Before the filing deadline, I talked to the Indiana Secretary of State’s office, and they indicated that there were no indications that any of the major-party candidates having trouble qualifying for the primary ballot. That assessment was anecdotal and was before all of the campaigns turned in their signatures. At the end of the week, the state Election Commission will sort out the challenges:
The Indiana Secretary of State has announced that forty-eight challenges in opposition to candidates seeking ballot placement for the May 2012 Primary Election have been logged with the Indiana Election Division. Challenged presidential primary candidates include Democrat President Barack Obama and Republicans Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. Other candidates challenged include incumbent U.S. Senate candidate Richard Lugar (R), and Republican gubernatorial candidates Mike Pence and Jim Wallace. Two lesser known candidates for president, Patricia Inez Sandifer (R), Lafayette, Indiana, and Mark Callahan (R), Eugene, Oregon, have also been challenged.
The bipartisan Indiana Election Commission will consider and likely rule on the challenges when it convenes this Friday, February 24, 2012 at 9:00 a.m. (EST) in State House Room 404. The proceedings will be webcast live and may be viewed at the following web page: http://www.in.gov/legislative/2441.htm. The four-member Indiana Election Commission consists of two Democrats and two Republicans appointed by the governor upon recommendation of the state chairman of each political party.
Before you get your hopes up about Obama, apparently the challenge to his petitions revolves around “longstanding questions about Obama’s U.S. citizenship.”