Thread by @EricBermanIN

Indiana Election Commission meeting to discuss June 2 #INPrimary plan gets off to a rocky start, with someone zoombombing the videoconference.

The commission's order for the primary requires at least one voting location for every 25,000 voters. It shortens the #earlyvoting window to eight days.

Bipartisan Election Commission unanimously approves #INPrimary order. The commission will hold at least two more pre-election meetings, one next week and one next month.

The commission's two Democratic members want a couple of additions to be considered at next week's meeting. One would accept ballots received up to 3 days post-election, rather than relying on postmarks; other states have found the USPS doesn't always postmark ballots.

Another Democratic change would extend the deadline to request an absentee ballot to May 25, instead of May 21. (The order just approved set the May 21 deadline, since the statutory deadline was linked to the customary May primary date.)

The final proposed Democratic amendment would require the state to either mail a ballot to every registered voter, or in the alternative, a postcard with directions on how to access a web link to request a ballot. @SecretaryLawson has already said the former would be too costly.

Commission Chair Paul Okeson questions why Ds are proposing amendments to an agreement that was worked out in advance with both parties, and just approved. Commission member Anthony Long says his concern is the safety of voters.

Long: "In no way do we mean to denigrate the order we have just passed....We want to keep on the table for discussion issues we think are important for the future."

Democratic amendments rejected on 2-2 tie vote.

Okeson says he doesn't see the need for next week's scheduled meeting. Long points out it's explicitly included in the order they just passed. We'll see if it's held or not, but today's meeting has been adjourned.

Re the "1 vote location for every 25,000 voters" requirement: it applies only in counties which switch to vote centers for 2020, or amend existing plans (traditional precincts are even more numerous). State law normally requires 1 center per 10,000 voters. 1/

Adopting/amending a vote center plan requires a unanimous (thus bipartisan) vote of the county election board. 16 counties have <10K voters and are unaffected. 41 more are between 10-25K, so instead of being required to have 2 or 3 centers, they could opt for just one. 2/

For illustration: the largest county which doesn't have vote centers is Lake, which uses 356 precincts. If Lake were to switch to vote centers, they would normally have to have at least 32. The order allows them to get by with 13. Again, it would require a unanimous vote. 3/3