The Senate voted 50-0 for Senate Bill 233. The bill has moved to the Indiana House and the House Committee on Elections and Apportionment had its first reading of the bill Tuesday. The new bill aims to reverse a ballot provision that was part of a comprehensive election law approved in 2011 that removed unopposed candidates’ names from city election ballots to save money. Last fall, city candidates in several cities, including Richmond, went to court over the omission of their names from the ballot.
In Wayne County, an injunction was granted to place the names of unopposed candidates Kelley Cruse-Nicholson and J. Clayton Miller on the Richmond ballots for the 2011 election.
Wayne County Clerk Jo Ann Stewart said the lawsuit didn’t make the election more costly because ballots were still being finalized. Omitting the names wouldn’t have saved any money in the Richmond election, but it might have in some counties, Stewart said.
Full Article: Bill putting all candidates on Indiana ballots gets 50-0 vote | Palladium-Item | pal-item.com.