Election Board to hear challenges Wednesday

Dave Murray and Steve Snyder

For the second straight week, the Putnam County Election Board will meet Wednesday to review the eligibility of candidates appointed to the Greencastle municipal ballot.

Just like last week, the board is expected to deny the challenge, keeping the ballot unchanged.

The 6 p.m. meeting will take place in the Commissioners Room at the Putnam County Courthouse.

At issue is the eligibility of two Democratic candidates — Fourth Ward candidate Steve Snyder and at-large incumbent Dave Murray.

The GOP filed the challenges because some of the required associated paperwork was not filed when the two men were appointed to the vacant ballot positions by Democratic County Chairman Kim Fidler following the May primary.

Last week, the Election Board ruled in favor of Republican Fourth Ward candidate Cody Eckert when Fidler challenged his candidacy based on both residency questions and a similar issue with supporting documents.

In that case, the issue was deemed a “clerical error” and the three-member Election Board ruled in Eckert’s favor.

In filing the challenged to Murray and Snyder, GOP officials said they expect the same result in the Democrats’ favor from the Election Board this time around.

However, the challenges were filed due to the possibility of future legal challenges. Should the Putnam County Democrat Party choose to appeal the Eckert ruling to a trial court, the Republicans say they want the ability to do the same.

Neither Fidler nor any Democrat official has publicly expressed a desire to appeal.