A lawsuit against the state of Indiana is challenging current state law on the basis that it keeps people with a mental illness who live in an institution from voting, or making it harder to vote.

The Indiana Protection and Advocacy Services Commission along with the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana have filed a lawsuit against the state of Indiana, the Indiana Secretary of State, the Clerk of Jefferson County, and members of the Indiana Election Commission.

The complaint alleges that the state law imposes an undue burden on people with mental illness who live in institutions.

The complaint also says that the law keeps people who live in one of the five state institutions from using the facility's address as their residence for voting. Some of the residents in these institutions have no other address to use for voting so this would keep them from voting altogether.

There are 647 adults who live in the five state hospitals. To read a copy of the filed complaint, click here.