The Starke County Election Board members took time last week to discuss the candidate challenge hearings held February 29.
The hearings were held to challenge the candidacy of filings by Republican Justin Risner for Starke County Commissioner District 1 and Republican Thomas DeCola for Starke County Council At-Large. They were both removed from the May primary election ballot with a unanimous vote of the board.
Communication from County Attorney Justin Schramm indicated that Lonnie Boley was not eligible to stand in as a proxy for Starke County Election Board member Jeff Houston, who was not able to attend the candidate hearing. Since Boley is a candidate for a county elected office, specifically for Starke County Commissioner District 1 on the Democratic ballot, he could not be appointed as proxy to serve on the Starke County Election Board.
Therefore, Boley’s vote during the candidate challenge hearing did not count. However, since the decision of the board was a two-thirds vote in agreement, the overall decision stands, according to Schramm. Clerk Bernadette Manuel stated that the Indiana Election Division has confirmed this decision is correct. She also stated that Boley will not be compensated for his time served for the hearing.
Jeff Houston stated during last week’s meeting that he checked to be sure Boley could be a proxy and he was told it would be permissible since he was not an elected official, but Indiana Code states that a candidate for an elected office cannot stand as a proxy on the Election Board.
Larry Jernas was also a proxy for the candidate challenge hearing for Starke County Election Board member Marcia Bedrock and while he is on the Republican ballot for Starke County Precinct Committeeman Manuel stated his candidacy is a party position and not a county elected position so his proxy vote stood as declared.
In other business, the board went through the ballots to ensure the proper spelling of all names on the county level and the first round of mail-in absentee ballots were sent out late last week.
