A Marion County judge has rejected independent secretary of state candidate Greg Ballard's request to require Indiana's Election Commission to meet before the Nov. 3 election to consider four campaign finance complaints involving his rivals.
Judge Jennifer Prinz Harrison ruled Ballard had not shown he would be directly harmed if the commission waited until after the election. She described his claim of harm as hypothetical and said forcing a meeting less than two weeks before Election Day could confuse voters.
The commission's next meeting is scheduled for Nov. 20. Its four members are split evenly between Democrats and Republicans, and its chair, Republican Beth Boyce, has discretion to call meetings.
Ballard, running under the Lincoln Party banner, sued in mid-October. The complaints are allegations and no findings have been made. Two involve Republican Max Engling, including a $60,000 contribution from a nonprofit affiliated with U.S. Sen. Jim Banks that Engling's campaign says it refunded, and questions about an event the night before the Republican convention. Two involve Democrat Beau Bayh and whether public events he attended should have been reported as in-kind contributions.
State attorneys argued the commission must first determine whether it believes a violation may have occurred, and that Ballard had not established standing to compel a meeting. Ballard said after the ruling that he is exploring other legal options.
