Support for this edition comes from Lafayette Urban Ministry, presenting the annual Hunger Hike Sept. 20. The walk starts at 1 p.m. Sept. 20 at Memorial Island at Lafayette’s Columbian Park. The Hunger Hike is a joint effort of Food Finders Food Bank, Lafayette Urban Ministry and St. Thomas Aquinas Haiti Ministry, bringing individuals, families, businesses, schools, and faith communities together to raise awareness and funds to address food insecurity both locally, regionally and globally. Sign up your team, support other hikers and start fundraising by going to www.hungerhike.org.
SD23 RECOUNT COMES DOWN TO THIS: ORAL ARGUMENTS THURSDAY AT INDIANA SUPREME COURT
With less than eight weeks until the November general election, the Indiana Supreme Court will hear arguments Thursday morning about who should be on Indiana Senate District 23 ballots as the Republican nominee.
In play is an appeal from state Sen. Spencer Deery, a West Lafayette Republican, that the Indiana Recount Commission threw out six ballots in the May 5 Republican primary that should have counted for him – a move that flipped a three-vote victory into a three-vote loss to Paula Copenhaver, a Trump-backed challenger and Fountain County Republican Party chair.
As of now, the final count in the May 5 primary at 6,332-6,329 for Copenhaver.
What’s at stake: Last week, the Indiana Supreme Court ordered election officials in the six counties of Indiana Senate District 23 to hold off on distributing ballots for the Nov. 3 general election until justices decide the appeal centering on six ballots.
Deery’s arguments: In a brief filed Aug. 28, Deery’s attorneys argued that absentee ballots of six voters – cast ahead of the May 5 primary, with two each in Warren, Montgomery and Vermillion counties – were tossed by the Recount Commission in error on Aug. 10. The appeal conceded that four of the 10 ballots rejected by the Recount Commission – two for Deery and two for Copenhaver – because they didn’t include required bipartisan initials by poll workers were dealt with properly under state election law.
The six in question were missing a clerk’s signature or seal, two other requirements for absentee ballots. Deery’s attorneys argued under a provision of election law say those votes may be counted , despite the errors, unless there’s evidence of fraud, tampering or misconduct. Deery’s team argued in its expediated appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court that “the voters’ intent was unmistakable” on those six ballots.
“At no time during the recount hearing before the (Recount) Commission did Copenhaver assert, let alone prove the existence of fraud, tampering or misconduct that impacted the integrity of these six ballots,” Deery’s brief read.
“Her only contention before the Commission was that the clerk failed to perform a mandatory duty,” the brief read. “The plain and ordinary language of (Indiana Code) 3-12-1-12 supports to objective of the Indiana Election Code: to count the votes of qualified voters rather and disenfranchise them because of errors committed by election officials.”
Copenhaver’s arguments: Bill Bock, an Indianapolis-based attorney leading the case to maintain Copenhaver’s three-vote victory certified by the Indiana Recount Commission, disputed Deery’s claims. He argued in a brief to the Indiana Supreme Court, as he had successfully before the Recount Commission, that state election law set standards for absentee ballots for a reason, requiring a set of three specific marks to qualify as legitimate. That included two sets of initials from bipartisan poll workers, a county clerk’s signature and the clerk’s seal. Copenhaver’s side argued that Deery didn’t have evidence that “the absence of the clerk’s signature and seal resulted solely from election officer error.”
“Election integrity and the authenticity of absentee ballots are precisely why the Legislature requires three separate and independent markings by election officials on absentee ballots,” Copenhaver’s attorneys argued. “The clerk’s seal, signature and bipartisan initials are each distinct safeguards designed to verify that a ballot is official and has passed through the procedures prescribed by law. Accordingly, it cannot simply be assumed that absence of these markings was the fault of an election official. A ballot cannot be deemed authentic based on speculation alone.”
Copenhaver – backed by amicus brief from backers at Club for Growth, a conservative group that poured a reported $2 million into GOP primaries aiming to topple incumbents who didn’t back President Donald Trump’s redistricting plan – argued that Deery’s appeal came too late in the game and that the court should allow counties to get back to meeting “carefully calibrated” state deadlines for ballot prep and candidates get back to campaigning ahead of the November election.
Oral arguments: The Indiana Supreme Court will hear arguments in the appeal at 11:15 a.m. Thursday in the courtroom at the Indiana Statehouse.
How to watch: The Indiana Supreme Court will livestream the oral arguments here.
Once it’s settled: The eventual winner of the Republican nomination will face David Sanders, a Democratic member of the West Lafayette City Council, and independent candidate Joshua Brant for the District 23 seat in the Indiana Senate.
About Indiana Senate District 23: The district spreads from West Lafayette to Rockville, covering parts of Tippecanoe and Montgomery counties and all of Fountain, Warren, Vermillion and Parke counties.
How we got here …
THIS AND THAT/OTHER READS …
DATA CENTER REGULATIONS HEARING DELAYED A MONTH: A delay in publishing a legal advertisement will put an Area Plan Commission public hearing on proposed zoning codes for data centers on hold for a month, APC officials said Wednesday. The APC had been scheduled to consider proposed regulations – ones meant to make it as difficult as possible to plant a hyperscale data center in Tippecanoe County – on Sept. 16. That now will get pushed back to 6 p.m. Oct. 21. That meeting will be held at Lafayette City Hall, 20 N. Sixth St. (The usual meeting room at the County Office Building in downtown Lafayette will be taken that day by voting machines ahead of the Nov. 3 general election.) Here’s more on the proposed data center zoning codes and where they stood after a review by the APC Ordinance Committee last week:
TRO FOR TKR: In Trey Kaufman-Renn’s pursuit of another college basketball season after he was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves, Indianapolis Star reporter Nathan Baird had this out of a Clark County courtroom Wednesday: “A Clark County Circuit Court judge Wednesday granted Kaufman-Renn’s temporary restraining order against the NCAA. It allows him to join another college program while awaiting a hearing on a preliminary injunction to play in the coming 2026-27 season.” Here’s more, including why it won’t mean he’ll be back with the Boilermakers: “Kaufman-Renn says farewell, seeks college basketball home after winning TRO vs NCAA.”
Thanks, again, for support for this edition from Lafayette Urban Ministry, presenting the annual Hunger Hike Sept. 20. The walk starts at 1 p.m. Sept. 20 at Memorial Island at Lafayette’s Columbian Park. The Hunger Hike is a joint effort of Food Finders Food Bank, Lafayette Urban Ministry and St. Thomas Aquinas Haiti Ministry, bringing individuals, families, businesses, schools, and faith communities together to raise awareness and funds to address food insecurity both locally, regionally and globally. Sign up your team, support other hikers and start fundraising by going to www.hungerhike.org.
Thank you for supporting Based in Lafayette, an independent, local reporting project. Free and full-ride subscription options are ready for you here.
Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.
Trying to watch the arguments and the buffering on the court’s website is worse then a 90s AOL dial up connection.
Thanks, Dave.