The Indiana Election Commission will not have to meet to hear campaign finance complaints before election day.
A judge denied a request from Independent candidate Greg Ballard asking that election spending objections be heard ahead of Nov. 3.
Several campaign finance complaints have been filed against Democrat Beau Bayh and Republican Max Engling. But Indiana’s Election Commission wasn’t scheduled to meet to hear them until late November.
Ballard sued to force the commission to meet, but a judge has denied that request.
In her decision, Judge Jennifer Harrison ruled that Ballard had not demonstrated a likelihood of success at trial and that granting his preliminary injunction could harm the integrity of the election process.
“The public’s interest in having confidence in the State’s election process is a matter of great importance,” Harrison wrote. “The public interest is disserved by the granting of an injunction to force a meeting of the Commission less than two weeks prior to Election Day, creating increased risk of confusion among voters.”
Harrison said Ballard had also failed to establish any real harm to him if the commission failed to meet before Election Day.
In court, Ballard’s attorney contended that because the finance complaints were against his opponents, it would harm his campaign if voters didn’t have an opportunity to hear them.
“The laws are intended to protect those in power,” Ballard said in a statement. “The law does not protect voters from blatant political maneuvering if the commission decides to act to protect political parties over people. We are exploring our legal options to compel the commission to perform its statutory duty to meet.”
The complaints centered on a $60,000 campaign donation to Engling that he said was quickly returned by his campaign. Other complaints include events Democrat Beau Bayh attended but did not disclose.
Republican David Shelton joined Ballard’s suit earlier this month. He has argued that even though the Engling campaign returned the donation, there still needs to be a hearing to take a look at the dark money donor, a U.S. Sen. Jim Banks-affiliated group, Hoosier Leadership for America.
“We are not alone,” Ballard’s statement said. “Both the Republican and Democratic candidates have said publicly that the commission should meet before Election Day on these issues.”
Election Day is Nov. 3.
Contact Government Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org
