Published: July 07, 2008 09:54 pm      

Secretary of State's office says filing for Moore invalid

Judge candidate requesting ruling from Election Commission

Newly appointed Clark County Circuit Court Judge Abe Navarro will run unopposed this fall, unless the Indiana Election Commission rules that an Indiana Secretary of State Election Office’s decision regarding the nomination of Democratic Party candidate Dan Moore was incorrect.

The election office threw out the county Democratic Party’s request to nominate attorney Dan Moore because county Democratic Party Chairman Rod Pate filed caucus paperwork late, or not at all, according to Dale Simmons, the co-general counsel for the election division office.

“If it is an incomplete filing, or untimely filing, (department co-chair Brad King) would not certify the candidate,” Simmons said. “An untimely filing is no filing.”

And without a notice of caucus, the department cannot accept the filing, he said.

The department failed to receive a notice of caucus, which is required to be submitted by the party chair 10 days before the caucus is held.

The notice of caucus “serves notice to the state and the community that a caucus is taking place; it prevents backdoor caucusing,” said Matt Tusing, Secretary of State Todd Rokita’s chief of staff. “This is a public notice issue and a fairness issue.”

Pate submitted the caucus results — Moore’s nomination to run for the judge’s seat — and Moore’s notice that he would be running for the seat in the caucus July 3, and at the hands of county Republican Party Chairman David Buskill, Tusing said. The office never received a notice of caucus from Pate, and Moore’s notice was required 72 hours prior to the caucus, not following it, Tusing said.

Pate was unable to be reached by press time.

Moore is filing paperwork today to request a ruling from the Election Commission as to whether he will be eligible to run this fall for Circuit Court Judge. Moore said he thinks the election division staff made a mistake in interpreting Indiana election codes.

Moore said he is challenging not only the election division’s denial of Pate’s nomination of him, but also the nomination of Navarro by Buskill.

“I think both chairmen did the same thing. There’s an issue as to whether (the county Republican Party) met their own deadlines,” he said. “These errors by both chairmen appear to be human errors. (Pate’s) flaws seem to be when and where to file paperwork.

“The mistake here is not the paperwork flow, but disenfranchising voters,” he said. “It’s a fairness issue of whether the voters get a choice.”

Moore said that statutes listed on the paperwork are incorrect. He said he will await the Election Commission’s decision as to whether he can run in the general election this fall.

Navarro was named in May by Gov. Mitch Daniels to replace retiring Judge Daniel F. Donahue on the Circuit Court bench.



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So you know

• County political parties can nominate a candidate in two ways: holding a caucus or electing to allow the party chairman to choose. In the Clark County Republican Party’s case for choosing a Circuit Court Judge candidate, the party committee elected to allow Party Chairman David Buskill to choose a nominee — Abe Navarro. In the county Democratic Party’s case, the party chose to hold a caucus. If a party chooses to hold a caucus, a notice must be sent to the Secretary of State’s office 10 days prior to the caucus. Any person choosing to run for the seat must notify the Secretary of State’s office 72 hours in advance of the caucus. Upon choosing a nominee, the party must have notified the Secretary of State’s office of that choice by July 3 for the November general election.