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One Democratic candidate for governor appears on the candidate list for the Secretary of State’s Office, though she might fall short of minimum signature requirements, a baseline she said was “impossible” to achieve for candidates without the backing of a major party or independent wealth.
In Indiana, candidates for governor, the U.S. Senate and the president must submit 4,500 signatures from Hoosiers, including at least 500 from each of Indiana’s nine congressional districts.
But unofficial results from the Indiana Election Division show Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tamie Dixon-Tatum submitted 2,150 signatures, falling short in nearly every congressional district. The Indiana Capital Chronicle also reviewed the signatures submitted in the 7th congressional district, which totaled 465.
“I did go out there and I did put my best effort toward accomplishing this impossible requirement,” Dixon-Tatum said. “If you’re not backed by state party, if you’re not this millionaire or if you haven’t sacrificed two years of your life running around to collect signatures — the common, regular, everyday person who really wants to get out there and make a difference? You’re essentially cut out of the process.”
She pointed to Senate candidate John Rust, who is currently battling in court to appear on the ballot as a Republican. He paid an independent firm tens of thousands of dollars to gather signatures.
Additionally, Dixon-Tatum claims some of her signatures to get on the ballot are tied up in the county-level verification process, which she said has rejected 30% of her signatures over issues such as using a two-digit birth year, rather than a four-digit birth year.
But even though Dixon-Tatum might not have the signatures to qualify, she still appears on the candidate list from the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office. That’s because the Election Division can’t remove candidates for falling short — that’s the duty of the Indiana Election Commission, which can only act if someone files a challenge.
“State and local election officials cannot reject a declaration of candidacy but for a select few reasons in state law, such as presenting a filing after the deadline or using an outdated version of the form. Qualifications to run for office, including the number of certified signatures presented to run for federal or statewide office in the primary election, is not on the list of statutory reasons for our office to reject a filing,” said Angie Nussmeyer, the Democratic co-director of the Election Division.
“Instead, a voter or county chair of the election district may file a challenge to dispute a candidate’s qualifications to appear on the ballot. Otherwise, our office must accept the filing and place the person on the candidate list. If an individual is successfully challenged, then the Commission (or county election board for local office) will order the candidate’s name be removed,” Nussmeyer concluded in an emailed statement.
That means that the list of official gubernatorial candidates running in a primary may shrink from its current eight, including six Republicans and two Democrats. Libertarians nominate their candidate via a convention and not in a primary.
Based on an unofficial report from the Election Division, only Dixon-Tatum didn’t gather the required 4,500 signatures for gubernatorial candidates.
Dixon-Tatum isn’t alone when it comes to other offices, however.
Presidential candidate Nikki Haley could also face a challenge on her ballot counts from members of the public or directly from former President Donald Trump, a competitor in the Republican presidential primary. She ultimately submitted 509 signatures in Marion County, but Trump accused Marion County officials of allowing Haley to alter or supplement her signatures past the deadline.
The list of candidates must be finalized by Feb. 29 so that counties can begin printing their ballots for the May primary. The election commission, the entity tasked with reviewing challenges and making final rulings on candidacy, hasn’t yet scheduled a meeting. The agenda for that meeting will depend on how many challenges it receives by the deadline, which is at noon on Feb. 16.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle is an independent, not-for-profit news organization that covers state government, policy and elections.
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