INDIANAPOLIS — All of those political posts on social media might have caught up with 14 voters who bragged about crossing over from Democratic Party to vote in the Republican primary in the race for the Indiana Senate 23rd District.
Paula Copenhaver argues in her petition for a recount that 14 people voted illegally by casting ballots in the Republican primary. These 14 admitted publicly on social media or to a news reporter to ordinarily being Democratic voters yet voted in the Republican primary for Copenhaver’s GOP rival, Spencer Deery.
“Candidates have a right to request a recount of election results,” Deery said. “That is not a license to intimidate voters or to rewrite election laws after the results are in, or to ignore basic facts.”
Indiana typically is considered an open primary state, which means voters may cast primary ballots for whichever party they choose. But Copenhaver’s petition to recount cites Indiana law that states: “(A) voter may only validly vote in a primary election of a political party: If the voter at the last general election voted for a majority of regular nominees of the political party holding the primary. If the voter did not vote in the last general election but intends to vote at the next general election for a majority of the regular nominees of the political party holding the primary election.”
Ordinarily, no one can prove for whom a person voted in past elections or for whom they plan to vote in the upcoming general election. But Copenhaver’s recount petition argues that these specific 14 ballots are invalid under Indiana law, and she requests subpoenas to take depositions of them.
“Such admissions are not anonymous rumor or third-party conjecture; they are evidence from the voters’ own mouths, some corroborated by the Indiana Voter Portal showing the voter unlawfully requesting a Republican absentee ballot,” Copenhaver states in her filing. “That evidence is sufficient to remove the presumption that these ballots were lawfully cast and permit the commission to compel testimony directed to whether those votes were illegally cast.”
“The challenged voters’ records undermine the petition’s central theory,” Deery said in a statement Tuesday. “Included in the subpoena list are voters who were not even voters in this primary, who have a history of voting Republican, and who are being targeted over their social media posts.
“We don’t do that in America,” Deery wrote. “We respect the results of elections and the voters who decide them.”
Copenhaver lost the primary to Deery by three votes, and she filed Monday for a recount. She paid $1,050 to the Indiana Election Division to pay for the recount.
“As this process unfolds, the facts will become clear: Three of the challenged voters did not reside or vote in Senate District 23; 11 of the challenged voters previously pulled Republican primary ballots; seven pulled a Republican ballot in the last even-year primary before 2026; several alternated between Republican and Democratic ballots over decades of voting,” Deery said. “The public deserves facts, not assumptions or accusations designed to undermine confidence in lawful votes.”
Deery’s fallout with President Donald Trump-supporting Republicans started in December when he voted against redrawing Indiana’s congressional districts to favor Republicans. That vote also spawned candidate Copenhaver to challenge Deery with Trump’s backing.
The petition also asks that all of the material and ballots pertaining to the election be impounded. It also asks for all the voter information for the 14 who are identified in the petition only by letters.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Copenhaver argues crossover voters illegally voted for Deery in 23rd District
Reporting by Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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