The Monroe County Election Board rejected Independent mayoral candidate Joe Davis's request to re-evaluate more than 200 disqualified signatures he had collected to appear on the November ballot during a meeting Thursday. The board members voted unanimously to reject the challenge.
While Davis said he collected 600 signatures, he collected 14 signatures less than the 352 required by state law to appear on the ballot. Around 200 of the collected signatures were disqualified. According to B Square Bulletin, many of these signatures were likely disqualified because they were signed by residents whose voter registration was still pending.
[Related: Meet the candidates running for Mayor of Bloomington]
According to the Indiana Election Division, a pending voter is an individual who recently registered to vote or updated their registration and must wait seven days for their registration to be approved.
Davis said during the meeting Thursday rejecting the signatures disenfranchises voters in Bloomington, specifically those who listed their addresses at the Shalom Community Center, a day shelter and resource center in Bloomington.
To collect signatures for his petition to appear on the ballot, Davis said he helped residents, including Bloomington resident Rebecca Haviland, fill out voter registration applications. Haviland, speaking in support of Davis, appeared in front of the board Thursday and said the independent candidate helped her register to vote.
[Related: Kerry Thomson selected as Democratic nominee for Bloomington mayor Tuesday]
During Thursday’s meeting Monroe County Clerk and Election Board Member Nicole Browne said there was no procedure outlined in Indiana law to allow the board to re-evaluate the registration status of the disqualified signatures.
Davis told the board he plans to file a lawsuit to appear on the ballot. He said he had reached out to the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana to assist him with the challenge.
Currently, Democratic nominee Kerry Thomson will be the only person to appear on the November mayoral ballot.
