Chris Sikich, writing for the Noblesville Ledger, has an article on a name found missing from a ballot in Hamilton County. While voting absentee, Robert Threlkeld, a Democratic candidate for the Hamilton County Council realized his name wasn’t on the ballot.
The error was apparently caused by Elections Administrator Kathy Richardson who accidentally deleted Threlkeld while fixing a prior mistake where Republican Commissioner candidate, Christine Altman had been discovered missing on the ballot.
O.k., this is unfortunate, but mistakes happen. The article reveals something that does seem like a real problem, however. Elections Administrator Kathy Richardson is also State Representative Kathy Richardson. Jan Ellis, Democratic representative to the election board brought this up in the article:
Ellis, in a phone interview Tuesday, charged that Richardson does not have time to administer elections because she is a Republican representative to the Indiana General Assembly. Ellis also said having a candidate run the election is an unethical situation, although she believes Richardson is ethical.
Ellis said she has not brought that allegation directly to the election board in the past, and did not plan to do so Tuesday. She said she might in the future.
“I think it’s very troublesome conflict of interest to be running for office and to be running the election for which you are running for office,” Ellis said. “I’m surprised that she doesn’t feel the need to resign as election administrator while she is serving as a legislator.”
I’d say she probably has a point. Not so much about the time or ability of Richardson to administer the election. But, at least at first glance, there is at least an appearance of impropriety in administering your own election.
Wow. So what kind of relief can Threlkeld get in this situation? What happens next? Btw – I also agree that being in charge of an election that you’re running in doesn’t sound too ethical. Isn’t that illegal in Indiana?
Looks like his name is being put on a new ballot and the new ballot is being sent out to absentees.
There are many problems here. The original HC ballots also left off an unopposed Republican.
The whole timeline for inspection of the ballots needs to be moved up. The ballot is finalized in July. The things ought to be printed in August and proof-read then.
The problem of elected officials who are also candidates on the ballots they oversee is widespread, and affects both Rs & Ds. Kathy Richardson is scarcely the only elections administrator also on the ballot. The Secretary of State is, too. Every time a county clerk is on the ballot, the potential is there for shenanigans.
The solution is to remove all election functions from electoral politics. Appointments do leave open the possibility of unaccountability, but at least it reduces the possibility, or even appearance, of an inside track towards rigging the vote.
-Mike Kole
Libertarian candidate for Secretary of State
With the Republicans said to lose seats in this mid-term election, this is very crucial. It seems like a minor problem and mistake on State Representative Kathy Richardson’s part. This is a serious matter and leaving a candidate’s name off the ballot is very dangerous to the election process. There is a direct conflict of interest by having a state representative administer elections. There are so many things that could happen that go unnoticed.
More of these situations need to be brought to light because with obvious prolems in our election process, these mistakes could help us fix a statewide problem.