INDIANAPOLIS — The GOP primary race for the 23rd District in the Indiana Senate is heading to the state Supreme Court with very tight deadlines for filing written arguments.
Incumbent Spencer Deery filed Monday requesting a stay of the Indiana Recount Commission’s Aug. 10 decisions that removed six absentee ballots for Deery, swinging his three-vote victory to a three-vote defeat. This made challenger Paula Copenhaver the winner.
On Tuesday, a docket entry indicated that the Supreme Court accepted the case. The docket also indicates that any briefs from Copenhaver or the recount commission against Deery’s appeal must be filed by Friday, and counter briefs from Deery are due Monday.
The court members will rule based on the merits of the written briefs, according to the published order.
With rapidly approaching deadlines to print ballots and prepare for the Nov. 3 election, Deery asked in his petition to the Supreme Court that the case be expedited.
This is the latest — and possibly the final — saga in a race that started in December when Deery voted against redistricting Indiana’s congressional districts. Deery’s no vote — along with the no votes of six other GOP senators — prompted President Donald Trump’s political machine to target the seven state senators with primary challengers. Five incumbents lost to the Trump-backed candidates; one incumbent won his race. Deery and Copenhaver’s race remains in the balance.
At the end of the night on May 5, Deery was ahead by three votes, according to tallies from Tippecanoe, Montgomery, Fountain, Warren, Parke and Vermillion counties.
The vote totals ebbed slightly in the week after the elections as county election boards met to certify their election results. But at the end of that process, Deery still led by three votes.
Copenhaver filed a recount in May after the election results were certified. This touched off the legal and political wrangling over votes and whether some votes should not be counted.
For example, Copenhaver argued that Democrats crossed over and voted in the GOP primary to block her, then boasted about their crossover on social media or to a news reporter. Those votes, Copenhaver argued, should not be counted.
In the end, the recount commission did not subpoena any voters accused of crossing over, and their votes for whichever candidate remained on the books.
Deery’s filing for appeal and a stay of the commission’s ruling puts county clerks up against a hard deadline. Clerks must have an estimate of how many absentee ballots they need by Sept. 4 and must have the ballots to the printer by Sept. 14.
Early voting begins Oct. 6, and Election Day is Nov. 3.
The last day to register to vote in the election is Oct. 5.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Indiana Supreme Court accepts appeal of recount commission decision
Reporting by Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier | USA TODAY Network
