McCain May Not Be On The Ballot For Indiana Primary
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 2/20/08 @ 5:44 pm - Filed Under 2008 National Elections
Thomas at Blue Indiana has broke a major story that might be seeing major media coverage. According to his investigation John McCain did not acquire the necessary 500 signatures from the 4th district to be on the primary ballot.
Now, I’m originally from the 4th District, so curiosity led me to check out who had made it (and by how much) in my old stomping ground. To my surprise, I noticed that John McCain — the presumptive front-runner for the GOP nomination — was just a little short in a few districts, including my precious 4th, despite the fact that Attorney General Steve Carter had already turned in their petitions. I made a few phone calls, and one by one I found out that the McCain camp had got the job done across the state.
Except in the 4th District.
In the 4th District, they are short.
By my latest count, they turned in 496 signatures for the 4th, and the latest IED report for this morning shows them with only 491.
So this afternoon, I filed a challenge with the Secretary of State’s office to keep John McCain off of the ballot. You can check it out here. (I’ll have a .pdf version up when I get back to Bloomington this evening.)
Now I’ll admit that I’m not completely familiar with how this process works, or where McCain will go from here, but if Thomas’ numbers are accurate then this strikes me as a screwup of major proportions for the McCain surrogates in the 4th district. If nothing else it would be a complete embarrassment for all involved. The talking point is simple - if you can’t put together a team to make sure you get a measly 500 signatures then how can you run the country?
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7 Responses to “McCain May Not Be On The Ballot For Indiana Primary”
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I am not sure why a liberal Democrat cares about the Republican primary or what possible good or evil that filing a challenge will accomplish.
If the Attorney General wants McCain on the ballot, your complaint will tied up in so much red tape that it will not see the light of day for months.
The Republican primary is over, Jeff …honest. I don’t like it that way, but it is what it is.
First I want to make sure everyone knows it’s not my complaint. However, you’re probably right about the SOS and the AG but they still have to explain their actions.
But surely you understand why the Democratic Party would want to push such a story? Clearly it won’t affect who the nominee is but it’s an embarrassment nonetheless. And controlling the media cycle by pointing out the ineptness of the other candidate is part of the game…
How does McCain get his name on the ballot in the General Election if he doesn’t make it for the Primary?
But it looks like honest and upright Todd Rokita made sure that McCain qualified.
I believe the process of getting on the ballot in the general is different than for the primary.
It comes as no surprise to me that they “found” the extra signatures. We’ll see what shakes out in the next few days. I think a better move would’ve been to wait until 1 minute after the deadline and then file the challenge…
The point of conducting primaries is to determine who will be on the ballot in the general election.
IC 3-10-1-2
Political parties required to hold primary election
Sec. 2. Each political party whose nominee received at least ten percent (10%) of the votes cast in the state for secretary of state at the last election shall hold a primary election under this chapter to select nominees to be voted for at the general election.
As added by P.L.5-1986, SEC.6.
The Presidential race, being a national race, is a different ballgame as the chairman of the state party ultimately decides who goes on the ballot in the general election:
You forgot this part of that section…
(b) If candidates for presidential electors are nominated by petitioners instead of by a convention of a major political party or a party subject to IC 3-8-4-10, the petitioners shall certify with the list of names of electors:
(1) the names of their nominees for President and Vice President of the United States;
(2) the state of which each nominee is a resident; and
(3) the name of the political party of the nominees, or that the nominees are an independent ticket.
(c) This subsection applies to a political party described in subsection (a) and to candidates nominated by petitioners under subsection (b). The names of:
(1) all candidates for presidential electors; and
(2) all nominees for President and Vice President of the United States;
shall be certified to the election division not later than noon on the second Tuesday in September before the general election. The election division shall certify to each county election board not later than noon on the next following Thursday in September before the general election the names of the nominees for President and Vice President of the United States certified to the election division under this subsection.
IN ADDITION…
It isn’t so much as certifying the nominee as it is who will be the VP with the Presidential nominee on the ticket.
BUT YOU ARE MOST LIKELY RIGHT BECAUSE…
What happens if at the convention they decide they don’t want any of the candidates and instead go with Mitch Daniels or Matt Kelty as their candidate? The party must have the right to decide their nominee regardless of the outcome of primaries or caucuses.