The Monroe County clerk wants it to be clear that everyone registered to vote in Monroe County is a citizen, and that’s how her office wants it.
“There is no county clerk in the Hoosier State who wants to see non-citizens voting,” County Clerk Nicole Browne said. “It does not matter if you are Democrat, it does not matter if you are Republican. We only want United States citizens to vote in our elections.”
The comment comes after the Secretary of State’s recent investigation reported a single case of voter fraud, in Vigo County.
Read more: New Indiana law could delete Hoosiers' voter registration without proof of citizenship
Browne and other local election experts spoke during a roundtable to discuss implementation of election laws like House Enrolled Act 1264, which went into effect in July. It asked the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to send a list of people issued temporary identification credentials for the state election division to compare with its voter rolls.
According to the Indiana Capital Chronicle, the state found 1,611 names in 91 counties that needed to provide additional information.
Browne said 39 of those names are in Monroe County. Her office sent letters to them, saying more information was needed to verify their status as legal voters.
But Browne said, “A couple of interesting things happened.”
She said there’s a lack of clarity on how some people got flagged that prompted her to host the roundtable.
One man on the list came in to provide further proof of citizenship. He is an adult who has been a naturalized citizen since he was 3 years old.
Browne isn’t sure how or why his name was flagged by the state. Her office sent the letters out to people this week and recipients have thirty days to respond. She added it’s unclear what to do with people who don’t respond in time.
“We are just waiting for further guidance in not only Monroe but the other Indiana counties,” Browne said.
Monroe County Election Supervisor Kylie Ferris said right now the state is asking the election division to hold flagged names, "but eventually they will be canceled."
One panel participant, Ami Gandi, who leads the Midwest Voting Rights Program, said cross checking voter rolls with outdated lists from the BMV can cause issues that might flag someone unnecessarily, such as the case Browne mentioned.
