Absentee voters in Tippecanoe County will not be sent new ballots with names of all candidates running in November’s municipal election. Instead, the 69 absentee ballots sent between Sept. 23 and noon Wednesday will be reviewed and entered by hand using a bipartisan team, Tippecanoe County Clerk Christa Coffey said Thursday.
It’s the latest development to come out of a civil lawsuit filed by Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski, West Lafayette Clerk-Treasurer Judy Rhodes and others challenging a new Indiana law that said names of unopposed municipal candidates may not be placed on ballots.
Both Roswarski, a Democrat, and Rhodes, a Republican, are running unopposed in November. Tippecanoe Circuit Court Judge Don Daniel on Wednesday granted a preliminary injunction keeping an election law passed earlier this year from taking effect in Tippecanoe County.
That means Roswarski, Rhodes and 19 other unopposed candidates will appear on local election ballots.
The intent of the controversial law was to save money by eliminating voting for candidates who were running unopposed. Candidates in Tippecanoe and elsewhere argued the new law negatively impacted their campaigns, disenfranchised voters and discouraged voting.
Full Article: Officials work out details of ballot ruling | Journal and Courier | jconline.com.