Northwest Indiana state legislators said candidates were filing amendments to their candidacy paperwork in the Indiana Election Division office before the Friday deadline after questions arose about properly notarized paperwork.
The turmoil stems from questions over whether staffers to Republican Secretary of State Diego Morales were correctly certified to accept sworn statements from candidates that they meet the legal requirements for the office they are seeking, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
There were concerns about whether the candidacy forms submitted to the Secretary of State’s office, which is located in the Statehouse, could be challenged by a political opponent if they were not processed correctly, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
For races on this year’s primary ballot, state law requires Republican and Democratic candidates for the U.S. House, Indiana Senate, Indiana House, county judge and county prosecutor positions to submit their filings to state officials.
That can be done at the Secretary of State’s office or the Election Division office, which is in an office building on the downtown Indianapolis state government campus, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
State law requires candidacy forms to be certified by a notary public or other officials, including all employees of the Election Division.
Morales is also authorized to certify the forms by virtue of his elected office. The office provided the Indiana Capital Chronicle with documents that showed he appointed as “special deputy” nine staffers — including his legislative director and press secretary — with authority to authenticate candidacy forms during the filing period that began Jan. 7 and ended at noon Friday, but they did not include a time stamp showing when they were filed.
The special deputy documents were delivered Tuesday to the Election Division office, where they were time stamped at 2:03 p.m. Election Division staffers said the last previous certificates it had on file were from Secretary of State Holli Sullivan, whom Morales replaced in January 2023, according to the Indiana Capital Chronicle.
The confusion was first reported by political commentator Abdul-Hakim Shabazz on his Indy Politics website. In a statement responding to the situation, Morales issued a statement criticizing Shabazz’s reporting.
The office “would like to assure Hoosiers and candidates that the candidate filing process has, and is, being administered according to statutory requirements,” according to the statement.
“Candidates should be assured that the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office takes every precaution necessary to guarantee candidate filing paperwork is completed according to Indiana law,” Morales said in the statement. “As Indiana’s chief election officer, I will continue serving Hoosiers and not allow misleading reports to discredit confidence in our state’s election process.”
State Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton, who is seeking reelection, said he went to the Election Division office to file an amendment with the candidacy paperwork to ensure it was properly notarized.
“I didn’t want anyone to challenge me,” Pol said. “I know a lot of people are mad. Better safe than sorry.”
Pol said other state legislators also went to refile amendments to ensure their paperwork was filed properly and won’t be challenged.
“It’s annoying. I think that’s the consensus, that it’s annoying,” Pol said.
State Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland, said he’s running for reelection but didn’t have to refile his paperwork because he filed on Wednesday after the news broke about the confusion.
“I know a lot of people that refiled or amended,” Dernulc said. “The people that had to do it … they had to make sure everything was done properly. I did not want to take that chance.”
Lake County Board of Elections and Registration Director Michelle Fajman said the office hasn’t received calls about the confusion in the Secretary of State’s office since candidates for local office file at the Lake County office.
When the election office was operating from the Lake County Clerk’s Office, Fajman said staff were able to notarize paperwork through the office. But, when the election office moved into its own office, a lawsuit was filed about election staff having the authority to notarize, she said.
A judge ruled in favor of the election office, Fajman said. But, to avoid confusion, Fajman said election staff have the opportunity to become notaries. Currently, the office has six employees who can notarize, she said.
Porter County Elections and Voter Registration assistant director Tara Graf did not respond to requests for comment.
