LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY
OFFICE OF FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS
200 W. Washington St., Suite 301
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 233-0696
iga.in.gov
FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
LS 6715 NOTE PREPARED: Dec 18, 2020
BILL NUMBER: HB 1504 BILL AMENDED:
SUBJECT: Elimination of Straight Ticket Voting.
FIRST AUTHOR: Rep. Jacob BILL STATUS: As Introduced
FIRST SPONSOR:
FUNDS AFFECTED: X GENERAL IMPACT: State & Local
DEDICATED
FEDERAL
Summary of Legislation: The bill removes a voter's option to vote for all candidates of a political party or
an independent ticket at one time (straight ticket voting) in a general or municipal election, except for
candidates for presidential electors. The bill repeals superseded statutes relating to straight ticket voting.
Effective Date: July 1, 2021.
Explanation of State Expenditures: The Indiana Election Division may need to revise instructional
materials to reflect the bill’s changes. However, it is likely the Election Division would be able to complete
the changes within their existing staff and resource levels.
Explanation of State Revenues:
Explanation of Local Expenditures: Ballot cards for optical-scan systems would have the instructions for
voting a straight-party ballot, the straight-party indication ovals, and the devices (major party insignia) beside
the straight-party ovals removed from the ballot. There may be some ballot printing savings from having a
shorter ballot. In conjunction with the ballot changes, programming vendors would need to remove the
straight-party vote feature when programming the coding cards for the optical-scan readers in future
elections. Any additional cost to remove the straight-party vote feature would depend on the contracted
agreement between counties and the vendor.
Removal of the straight-party feature would minimally impact counties with recent DRE touchscreen voting
systems. Newer DRE systems, such as the GBS Accuvote TSX, have the capability to shut off the straight-
party voting option. Currently, DRE voting systems must have either a push button (on older DREs) or an
HB 1504 1
icon on a touchscreen system for voting a straight ticket.
Explanation of Local Revenues:
State Agencies Affected: Election Division.
Local Agencies Affected: County election boards.
Information Sources: http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/2404.htm; Hancock County, Jennings County,
LaGrange County, and Tippecanoe County clerks; Marion County Election Board.
Fiscal Analyst: Chris Baker, 317-232-9851.
HB 1504 2


Statutes affected:
1. Introduced House Bill (H): 3-10-7-32, 3-11-2-10, 3-11-2-12.4, 3-11-7-4, 3-11-7.5-10, 3-11-13-11, 3-11-13-22, 3-11-13-31.7, 3-11-14-3.5, 3-11-14-23, 3-11-14.5-1, 3-12-1-1, 3-12-1-5, 3-12-1-7, 3-12-1-7.5