With fewer competitive races, voters are less motivated to cast a primary ballot, which leaves fewer candidates eligible to run in the next election.
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Court of Appeals heard a case last Wednesday that challenges political parties’ right to restrict ballot access.
Under a recent change in state law, county party chairmen have increased power to decide who may appear on their party’s primary ballot. As a candidate for state representative, Amy Rainey was denied a place in the May 2022 Republican primary. She appealed to a trial court in Indianapolis and then to the Court of Appeals, which heard the case last week.
During the 2022 primaries, multiple states faced ballot access disputes. In Michigan, five of the ten Republicans running for governor were denied a place on the ballot due to allegedly fraudulent signatures on their nominating petitions.
The Alabama GOP removed four candidates from its primary ballot for previous involvement in other political parties. In Indiana, a law passed a year ago restricted ballot access for candidates who hadn’t voted in two Indiana primaries.
To appear on the primary ballot in Indiana, candidates must claim affiliation with the Democratic or Republican party. Under the new law, a candidate can claim party affiliation if the two most recent Indiana primaries in which the candidate voted were for that party. Before 2022, only a candidate’s most recent primary vote mattered. Now candidates not qualified under the two-primary rule must have their membership
