The 2021 Indiana Civic Health Index unveiled Tuesday showed that although the state has taken its first steps toward improving civic education in its schools, Hoosiers still rank low nationally for participation in the voting process.

Civic health can be evaluated statistically through measures such as voter registration and turnout but also takes into account the overall activity of citizens in their communities. That can fall under several categories like volunteering, writing letters to the editor, or participating in a service organization.

The civic health index, first conducted in 2011 and now in its fifth edition, is sponsored by the Indiana Bar Foundation, the Indiana Supreme Court, the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, the National Conference on Citizenship, Indiana University Northwest, IUPUI and IU’s Center for Representative Government and O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

Bill Moreau (above, top right), president of the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, discussed how another of the recommendations from the 2019 report—taking the steps necessary to move Indiana from the bottom toward the top of state rankings for voter turnout—has not come to fruition. Indiana ranked 41st in 2016 and fell to 46th in 2020.

Moreau suggested that the state’s ranking might be higher if Indiana had followed the examples of other states that have enacted measures such as automatic voter registration, same-day voter registration, unrestricted absentee voting, independent redistricting commissions and mail-in voting.

“Indiana has consistently ranked among the states with the most restrictive voting laws,” said Moreau. “ … We have a very, very long way to go before we as a state capture our place among the top 10 states for voter registration.”

Retired Chief Justice Randall Shepard (above, lower right), mentioned how voting has changed throughout the years, recalling when the process was so community-based that citizens could vote in neighborhood schools “or in someone’s garage.’’

“We decided to shrink the number of polling places in our state, one county at a time,” Shepard said. “That made a difference.”

Ellen Szarleta (above, lower left), professor at Indiana University Northwest and the primary author of the report, said Hoosiers rank higher on other measures of civic activity, such as sharing their beliefs via social media, an area where Indiana ranked 12th among the states.

“That is one of our strengths if we look at civic awareness,” Szarleta said.

Alexa Shrake is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.