League of Women Voters of Indiana v. Morales

On July 1, 2025, two new documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) requirements for voter registration took effect in Indiana — HEA 1264 and HEA 1680. Currently, when Indiana voters register to vote, they must provide a valid Indiana driver’s license or state identification card and be a United States citizen, among other requirements. Non-citizen immigrants within Indiana who are not undocumented, such as people on visas and legal permanent residents, receive temporary non-citizen identification cards or driver's licenses (temporary ID). Upon becoming a citizen, they are allowed to register to vote, and many have chosen to do so using their temporary ID. These new citizens are often still listed as non-citizens in the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicle records after naturalization, as the database is not automatically updated in real time upon naturalization.  

HEA 1264’s “Current-Voter Citizenship Crosscheck Requirement,” codified as Indiana Code § 3-7-38.2-7.3, requires election officials to compare the statewide voter registration list with the list of temporary IDs given to non-citizens. If there is “evidence” that a voter is not a US citizen, the local county voter registration office must send a notice to the voter, who must provide DPOC in person or by mail within 30 days of receiving this notice or be removed from the rolls. Under the law, only specific types of DPOC are acceptable, including: a birth certificate or a photocopy of the birth certificate, naturalization documentation or a photocopy, a certificate of naturalization number, or a document or method of proof of citizenship established under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, including a Certificate of Citizenship or a consular report of birth abroad. 

HEA 1680’s “New-Registrant Citizenship Crosscheck Requirement,” codified as Indiana Code § 3-7-26.3-37, requires that county election officials send a notice requiring DPOC to every individual voter who used an identification number from a temporary ID as part of their voter registration, and, if they fail to provide acceptable DPOC within 30 days of receiving the notice, they will be removed from the rolls.  

On October 21, 2025, the League of Women Voters of Indiana (LWVIN), Common Cause Indiana, Hoosier Asian American Power, and Exodus Refugee Immigration filed a federal lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, asserting the two new provisions violated multiple sections of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as follows:  

1. Section 6 of the NVRA – The requirement that certain registrants who used temporary IDs and the federal voter registration form to register to vote must provide DPOC upon receiving a notice violates the provision that states must use and accept the federal voter registration form, which does not require DPOC.
2. Sections 5, 6, 7, 9, of the NVRA – Requiring additional DPOC violates provisions of the NVRA that state mail voter registration forms must be equivalent to the federal voter registration form, which does not require DPOC.
3. Section 8(b) of the NVRA – Requiring DPOC for registrants who used temporary IDs violates the NVRA’s requirements that voter roll maintenance must be conducted in a uniform and nondiscriminatory manner.
4. Civil Rights Act of 1964 – Requiring DPOC for registrants who used temporary ID/driver’s licenses to register to vote violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which forbids differential treatment of voters during registration or voter roll maintenance.
5. Section 5 of the NVRA – The plaintiffs asserted that the defendants’ failure to provide complete records on the new provisions at issue violated the NVRA’s provision that some records on the implementation of voter list maintenance programs are available to the public upon request. 

The plaintiffs requested that the court declare the two “Crosscheck Requirements” of the new DPOC laws as illegal under the NVRA and Civil Rights Act of 1964, require production of specified records requested by plaintiffs, and forbid enforcement of the “Crosscheck Requirements.” 

LWVIN is represented in this matter by Bowman Legal Services, LLC, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.