 25 is the deadline to request a mail-in ballot for Indiana's 2024 primary

A closeup of an absentee ballot.
FILE PHOTO: Justin Hicks
/
IPB News
There are about a dozen reasons Indiana allows voters to cast a mail-in ballot.

Today is the deadline for Hoosiers who want to vote by mail in the May primary to apply for that ballot — you have until 11:59 p.m. to submit an application to your local election administrator’s office.

You can submit the application in person or via email, fax, or go online to IndianaVoters.com.

The application requires name, address and date of birth. It also requires the applicant to include the last four digits of their Social Security number, their driver’s license or state ID number, or their unique voter registration number.

READ MORE: These are the most common mistakes election boards see on mail-in ballot applications, at the polls

Join the conversation and sign up for the Indiana Two-Way. Text "Indiana" to 765-275-1120. Your comments and questions in response to our weekly text help us find the answers you need on statewide issues and the election, including our project Civically, Indiana.

You must also mark the reason you want to vote by mail — and there are about a dozen accepted ones.

  • I have a specific, reasonable expectation of being absent from the county on election day during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open.
  • I will be confined to my residence, a health care facility, or a hospital due to illness or injury during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open.
  • I will be caring for an individual confined to a private residence due to illness or injury during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open.
  • I am a voter with disabilities. NOTE: if you are unable to mark the ballot or sign the ballot security envelope, you must contact the county election board to process your application.
  • I am a voter at least 65 years of age.
  • I will have official duties outside of my voting precinct.
  • I am scheduled to work at my regular place of employment during the entire 12 hours that the polls are open.
  • I am unable to vote at the polls in person due to observance of a religious discipline or religious holiday during the entire twelve (12) hours the polls are open.
  • I am a voter eligible to vote under the “fail-safe” procedures in IC 3-10-11 or 3-10-12.
  • I am a member of the Indiana National Guard deployed or on assignment in Indiana or as a public Safety Officer.
  • I am a “serious sex offender” (as defined in IC 35-42-4-14(a)).
  • I am prevented from voting due to unavailability of transportation to the polls.

Once you receive your vote-by-mail ballot, you must return it to your local election administrator by 6 p.m. on Election Day, May 7. Even if you mail it before that, if it’s not received by then, it won’t count.

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

Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.