When I moved to Indiana from Washington state in 2021, one of the first things I noticed was the absence of state-produced voter election guides. Like clockwork back in the Northwest, before every election the county election supervisor sent me and every other voter a guide, which included information on candidates and ballot measures to peruse and discuss with family and friends.
The role of our local and state government in voter education has been limited. Seven years ago, the Indiana Disability Rights department released a video series that outlined voting specifics at that time. The Secretary of State has a limited landing page about voter basics, but many of the resources are from 2023. And there is a basic guide on the state’s website. But what’s missing is a concerted effort by the government to provide voter education and outreach. That’s where news organizations have stepped in.
My question is, are they doing enough? After all, we have a reputation as a state with abysmal voter turnout. What more could journalism do to increase civic participation in Indiana?
Our state population is similar in size to Washington. Yet, Indiana routinely ranks among the states with the lowest voter turnout. In the last presidential election, only 59% of registered voters cast a ballot. Compare that to Washington, where 70% of eligible voters cast a ballot that same year. The best states in the country for voter turnout are Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan, where 75% or more of eligible voters participate.
It’s not a registration problem for Indiana. Well over 90% of people who are eligible to vote are registered. So what’s going on?
News outlets fill a void
Educating voters is a big job, and getting people out to vote is even harder, according to voting rights activists. Advocates say you need only look at the recent attempt at redistricting and proposed legislation to cut early registration days in half to confirm that voter suppression here is real.
Several local newsrooms are stepping up their efforts to help voters figure out how to participate. In fact, Indy news outlets produce numerous voting resources designed to educate people on the issues and the candidates. This information appears across multiple channels of traditional and digital media, including social media platforms.
Here’s a sample of newsrooms’ resources for the May 5 primary election and their approach to voter education:
WFYI
- Approach: “Overall the strategy is to get news you can use to as many people as possible.” — Sarah Neal-Estes, news director
- Resources: WFYI Election School series; voter guide landing page; candidate profiles; FAQ-style voting stories; TV stories; Simple Civics
Indiana Capital Chronicle
- Approach: “Another focus is what money is flowing into the races and from where.” — Niki Kelly, editor-in-chief
- Resources: 2026 voter guide; election stories landing page; how-to explainers on voting mechanics; key dates
Mirror Indy
- Approach: “Our strategy is to provide information on a variety of platforms to meet voters where they are, so they are informed when they go into the voting booth.” — Oseye Boyd, editor-in-chief
- Resources: Mirror Indy Votes 2026 Election Guide; voting explainers; key races coverage; deadlines info; U.S., Indiana, Marion County, and township results; an election zine available at township libraries April 25 and polling places
IndyStar
- Approach: “This coverage builds on our newsroom’s year-round work at the Statehouse and in local offices, where we hold government entities accountable and ensure our community understands how elected officials are spending their time and tax dollars.” — Ryan Martin, executive editor
- Resources: Voter guide; candidate and issues stories; “Meet the Candidates” show; deadline reminders
Indy’s news outlets are providing vital election information to audiences no matter where they are or how they engage with the news. But does providing more information actually change behaviors?
Barbara Tully, voter services chair of the League of Women Voters of Indianapolis, said that the current voter education space is too cluttered.
“I think all of them do voter guides, and it’s like we’re all trying to do the same thing,” she said. “Could we maybe make this a little more efficient, because we’re tripping over each other? I suspect.”
The state or the counties should produce voting resources, Tully said. But she’s not optimistic about that happening anytime soon.
She also questions whether candidates are having to spend too much time responding to various news outlets’ and nonprofit organizations’ requests for information to supply their voter guides.
Indiana Secretary of State candidate Blythe Potter wants to start what she calls Indiana’s first digital “Ballot Handbook,” including everything voters need to know about voter locations and candidates, with limited non-partisan, impartial information from the candidates themselves. Eventually, she also wants to have a physical ballot book for those who request one, or who don’t have regular internet access at home, which she estimates at 10% of the state’s population.
“I believe the Secretary of State, with the county clerks, should handle the education aspect of our elections to ensure consistency across each election and I don’t think it’s overly complicated,” Potter said via email, addressing news media’s current involvement in producing guides. “I believe more collaboration from our Secretary of State and news outlets would be beneficial for every resident in Indiana.”
Secretary of State Diego Morales, the Republican incumbent, did not reply to my inquiries.
Julia Vaughn, executive director of Common Cause Indiana feels that the state must do more to educate voters about candidates and casting their ballot. She’s optimistic that democracy is rebounding in Indiana, with the defeat of the unconventional mid-cycle redistricting plans and the rejection of a legislative attempt to cut our early voting period in half. However, she’s not sure the public is paying attention to voter guides produced by news outlets, as she believes their audiences are shrinking.
“They need to continue doing it,” Vaughn said of news outlets’ efforts to produce voter guides. “It’s certainly helpful, but I think the state has a role to play because they have the ability to reach every registered voter, if they really wanted to. I’m a big advocate for mailing people stuff, you know, the old-fashioned way of having something to hold.” Sounds like what I used to get when I lived in Washington.
Apathy: the biggest challenge to educating voters
Experts cite partisan gerrymandering, the practice of drawing districts to favor the party in power, as the biggest reason for the low voter turnout and apathy across the state. When political contests are not competitive, fewer people are interested in participating.
“Voters, I think rightfully, recognize that sometimes they don’t have a whole lot of skin in the game because the outcome has already been decided,” Vaughn said. “So I think gerrymandering is the biggest reason. You know, Indiana has shown when we have competition, we want to participate.”
Vaughn has been working on voting issues since 1996 and remembers when the state didn’t have supermajorities and there was balance in state government.
On top of gerrymandering, she said many voters get overwhelmed by the mechanics of voting and frustrated by the early cutoff for voter registration. All these factors conspire to keep voter turnout low in our state, she said.
Tully, at the state chapter of the League of Women Voters, echoed these sentiments. She called Indiana’s voting challenges a “death by a thousand cuts.”
“It’s overcoming the hurdle of apathy that’s incredibly hard,” she said. In her outreach to high school students, she has to remind them there are things they care about and that voting isn’t complicated.
“It’s making people understand you can’t just turn out for one election and expect your people to win,” Tully said. “If they don’t like the people they voted for — you’re just going to take your ball and bat and go home? That’s not the way the game works.”
News outlets should collaborate and not let government off the hook
Indiana has real challenges, but a lack of journalists working on educating voters is not one of them. I applaud the experimentation that Mirror Indy and WFYI are doing to reach Hoosiers in new ways through zines and clever social media videos. The IndyStar is introducing the community to candidates via a YouTube series. And the Indiana Capital Chronicle’s guide has “how-to” explainers about mail-in ballots, polling places, working the polls and voting in-person. But all of these well-intentioned efforts by local news outlets to provide voter education risk becoming counterproductive.
If more voter education was the answer, we would see substantial changes in voter turnout increasing. But we’re not seeing that.
According to the Indiana Bar Association’s 2025 Indiana Civic Health Index, the state has moved to 33rd nationally in voter registration, from 40th place between 2022 and 2024. Voter turnout has improved slightly, with the national ranking moving from 50th to 41st.
Instead of redoubling their education efforts, I suggest that Indy news outlets do two things. First, they could collaborate on a voter education series to eliminate the duplication of resources. That would probably take more work, initially. But a combined strategy could reach more people than each individual newsroom is currently reaching.
Most importantly, local newsrooms need to help citizens pressure their local government to fill this need. We should be collectively embarrassed by our low voter turnout and motivated to improve. More politicians would be driven toward solutions if journalists routinely explained to the public how we differ from other states and how we might improve.
Journalists could partner with their audiences to demand that the government provide its citizens with the information they need to participate in the voting process. The government shouldn’t quietly skirt its responsibility to facilitate our access to the ballot box. People should know that our government is letting us down. If voter education was done more efficiently, perhaps that would get more people to the polls. Experts told me, the only thing that can break a gerrymander, is an overwhelming voter turnout. Ultimately, the news organizations, voter rights groups and the government must streamline their efforts to improve voter turnout.
Tracey Compton is Poynter’s Indianapolis Public Editor. You can send your questions about local media to her at indypubliceditor@poynter.org.
Mirror Indy publishes the Indianapolis public editor columns as part of a partnership with Poynter Institute to increase media literacy and trust in local journalism.