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INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana wants to make its elections hacker-proof.

Three separate bills headed for the Senate floor this week would put up new safeguards around voting machines, voter registration lists, and the vote count.

The proposals would require two-factor authentication to get into the state voter database, and require more security where voting machines are stored. Counties would also have to switch to voting machines which leave a paper trail of the vote tally in time for the 2024 election.

The original bill called for a paper trail for next year’s election, but Senate Elections Chairman Greg Walker (R-Columbus) says it’s still unclear how to pay for new machines. He says the five-year lag puts counties on notice the requirement is coming, and gives them time to budget for it.

Another bill would require a post-election audit to look for red flags in the vote count, starting in 2022. 34 states already require an audit, either by comparing a hand count of a sampling of paper ballots to electronic vote totals, or by checking a statistical sample of ballots, with the size of the sample linked to the closeness of the result.

The bill would require counties to tally absentee ballots at a central location instead of in the precincts. All but 10 counties already do that.

All three bills passed the Senate Elections Committee unanimously.

(Photo: Eric Berman/WIBC)