Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney’s Indiana co-chairman could decide whether opponent Rick Santorum makes it onto the state’s May primary ballot. Dan Dumezich is guiding Romney’s effort to win Indiana. He also chairs the Indiana Election Commission, which considers challenges to candidates’ ballot access. Santorum is eight signatures shy of the 500 needed from Indiana’s 7th District.
Courts have always played a major role in painting political landscapes, but the importance of the judiciary in determining public policy – and thereby influencing politics – seems particularly intense now. The Indiana Supreme Court recently intervened in no less than three cases, determining they are so important that the public is best served by the state’s top court bypassing the regular appeals process to expedite a final decision.
In a day filled with developments in the Charlie White case, Indiana Democrats threw another punch in the fight for the secretary of state's office. The Democrats filed a motion Monday asking the Indiana Court of Appeals to enforce a Marion County judge's ruling that their candidate, Vop Osili, should become secretary of state. White was removed from office early Saturday when a jury convicted him of six felony charges, including voter fraud. A judge on Monday set his sentencing for Feb. 23. Jerry Bonnet, appointed by Gov. Mitch Daniels to fill in, began his tenure as interim secretary of state Monday. It's uncertain when the Court of Appeals will rule, but the Democrats' request adds another wrinkle to the already complicated case of who should become secretary of state.
The Indiana Democratic Party has asked the Indiana Court of Appeals to enforce a judge's ruling that would make their candidate Secretary of State. Former Secretary of State Charlie White, a Republican, was removed from office early Saturday morning after a jury convicted him of six felonies. Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed Jerry Bonnet, White's chief deputy, as his interim replacement, but Democrats believe Vop Osili is White's rightful successor, and they filed a motion this afternoon to try to get him in office.
While Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels held off Saturday on appointing a permanent replacement for the state elections chief convicted early that morning of voter fraud, Democrats said they planned to move quickly to wrest control of the politically powerful office from the GOP. A jury from Hamilton County, just north of Indianapolis, deliberated for 13 hours before convicting Republican Secretary of State Charlie White on six felony charges. Among other things, White was accused of lying about his address on voter registration forms. Indiana law does not allow felons to hold statewide office, and Daniels quickly appointed White’s chief deputy, Jerry Bonnet, as interim secretary of state. But the governor said he was holding off on naming a permanent replacement because a judge could reduce the charge to a misdemeanor, allowing White to regain the office.
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White was convicted of six felonies early this morning, and consequently lost his job. But the Republican could get it back soon. White, 42, Fishers, plans to ask a judge to reduce his convictions – all class D felonies – to misdemeanors at sentencing. It’s uncertain whether that move would allow him to reclaim his job. “We don’t know the right answer to that,” White said. “This is all very new.” Shortly after White’s verdict was read, Gov. Mitch Daniels announced in a news release shortly before 3 a.m. that he has appointed Jerry Bonnet, White’s chief deputy, as interim secretary of state.
Fifteen months have passed since the polls closed in Indiana's last secretary of state election. But the battle over who should hold the office is far from being finished. There have been political challenges and a lawsuit; a criminal trial and a conviction but still no definitive result. Simply put, it's "a mess," said one political expert. Charlie White, the elected officer, was convicted of six felony charges, including voter fraud, early Saturday morning, which removed him from office. But he could be reinstated on a technicality. Meanwhile, Gov. Mitch Daniels appointed White's chief deputy, Jerry Bonnet, as to be his interim replacement. Democrats, however, claim they've won the office because of a Marion County judge's ruling that has not yet been enforced.
Calling the jury verdict, "a travesty," Indiana's former top elections official vows to appeal the decision that found him guilty of multiple counts of voter fraud, which has resulted in his temporary removal from office. Republican Secretary of State Charlie White was charged with illegally registering to vote at his ex-wife's house and was convicted on six of seven felony voter related counts in the early hours Saturday morning by a Hamilton County jury in Noblesville, Ind., just north of Indianapolis. "I found out that Indiana is a land of men and not of law," White said in an exclusive Fox News interview on Sunday in which he contended that the jury was not given the full instructions on the charges by prosecutors. "What I think happened yesterday was a total miscarriage of justice and a perversion. The law allows me to do everything I did and the jury did not get all the law."
Indiana's top elections official could lose his job and his freedom after jurors convicted him of multiple voter fraud-related charges on Saturday, leaving in flux the fate of one of the state's most powerful positions. Republican Secretary of State Charlie White has held on to his office for more than a year despite being accused of lying about his address on voter registration forms. A Hamilton County jury found White guilty of six of seven felony charges, including false registration, voting in another precinct, submitting a false ballot, theft and two counts of perjury. He was acquitted on one fraud charge. White expressed no outward emotion as the verdict was read, and later said outside the courtroom: "'I'm disappointed for my family and the people who supported me."
Rick Santorum has failed to qualify for the May 8 Indiana presidential primary ballot, the Marion County voter registration office determined on Friday - a decision that Santorum's campaign says it plans to challenge. "We are very confident that we are gonna end up being on the ballot in Indiana," campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley told National Journal/CBS News. "We submitted almost double the amount of required signatures, and more than anyone else. We are working with Secretary of State's office and other state officials to ensure all of those signatures count."
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.
Special prosecutor Dan Sigler was taken from the Hamilton County Courthouse in an ambulance Friday, just minutes after delivering his closing arguments in the trial against Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White. Sigler left the courtroom quietly and summoned for his wife before being taken out on a gurney. There are still two remaining prosecutors on the state's team so closing arguments will continue uninterrupted. White is charged with seven felony counts, including fraud, perjury and theft. If White is convicted of a single count, he faces removal from office and possible prison time. Special prosecutor DJ Sigler told the jury Charlie White knew what he was doing was wrong but he did it anyway in pursuit of political power. He told the jury the evidence "all fits together"
A Sprint representative could shed light today on where Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White lived while he campaigned for office in late 2009 and 2010. Prosecutors say White's cellphone records will show he lived in a townhouse with his then-fiancee -- instead of in a home with his ex-wife, as he has claimed.Evidence on where White lived during that time could convince a Hamilton Superior Court jury as to his guilt or innocence on seven felony charges, including voter fraud and theft. The trial resumes at 9 a.m. today.
Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White’s defense lawyer rested Thursday without presenting a case against voter fraud charges that could oust White from office. Closing arguments in the weeklong trial are set for Friday, when the case is expected to go to jurors in Hamilton County Superior Court. White is charged with seven felony counts, including fraud, perjury and theft. If White is convicted of a single count, he faces removal from office and possible prison time.
Prosecutors delved into documents regarding Charlie White's home loan and employment during his trial Tuesday to try to show that he lived in a townhome with his new wife when he claimed to be sharing a home with his ex-wife. They say they'll also present records that show the Indiana secretary of state has lived at the townhome since late 2009. Confusion over White's address from late 2009 through 2010 led a grand jury to indict him on seven felony charges, including theft and voter fraud, in March. If convicted of any of those charges, he'll lose his elected position and face prison time.
Indiana’s top elections official committed voter fraud to preserve his political clout and protect his finances, a special prosecutor said Tuesday during opening arguments of a trial that will determine if Secretary of State Charlie White keeps his office — and his freedom. “This case is about deceit and cheating,” special prosecutor Dan Sigler Sr. told jurors at the Hamilton County Courthouse in the Noblesville, about 20 miles north of Indianapolis. “Somebody tried to get away with something ... somebody got caught.”… Sigler portrayed White as a man “obsessed with politics, with success in politics.”
Indiana's top elections official is himself facing allegations of voter fraud. Secretary of State Charlie White, a Republican, is in the unusual position of being the person entrusted to protect the integrity of the ballot box, while at the same time fighting seven felony charges involving allegations he registered to vote at his ex-wife's house and served as a local councilman when he actually lived outside the district. Jury selection in White's trial is set to begin this morning at the Hamilton County Superior Courthouse, in Noblesville, Ind. "We've always abided by the law," White told Fox News in an interview last November. Through a spokesman, he declined another interview on the eve of the trial.
Vote centers might go statewide in this election year after a multi-year pilot test by Wayne and two other counties and a law change last year that allows it. Fayette County, though, is abandoning vote centers in 2012, after its first experience during the 2011 city election, an election that went to a recount. Fayette County Clerk Melinda Sudhoff said the Fayette County Election Board agreed late last week not to use vote centers for this year's presidential elections. The idea will be revisited in 2014, she said. Vote centers eliminate precinct voting and allow voters to vote at any of several locations before or on Election Day. The system reduces the number of polling places, equipment and workers, which cuts costs. Vote centers also make voting more convenient for some voters, but when they vote early at the centers, voters are actually casting absentee ballots, according to the law.
A jury has been set in the criminal trial of Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White in Hamilton County. White is charged with seven felonies, including voter fraud and perjury, stemming from allegations that he lied about where he lived in 2010 so he could continue collecting his salary as a member of the town council in Fishers, just north of Indianapolis. Slightly fewer than 50 potential jurors were called for questioning Monday morning, RTV6's Derrik Thomas reported.
In the days after his indictment on seven felony charges, Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White received the same advice repeatedly from his top advisers: Don't talk to the media about the charges. White listened and nodded in agreement, according to sources close to him, but when it came time to follow that advice, he went his own way. Before his March 11, 2011, initial hearing, White shocked his advisers by giving a 12-minute impromptu news conference about his theory that the charges, which included voter fraud and theft, are politically motivated. White, who had been one of the Republican Party's most faithful servants, had gone rogue.
Charlie White might not have been aware he could be breaking election law when he registered to vote at his ex-wife's address in Indiana's May 2010 Republican primary. But whether he acted deliberately or out of ignorance, experts say the action undermines the credibility of the state's top elections office. "There are two scenarios, and neither one is very flattering," said Robert Dion, a political science professor at the University of Evansville. "Either he was not aware of the law — and that doesn't raise a lot of respect — that you have to live in the district you represent, (or) if he did know, that's even worse."
State Senator Ron Alting (R-Lafayette) authored Senate Bill 233, which unanimously passed the Senate Tuesday by a 50-0 vote. The bill would change a law passed last session, which removed the names of unopposed municipal candidates from the election ballot. The law's intent was to save money by eliminating the need to print ballots where municipal candidates were unopposed. According to a news release, Alting said the decision to remove names of unopposed candidates was made based on good intentions but created some unexpected consequences. While the deletion of those candidates may have saved some printing costs, it increased voter confusion.
Members of Occupy Terre Haute and Occupy Nomads stood in front of the Terre Haute offices of attorney James Bopp Jr. on Friday to call for a constitutional amendment on the second anniversary of a U.S. Supreme Court decision on political campaign funding. In Citizens United versus Federal Election Commission, the high court stated that corporations have the same First Amendment rights as people and can spend unlimited amounts to influence elections, said Leigh Chapman, a Terre Haute resident and member of Occupy Terre Haute. Bopp took the case to the Supreme Court, while another attorney presented the issue before the court.
Fireworks flew in a Hamilton County courtroom as lawyers prepared for the Charlie White criminal trial. White, Indiana's secretary of state, faces seven felony charges, including voter fraud, perjury and theft. His lead defense lawyer, Carl Brizzi, sees the upcoming criminal trial as an tough task. "Any time someone is charged by the state or federal government for a crime, it's an uphill battle,” he said. “We talk about a legal presumption of innocence, but i don't think that really exists out in society."
Indiana is one of several states pioneering vote centers, which are consolidated polling places open to any eligible voter in a locality. Vote centers came into existence in 2003, when Larimer County, Colorado first pioneered the configuration. Today, nine states have laws permitting vote centers, but Indiana was the first to use them on a large scale. In 2006, the Indiana Secretary of State began a pilot program, allowing counties to test vote centers to determine if they would be an effective means of election day administration. Three counties, Cass, Tippecanoe, and Wayne, participated in the program from 2007 to 2010, and their reports prompted the state legislature to pass a bill during its 2011 session to enable all counties to adopt the vote center model as their permanent method for voting.
The Indiana Attorney General’s Office is asking the Indiana Supreme Court to review the case of Secretary of State Charlie White. A Marion County judge ruled in December that White is ineligible to hold office because he was improperly registered to vote at his ex-wife’s house in 2010 when he was a candidate. His ruling overturned a June decision by the Indiana Recount Commission that White could stay in office.
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller has asked the state Supreme Court to decide whether Charlie White can remain secretary of state. The court didn't immediately say Tuesday whether it'll take up the case. Zoeller represents the state recount commission, which is appealing a judge's decision that found White ineligible to run for the office he won in November 2010. That reversed a previous recount commission ruling that upheld White's candidacy. The judge has delayed enforcing the order pending the appeal.
Marion Circuit Court Judge Louis Rosenberg ruled Wednesday that Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White can remain in office while he appeals an order removing him from the statewide post.
Rosenberg said he reached the decision because he felt "the negative consequences would be great and irreparable" if he did not grant the stay. Rosenberg had issued an order Dec. 22 ousting White because he was improperly registered as a candidate when he ran for office in 2010.
But he stayed that order pending a hearing Tuesday requested by White, who has filed a notice of appeal.
As Gov. Mitch Daniels looks ahead to his last year in office, he said there are some things that he’d rather not remember. In a year-end review, Daniels said Secretary of State Charlie White’s troubles and former Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission chairman David Lott Hardy’s indictment was an embarrassment to him and other Republican leaders, RTV6's Norman Cox reported.
White is accused of lying about where he lived during the 2010 primary for secretary of state so he could continue collecting his pay from the Fishers Town Council.
A judge could decide today how long Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White can keep his job. Marion Circuit Judge Louis Rosenberg ruled last month that White is ineligible to hold office. White appealed and asked Rosenberg to delay his removal until a higher court hears the appeal.
Rosenberg agreed to halt proceedings until today, when he will hear arguments over whether White's removal should be postponed until the appeal process is finished. If Rosenberg rules against White, Vop Osili, the Democrat who ran against White, will take over as secretary of state.