The commission voted to remove governor hopeful Jim Wallace's name from the GOP primary ballot with a 3-1 vote. Wallace, who was challenging Mike Pence in the governor's race, did not have enough signatures in the seventh district to be considered eligible. The commission voted he obtained only 486 out of the required 500 signatures.
The commission also heard the challenges against presidential candidate Rick Santorum. Santorum was questioned on the number of signatures he obtained to be eligible for May’s primary. Many challengers claimed Santorum was eight signatures short in the 7th Congressional District, which is almost entirely Marion County. Candidates must collect signatures of 500 registered voters in each of the nine congressional districts in order to be placed on the ballot.
The Marion County Board of Voter Registration recounted the signatures and found Santorum did in fact have enough signatures to be on the May 8 ballot. The commission agreed Friday and the challenges against Santorum were denied with a vote of 4-0.
Later, the commission heard challenges against longtime Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar. Lugar’s opponent, Richard Mourdock, stated Lugar is using the address of an Indiana home he sold in 1977 as proof of his residency and should be ineligible for the ballot.
The commission voted 4-0 in favor of Sen. Lugar, stating the senator was eligible to run. Three challengers said the Indiana Constitution is wrong to use the term “inhabitant” instead of “resident.” They claim using “inhabitant” allows too much leeway for senators to not maintain residence in Indiana.
Lugar’s attorney cited a 200-year provision in the Indiana Constitution, saying as long as Lugar was a resident of Indiana when he was first elected, he satisfies the requirement.
