The Indiana Supreme Court will hear arguments Sept. 10 in state Sen. Spencer Deery’s appeal of Indiana Recount Commission decisions that discarded enough votes in the Senate District 23 Republican primary to swing a three-vote victory into a three-vote loss to challenger Paula Copenhaver.
The Supreme Court granted an emergency transfer for the case Monday afternoon, a week after Deery, a West Lafayette Republican, asked the state’s high court to hear his appeal.
“It’s obviously good news, and it shows that the concerns we’re raising touch on some essential questions about our right to vote,” Deery said Monday afternoon. “I’m grateful that the Court is taking this seriously and giving it the time this issue deserves.”
Copenhaver’s attorney, Bill Bock, didn’t immediately respond after the Supreme Court’s order was posted.
The oral arguments will be 11:15 a.m. Sept. 10, according to a filing Monday afternoon.
In an order signed by Chief Justice Loretta Rush, the court also laid out a schedule for briefs from Deery’s and Copenhaver’s attorneys ahead of that date.
For more background, the following was an edition posted early Monday afternoon.
DEERY: APPEAL’S TIMELY, URGES SUPREME COURT TO HEAR OVERTURNED SENATE DIST. 23 RESULTS
With the final salvo in state Sen. Spencer Deery’s appeal of his overturned victory in the Senate District 23 Republican primary filed Monday morning, the wait started to see whether the Indiana Supreme Court would accept the case and have a say on whether Deery or challenger Paula Copenhaver belong on the November general election ballot.
Deery’s attorneys filed a reply Monday that pushed back on Copenhaver’s contention – filed with the state’s high court Friday – that the state senator’s appeal comes too late in the process, given state-mandated deadlines to certify ballots after the May 5 primary.
Deery’s attorneys argued Monday that Copenhaver’s attempt to sidestep essential questions raised in an appeal of Aug. 10 Indiana Recount Commission decisions – should voter intent on six ballots cast for Deery be wiped out by clerical errors by election staff in three of the district’s six counties? – by raising deadline issues shouldn’t hold up.
They argued in Monday’s filing that the appeal amounts to an emergency that warrants an Indiana Supreme Court review into whether the Indiana Recount Commission made errors that could send the incorrect Republican nominee to the November ballot.
“Indiana has a history of commitment to free and fair elections, of making sure every vote is counted and ensuring that voters are heard,” Deery’s attorneys argued in Monday’s filing. “Voting is the bedrock upon which our country has been built. There are few substantial legal questions of greater public interest than those involving the fundamental right to vote and having that vote counted. Moreover, because of looming election deadlines, an emergency exists requiring speedy determination.”
