Jim Shella covered the Indiana Statehouse for WISH-TV, Channel 8, for decades. He retired several years ago, but he never stopped paying attention. He still writes commentary for Forefront, the opinion section of the Indianapolis Business Journal.

His most recent column, published Sept. 18, is mostly about data centers and the bipartisan anxiety they are generating across Indiana. But the part that stopped me cold came at the end.

Shella wrote that he checked his voter registration online and discovered he had been removed from the rolls. So had his wife. He has voted regularly for 40 years.

If it can happen to Jim Shella, it can happen to anyone.

I checked my own registration the moment I finished reading his column. I am still registered. The whole thing took about a minute.

Indiana has been working its voter rolls hard. The secretary of state’s election division mails address-confirmation postcards as part of routine list maintenance, and a registration can be canceled when that mail comes back undeliverable and the voter never responds. Separately, House Enrolled Act 1680, in effect since July 1, 2025, requires county officials to demand proof of citizenship from anyone who registered using a temporary BMV credential number. Court filings reported in June by the Indiana Capital Chronicle showed 1,625 of those registrations had been rejected or canceled.

None of that necessarily explains what happened to the Shellas, and I am not going to guess. The point is simpler. The rolls are changing, and the voter is usually the last to find out.

Checking takes almost no effort. Go to indianavoters.in.gov. You can confirm your registration status, find your polling place, preview your ballot, or register for the first time — all in the same place.

The deadline matters. Indiana closes its rolls 29 days before Election Day, one of the earliest cutoffs in the country. That means Monday, Oct. 5. Online applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. that day, and mailed forms must be postmarked by then. Early in-person voting in Hamilton County begins Tuesday, Oct. 6. Applications for a mailed absentee ballot are due Oct. 22. Polls are open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3.

There is plenty on the Hamilton County ballot to justify the trip: four Hamilton Southeastern Schools board seats with no incumbents running, the Indiana Senate District 31 race, the contest for county sheriff and the 5th Congressional District.

As always, my message is this. Register, educate yourself, then cast your ballot Nov. 3, or earlier if early voting suits you better.

That is how democracy works.