Ballot Access Lawsuit Moving Forward in Indiana
an update from George Wolfe
??Indiana??s ballot access laws are among the most restrictive in the nation.? That??s according to attorney Oliver Hall, general council to the Center for Competitive Democracy (CCD) in Washington D.C. I learned firsthand how restrictive Indiana ballot access laws are when in 2018, I ran as the Indiana Green Party candidate for Secretary of State.
In order to gain ballot access for this statewide office, I needed to obtain 26,699 signatures from registered voters in Indiana on ballot access petitions. This figure was derived by taking 2 percent of the number of Indiana citizens who voted in the prior election for Secretary of State. In 2022, the 2 percent ballot access petition requirement for independent or minor party Secretary of State candidates was calculated to be 44,935 signatures due to the higher number of people who voted in 2018. This in contrast to Republican and Democratic Party nominees who automatically appear on the ballot after being selected through taxpayer-funded election primaries.
Over the past 20 years, no independent or minor party candidate has successfully completed a statewide petition drive. Former independent presidential candidate Ross Perot (1992 and 1996) and minor party candidate Pat Buchanan (2000) gained ballot access, but both Buchanan and Perot were multi-millionaires who could afford to spend over half-a-million dollars to hire petitioning companies to canvas for them.
The filing deadline for turning in signed petitions used to be July 15th. After the year 2000, this deadline was moved back to June 30th. As a result, Independent and minor party candidates now have two weeks less time to complete the petitioning requirement.
The petitioning process was made even more burdensome by the COVIC-19 pandemic. Approaching voters to ask them to sign a paper petition in person violated social distancing recommendations and placed both petitioners and citizen voters at risk of being exposed to the highly contagious COVID virus.
Furthermore, insisting aspiring candidates obtain signatures in person discriminates against individuals with physical disabilities. A candidate who is confined to a wheelchair, for example, is at a disadvantage when petitioning, compared to someone who able-bodied and far more mobile. Such inequalities could easily be remedied by providing a secure online option for acquiring petition signatures, as is in place in the state Arizona.
There has been some effort among Indiana legislators to change Indiana??s antiquated ballot access laws. Republican Senator Greg Walker (District 41) has proposed legislation to reduce the petition signature requirement. In January of 2019, I testified before the Senate Elections Committee in support of Senator Walker??s bill. Unfortunately, Senator Walker??s proposed legislation was defeated.
During my tenure as chair of the Indiana Green Party, I approached the Center for Competitive Democracy about bringing together a coalition of plaintiffs to file a lawsuit with the goal of having the current ballot access laws declared unconstitutional. Subsequently, the case Indiana Green Party, et al. v Sullivan, No. 12-cv-oo518 (SDIN) has been filed in the Federal District Court of the Southern District of Indiana.
In addition to myself, the list of plaintiffs include the Indiana Green Party, the Libertarian Party of Indiana, 2022 Green Party candidate for Secretary of State David Wetterer, A.B. Brand who represents the Indiana Disability Caucus, former Libertarian Party candidate for Secretary of State Mark Rutherford, Indiana Libertarian Party Chair Evan McMahon, attorney Andrew Horning, former independent State Representative candidate Ken Tucker, and independent Green Party activists Adam Muelhausen and John Shearer.
In response to our lawsuit, the Secretary of State??s office filed a brief arguing that the lawsuit should be dismissed. District Court Judge James R. Sweeney II, who happens to be a Donald Trump appointee, denied this request for dismissal.
Voters in Indiana need more choices on the ballot, not less. Constructive solutions proposed by independent and third party candidates challenge the platforms of both Democratic and Republican nominees, contribute to the political forum of ideas, and help to strengthen our democracy.
George Wolfe is Professor Emeritus in the School of Music and former Director of the Ball State University Center for Peace and Conflict Studies. He was the 2018 Green Party candidate for Secretary of State in Indiana and has served as Chair of the Indiana Green Party. He is also a trained mediator and the author of The Spiritual Power of Nonviolence: Interfaith Understanding for a Future Without War.
