republic-os/legislation/us/states/in/2020/sb-179.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Election cybersecurity."
description: "Requires counties to enter into an agreement with the secretary of state to use a threat intelligence and enterprise security company designated by the secretary of state for specified security purposes. Provides that this requirement expires January 1, 2023. Requires an employee or agent of a circuit court clerk, a county election board, or a board of registration to meet certain proficiency standards to be qualified to access the statewide voter registration system. Requires applicants for certification of voting systems and electronic poll books to include information regarding: (1) the batteries used in the voting system or electronic poll book, and any peripherals; (2) a planned replacement schedule for the batteries, and (3) plans to test batteries; and (4) plans for emergency replacement of batteries that fail on election day or during the 30 days before election day. Provides that the number of voting systems to be examined in a public test is based on the number of voting system units scheduled by the county election board to be used in the upcoming election. Requires a single list instead of two lists for testing by counties before elections and sets forth selection requirements for testing. Provides that if a county uploads unofficial precinct election results to the statewide voter registration system before certification of the final results, the county must use a universal serial bus (USB) drive that contains anti-malware protection features or other approved data storage transfer methods. Provides that: (1) if a direct record electronic voting system contains a voter verifiable paper audit trail, the precinct election board is not required to print out the paper audit trail in preparing the certificates setting forth the number of votes cast for a candidate or on a public question in the precinct; and (2) the certificates set forth the official votes cast by the voters of the precinct. Provides that after December 31, 2020, an electronic poll book may not display whether a voter's registration record is in active or inactive status. Provides that in a recount or contest proceeding, the information set forth on the voter verifiable paper audit trail may be used as evidence for a recount commission or a court to determine the votes cast for a candidate or on a public question in the precinct. Permits the secretary of state to issue orders (rather than adopting administrative rules) to: (1) designate elections to be subject to a risk-limiting audit or procedure audits conducted after the election; and (2) to administer risk-limiting audits."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 179"
citation: "Indiana SB 179 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["ELECTIONS", "Conduct of Elections", "ELECTIONS generally", "ELECTIONS", "Voters and Voting; Registration"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Greg Walker", "Holli Sullivan", "John Crane", "Jon Ford"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 31
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2020-01-06"
last_action: "2020-03-21"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4f7a936b-721c-4162-a58e-59063593d30f"
source_url: "http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2020/bills/senate/179"
source_hash: "c8015746942db66658627194dfb6d8c7ca64de8c3aa32fc5214e4974b278985e"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana SB 179 (2020) — Election cybersecurity.

Requires counties to enter into an agreement with the secretary of state to use a threat intelligence and enterprise security company designated by the secretary of state for specified security purposes. Provides that this requirement expires January 1, 2023. Requires an employee or agent of a circuit court clerk, a county election board, or a board of registration to meet certain proficiency standards to be qualified to access the statewide voter registration system. Requires applicants for certification of voting systems and electronic poll books to include information regarding: (1) the batteries used in the voting system or electronic poll book, and any peripherals; (2) a planned replacement schedule for the batteries, and (3) plans to test batteries; and (4) plans for emergency replacement of batteries that fail on election day or during the 30 days before election day. Provides that the number of voting systems to be examined in a public test is based on the number of voting system units scheduled by the county election board to be used in the upcoming election. Requires a single list instead of two lists for testing by counties before elections and sets forth selection requirements for testing. Provides that if a county uploads unofficial precinct election results to the statewide voter registration system before certification of the final results, the county must use a universal serial bus (USB) drive that contains anti-malware protection features or other approved data storage transfer methods. Provides that: (1) if a direct record electronic voting system contains a voter verifiable paper audit trail, the precinct election board is not required to print out the paper audit trail in preparing the certificates setting forth the number of votes cast for a candidate or on a public question in the precinct; and (2) the certificates set forth the official votes cast by the voters of the precinct. Provides that after December 31, 2020, an electronic poll book may not display whether a voter's registration record is in active or inactive status. Provides that in a recount or contest proceeding, the information set forth on the voter verifiable paper audit trail may be used as evidence for a recount commission or a court to determine the votes cast for a candidate or on a public question in the precinct. Permits the secretary of state to issue orders (rather than adopting administrative rules) to: (1) designate elections to be subject to a risk-limiting audit or procedure audits conducted after the election; and (2) to administer risk-limiting audits.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0179/versions/SB0179.04.ENRH)
2. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0179/versions/SB0179.01.INTR)
3. **Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0179/versions/SB0179.02.COMS)
4. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](http://in-proxy.openstates.org/2020/bills/SB0179/versions/SB0179.03.COMH)

## Votes

- SB 179 - Walker - 3rd Reading — **46–1** (pass) · upper
- SB 179 - Sullivan - 3rd Reading — **90–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Greg Walker — primary (person)
- Holli Sullivan — primary (person)
- John Crane — primary (person)
- Jon Ford — primary (person)
- Michael Crider — coauthor (person)
- Ronald Grooms — coauthor (person)
- Timothy Wesco — cosponsor (person)
- Victoria Spartz — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-06** Authored by Senator Walker
- **2020-01-06** First reading: referred to Committee on Elections `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-01-27** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-30** Amendment #1 (Ford J.D.) failed; voice vote `amendment-failure`
- **2020-01-30** Amendment #2 (Ford J.D.) failed; Roll Call 96: yeas 10, nays 40 `amendment-failure`
- **2020-01-30** Amendment #3 (Ford J.D.) failed; voice vote `amendment-failure`
- **2020-01-30** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-01-30** Senator Crane added as second author
- **2020-01-30** Senator Ford Jon added as third author
- **2020-01-30** Senator Grooms added as coauthor
- **2020-02-03** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 117: yeas 46, nays 1 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-02-03** House sponsor: Representative Sullivan
- **2020-02-03** Cosponsor: Representative Wesco
- **2020-02-03** Senator Crider added as coauthor
- **2020-02-03** Senator Spartz added as coauthor
- **2020-02-04** Referred to the House
- **2020-02-10** First reading: referred to Committee on Elections and Apportionment `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2020-02-24** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2020-02-27** Amendment #2 (Moseley) failed; Roll Call 223: yeas 28, nays 62 `amendment-failure`
- **2020-02-27** Amendment #3 (Moseley) failed; Roll Call 224: yeas 28, nays 63 `amendment-failure`
- **2020-02-27** Amendment #1 (Hamilton) failed; Roll Call 225: yeas 29, nays 63 `amendment-failure`
- **2020-02-27** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-03-02** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 260: yeas 90, nays 2 `reading-3, passage`
- **2020-03-03** Returned to the Senate with amendments `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-04** Motion to concur filed
- **2020-03-10** Senate concurred in House amendments; Roll Call 349: yeas 50, nays 0 `amendment-failure`
- **2020-03-12** Signed by the President Pro Tempore
- **2020-03-16** Signed by the Speaker
- **2020-03-18** Signed by the President of the Senate
- **2020-03-21** Public Law 135
- **2020-03-21** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4f7a936b-721c-4162-a58e-59063593d30f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).