« Ind. Courts - Court of Appeals hears oral argument in the Lake County early voting case [Updated] | Main | Ind. Decisions - Transfer denied in John Myers II appeal »

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Ind. Courts - "Marion Co. GOP seeks ballot scrutiny"

Earlier today the ILB posted "There are rumors of an early voting suit being filed in Marion County this morning ..."

Jon Murray and Brendan O''Shaughnessy have a story up on the Indianapolis Star website - access it here. Some quotes:

The Marion County Republican Party has asked the Circuit Court judge for an order requiring election workers next Tuesday to more closely scrutinize absentee ballots before counting them.

Circuit Court Judge Theodore Sosin this morning delayed a hearing on the issue until 10 a.m. Friday at GOP officials’ request. Marion County Democratic Party Chairman Ed Treacy said the move is an attempt to challenge the record number of early votes cast already in Marion County, a charge GOP Chairman Tom John denied.

Yes, these are the "early votes" that many of us have already cast.
The lawsuit says the Marion County Election Board and County Clerk Beth White, a Democrat, are instructing poll workers to run all absentee ballots into a precinct’s machine on Tuesday. They have received no instructions on what to do with challenged absentee ballots, which the suit says should be treated as provisional ballots and set aside — not counted on Election Day.

John said a key issue is that the Election Board has not examined in-person and mailed-in absentee ballots before the election to throw out those lacking signatures. Those missing a signature — possibly dozens — could become subject to challenge at the polls Tuesday.

Here is the complaint. The Star will have more tomorrow.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on October 30, 2008 03:58 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts