The Independent View: IN Judge Orders Early Satellite Voting Precincts for Marion County

A Federal Judge Wednesday ordered Indiana Marion County to establish at least Two Early Satellite Voting Precincts in time for the November General Election, though the Court refrained from Requiring them in time for the May 8th Primary Election.

Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker issued an Injunction in a Suit brought by Common Cause and the NAACP. The Suit filed in 2017 alleged that the County Election Board’s decision in recent years to permit Early Voting in just One Location Countywide provided Unequal Access to the Ballot and Violated Voting Rights in Indianapolis, particularly for Minority Voters.

Barker’s Injunction was issued contemporaneously with a 48-Page Order that found that there was too little time before the May 8th Primary to Order Early Voting Precincts, creating too great a Burden on the Marion County Election Board.

“The benefits to Plaintiffs at this late hour, meanwhile, would be comparatively modest. Finally, while the character and magnitude of Plaintiffs’ injury does not vary with the type of election (primary or general), the public’s interest in an electoral market free from arbitrary governmental interference in favor of one political party over another is less impaired in the primary-election context. And the public, too, would be ill served by last-minute upheaval and confusion in the administration of the May primary,” Barker wrote in Common Cause Indiana, et al. v. Marion County Election Board, et al, 1:17-cv-1388.

“As to the November General Election, however, we find that the balance of equities tips in Plaintiffs’ favor. Plaintiffs’ fair likelihood of success on the merits, and the constitutionally fundamental nature of their asserted injury, justify the imposition of this reduced burden. Both Plaintiffs and the public are positioned to enjoy the full benefits of (early in-person) voting restored to its 2008 levels, while the public will suffer minimal disruption to any ongoing election preparation efforts, and will reap the harvest of an electoral contest conducted without a governmental thumb on the scale.” Barker wrote.