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Tuesday, June 15, 2004

Indiana Law - Ballot Design at Issue Again

Speaking a deju vu -- the headline today to this Indianapolis Star story brings it back, all over again: "Dems, GOP argue case over design of ballots." More:

Before voters head to the polls Nov. 2, there's still an important question to decide.

What will the ballots look like?

In a lawsuit that has statewide implications, Marion County Democrats squared off against Republicans on Monday before a three-judge panel of the Indiana Court of Appeals.

Ninety-one Indiana counties using new voting equipment organize their ballots by office -- with the candidates listed below each office and their political parties listed next to their names.

Republicans, including Marion County Clerk Doris Anne Sadler, want to keep it that way.

County Democrats want to change the ballots so they are organized by party -- with the political parties listed across the top of the ballot and the candidates for specific offices listed below.

The legal wrangling over the appearance of the ballots began in September, threatening the 2003 municipal elections in Indianapolis. Though both sides brokered a compromise that allowed that election to proceed, the fate of future ballots is now in the hands of the Court of Appeals. * * *

The legislature considered a bill earlier this year that would have let election boards group the candidates as they have been -- by office. But the bill died after running into problems with Democrats and with a Republican walkout over gay marriage.

Election boards in all but one of Indiana's 92 counties have chosen to organize their ballots by office, attorneys said. Greene County still uses the old, traditional lever machines that are organized differently.

And for this reason, changing the ballot layout five months before the elections would be significant and troublesome, said Joseph Chapelle, an attorney representing the Association of Clerks of Circuit Courts.

"The (election) board has to have discretion to consider the other practicalities of conducting an election," he said.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 15, 2004 09:35 AM
Posted to Indiana Law