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Murray, Snyder still on ballot for city council
The outcome of the meeting all but a foregone conclusion, the Putnam County Election Board met nonetheless Wednesday evening.
At issue was whether two Democratic city council candidates — Dave Murray and Steven Snyder — would remain on the ballot for the November municipal election.
In the end, the board voted unanimously to retain Murray and Snyder, the same decision they reached regarding Republican Cody Eckert one week earlier.
The challenge to Murray (an at-large candidate seeking his second term) and Snyder (Fourth Ward candidate seeking his first term) hinged on the proper associated paperwork not being attached when Democrat County Chairman Kim Fidler appointed them to open ballot slots in early June.
Republican County Chairman Beau Baird briefly presented the case on Wednesday, saying that the needed paperwork — a letter giving Fidler authority to appoint candidates — was not attached to the certificate of candidacy filed in the Putnam County Voter Registration Office.
It should be noted that Fidler has the letter on file with Voter Registration Clerk Stacia Hathaway, but the law requires the letter be attached to each certificate of candidacy.
“With that said, it’s not my intention to limit ballot access based on a clerical error,” Baird said. “I encourage and understand that the board will reach the same conclusion they did last week with Mr. Eckert.”
In Eckert’s case, the challenge was made on two fronts. One was a question of whether he had established Greencastle residency early enough to seek office in Greencastle. In that case, the board ruled 2-0 that Eckert could remain on the ballot, with County Clerk Heather Gilbert and Republican appointee Jack Sutton voting in favor. Democrat appointee June Wolfe abstained, believing evidence was insufficient.
The more relevant challenge to this week, though, was when the board ruled 3-0 that Eckert could remain on the ballot even though Baird had not filed minutes of the meeting in which Eckert was chosen by the July 3 deadline. Although the local GOP has a different form of nomination for such vacancies than do the Democrats, the question was essentially the same.
While Baird said he wanted neither Murray’s nor Snyder’s candidacy tossed out, he felt he needed to challenge them should the Democrats appeal the Eckert decision to a trial court.
“I had to file this in case there were further legal challenges to Mr. Eckert’s candidacy,” Baird said.
“Ultimately, we want the voters of Greencastle to have a choice.”
In her defense, Fidler said she did not intend to go to trial court and thanked Gilbert and Hathaway for their help in such matters.
“I hate that it’s deemed a clerical error because that ultimately reflects on you and you do such a good job and are so helpful,” Fidler said.
“I hope that the board votes in the same manner (as last week) as well,” Fidler said.
In the end, the only real discussion was of the origin of the rather arcane law and how it came to be.
Gilbert said the requirement of attached paperwork had been law since 2015, but it had not come to light for authorities until the challenge to Eckert was filed.
Even state election officials wish the requirement was not there.
“The Election Division also agrees that it doesn’t need to be there,” Gilbert said. However, the Indiana General Assembly has yet to take action to change the law.
Wolfe made the motion that both men be retained on the ballot, which Sutton quickly seconded. The motion passed 3-0 without further discussion.
With both challenges put to rest, the November ballot looks the same as it was projected earlier this summer:
Mayor -- William A. Dory Jr.* (D)
Clerk-Treasurer -- Lynda R. Dunbar* (R)
Council at-large (vote for 3) -- Mark N. Hammer* (R), Harry Maginity (R), Tyler J. Wade (R), Matt Cummings (D), Gary D. Lemon* (D), Dave Murray* (D)
Council Ward 1 -- Adam Cohen* (D)
Council Ward 2 -- Stacie Langdon* (R)
Council Ward 3 -- Haywood Ware, (R) Veronica Pejril (D)
Council Ward 4 -- Cody Eckert (R), Steve Snyder (D)
*--Incumbent