Indiana to spend $15.5M to create voting paper trail, secure elections

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indiana has allocated $12.3 million to purchase equipment for 45 of the state’s 92 counties that can’t make a paper record of all votes cast, the Secretary of State’s office announced Wednesday.

Indiana lawmakers passed a law during the General Assembly earlier this year to require a paper record for all votes cast in the state. The State Budget Committee set aside the money so all counties would comply by July 1, 2014.

Secretary of State Holli Sullivan, Indiana’s top election official, said in a news release, “Being able to guarantee a paper trail for every vote cast in our state is a win for Hoosiers. We know voters want a paper record attached to their vote, and VVPATS (Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails) help further build confidence in our elections process. I am thankful to the Indiana General Assembly for their help in securing our elections.”

The release did not say which counties will receive funds.

The Budget Committee also approved $3.2 million for better cybersecurity protection for the Secretary of State’s Office and Indiana counties. The goal is “to protect our elections infrastructure against targeted, nation-state level attacks 24 hours a day, proactively hunt for advanced threat behavior, and respond to critical attacks,” the release says.

Sullivan earlier this month failed to get the Republican Party’s nomination to run for secretary of state in the November election. GOP delegates instead nominated Diego Morales, who worked in the governor’s office when Mike Pence led the state as governor.