The Indiana Senate will soon vote on SB 328, the bill that eases ballot access. It has already passed committee and may get a Senate vote as early as Monday, January 29. If you live in Indiana, please call 800-382-9467, a capitol phone number. You will be asked which legislator’s office you wish to contact. Ask your State Senator to support SB 328.

Ralph Nader placed third in the presidential elections of 2000, 2004, and 2008. In those three runs, he never appeared on the ballot in just four states: Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, and Oklahoma. In the last two years three of those states have substantially eased ballot access, but Indiana has not.

SB 328 cuts the number of signatures from 2% of the last Secretary of State vote, to 4,500 signatures (for statewide office). Also, it sets up a party petition procedure, so that a group could petition before it has chosen its nominees. Passage of this bill would be of great help to voter rights in Indiana and nationwide.