Polls in Indiana close at 6 PM local time, one of the earliest times when compared to other states. One Hoosier voter wondered why… and asked what it would take to change those times. So, Indiana Public Broadcasting’s Tyler Lake went to get her some answers.

Even though she always makes it to the polls, Elizabeth Venstra worries that they close too early for some voters.

“I feel like it makes it more difficult to vote for a lot of people than it needs to be.”

The times the polls open and close are written into state law, in Indiana its 6am to 6pm. That’s been the case since at least 1890.

While Indiana has one of the earliest poll closing times in the nation, there have been no serious efforts in recent years to change that.

Polls in Ohio close at 7:30pm and they close at 8:00 pm in at least 15 other states in the union.

The office of the Secretary of State conducts elections in Indiana, but officials there say they don’t have any control over when the polls close.

Andy Downs, the Director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics, says it’s ultimately up to the state legislature.

“If anybody would like to change that they will need to convince 51 members of the house and 26 members of the senate that there’s a reason to change it.”

Hoosiers will be able to decide some of the members they send to the statehouse, by voting Tuesday. . . as long as they make it to the polls before 6:00 pm.

This story is part of Inquire Indiana, a project of WFIU/WTIU in Bloomington.