Politics
Ballard asks Indiana court to make election commission consider finance complaints
Independent secretary of state candidate Greg Ballard plans to sue the Indiana Election Commission, arguing it should hear campaign finance complaints involving Republican Max Engling and Democrat Beau Bayh while early voting is underway. He says he will drop the case if the commission’s chair calls a meeting by Oct. 26.
Independent candidate Greg Ballard plans to ask a Marion Superior Court judge to compel the Indiana Election Commission to meet and consider campaign finance complaints involving two of his opponents in the secretary of state race.
Ballard, running under the Lincoln Party banner, argues that the commission’s failure to act while early voting is underway leaves allegations against Republican Max Engling and Democrat Beau Bayh unresolved and undermines equal enforcement of campaign finance rules. State law does not require the commission to meet to hear complaints.
In his planned lawsuit, Ballard says he is affected as a candidate competing for the same votes. He is not asking the commission to find either opponent in violation, he wrote in a letter to commission chair Beth Boyce, but to convene and consider the complaints.
Ballard said he would drop the lawsuit if Boyce calls a meeting by Oct. 26. Boyce, a Republican, had not immediately responded to a request for comment.
The complaints about Engling began in July, when David Shelton, his opponent in the Republican convention, asked the commission to investigate a $60,000 contribution to Engling’s campaign from Hoosier Leadership for America. The group is affiliated with U.S. Sen. Jim Banks and is registered in Indiana as a nonprofit corporation. State law caps corporate contributions to statewide candidates at $5,000 a year.
Engling’s campaign returned the contribution before Shelton filed his complaint. Ballard argues the commission should still consider whether the campaign accepted and improperly reported it. A separate September complaint questioned whether an event hosted by Hoosier Leadership for America the night before the Republican state convention should have been reported as an in-kind contribution because Engling was listed as a special guest.
Complaints also were filed against Bayh, a Democrat. One citizen alleged that public events attended by Bayh as a candidate, including fundraisers, receptions and meet-and-greets, should count as in-kind campaign contributions. Ballard’s lawsuit says another citizen filed a similar complaint that month.
The four-member commission is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats. Its chair decides whether to call a meeting to investigate complaints. No meeting to address the pending matters was on the calendar.
Early voting is underway ahead of the Nov. 3 election. The secretary of state contest, for Indiana’s chief elections officer, features Ballard, Bayh, Engling and Libertarian candidate Lauri Shillings.