Petitions & Candidate Filing General Rules & Guidelines

Who’s on the Ballot? Federal – President/Vice President – US Senate – US House State – Governor – Lieutenant Governor – Attorney General – Superintendent of Public Instruction – Indiana Senate (25 seats) – Indiana House Judicial Officers County Officials – Vary from each county State Convention Delegate Republican Precinct Committeeman 2

Two Types of Candidate Filing Petition Submission – President – Governor – U.S. Senator – School Board – Minor party and independent candidates “Direct” filing – No petition process 3

Petition Process Depending on the office sought, “there’s a form for that!” – President (CAN-8) – Governor (CAN-25) – U.S. Senator (CAN-4) – School Board (CAN-34) Files summer of 2016 – Minor party & Independent candidates (CAN-19 & 20) Files summer of

General Petition Rules Collect signatures from REGISTERED voters of the election district – Voter’s residence address MUST match the residence address in the VR record Petition carrier can be anyone – Affidavit must be signed by the carrier before submission to Voter Registration 5

Petition Signature Counts President/U.S. Senate/Governor – 500 VALID signatures in each of the NINE Congressional districts School Board – 10 VALID signatures of registered voters in the election districts Minor Party & Independent Candidates – 2% of votes cast in 2014 SOS Election for election district See page 101 of Candidate Guide for counts 6

Deadlines Petition Submission Deadlines for VERIFICATION by Voter Registration officials – Presidential Candidates January 6, 2016 through NOON (local prevailing time) January 26, 2016 – U.S. Senator/Governor Candidates January 6, 2016 through NOON (local prevailing time) February 2, 2016 – School Board & Minor Party/Independent Candidates Summer 2016 (discussion at future Clerk’s conference) 7

Quick SVRS Overview HAVA Administrator sets up petition offices for primary election – All candidates using petition process for May election are either federal or state – County may need to set up “petition office” for minor/independent party and/or school board candidates in summer 2016 Quest Training Sessions for attaching petitions to a candidate in SVRS were held December 8 and 9. Couldn’t attend? Look for web training on county portal or reach out to Kelly Sprague 8

Quick SVRS Overview Add to a Master Petition – Main Menu > Election > Petition > Master Petition – Select petition type from drop down menu – Click on candidate name – On new screen, press ‘Add petition’ – Insert Date Filed & click save – Your county will now appear as an option to enter petition signatures 9

Quick SVRS Overview Petition Signature Entry – Main Menu > Election > Petition > Petition – Select Petition Type (CAN 4, CAN 25, etc) – Click candidate name – Click View Signatures – Click Add Signatures – Search for voter name Click ACPT (accept) to attach name to petition Click RES (research) to investigate further Don’t forget to mark whether or not a signature was counted on the front of the paper petition! Critical information for a reviewing body should there be a candidate challenge. 10

Finalizing VR Review Once petition is reviewed, VR officials: – Complete back of petition form – Note number of signatures – Certify results to candidates Certified forms – Candidate can collect them from VR office OR – VR can mail to the Indiana Election Division No statutory deadline to finish verification process; however, any critical delay could lead to court action by a candidate or party. 11

FAQs Can anyone sign a petition? – Yes, but only properly registered Indiana voters living in the election district count toward the total What if they update their registration at the same time they sign the petition? – What matters is the residence address on file with Voter Registration Registration updated BEFORE petitions are filed, then it’s OK Registration updated AFTER petitions are filed, then signature is rejected 12

FAQs Do all the signatures on a petition have to come from the same county? – No, not legally speaking. All ten signatures could come from voters living in different counties. – Practically speaking, this is a headache for candidates AND counties Candidates would hope county A finished their work before the deadline in order to submit the remainder to county B on time for verification and so on 13

FAQs Does there need to be one signature in each of Indiana’s 92 counties? – Nope. A minimum of 500 valid signatures must be collected in each Congressional District, regardless if one or ten counties within the CD is represented. Do signatures have to be original? – YES! Absolutely no copies, s or faxes. 14

FAQs Can a voter with a disability be provided assistance in completing the petition? – Yes. Person providing assistance must complete the affidavit on the back side of the petition. 15

FAQs Who can circulate petitions? – Anyone can be a petition carrier; however, ALL petition carriers MUST complete the affidavit on the bottom of the form (petition side). 16

FAQs What about… – Stapled pages? All up to the county officials to accept (or not) Common sense should prevail, however – Stapled front to back pages understandably affect work flow but also not a technical defect 17

FAQs What about… – Missing certification sheets (i.e. back side)? All up to the county officials to accept (or not) Common sense should prevail, however – Counties can make additional certification sheet copies to attach to the petition » Some counties also require the back and instead, creating a cover sheet (memo) certifying the total number of petition signatures to a candidate » If counties create their own certification form, it’s still a requirement to note whether or not each individual signature counted (or not) 18

Candidate Filing NOON, Friday, February 5, 2016 Deadline for all major party candidates to file – Declaration of Candidacy » Certain candidates almost must file petitions – Statement of Economic Interest » Legislative, Judicial candidates must file a copy or a receipt of statement of economic interest » Local candidates must file CAN-12 19

Candidate Filing Federal Candidates – Paperwork is filed with the SOS or IED President: declaration (CAN-7); petitions (CAN-8) U.S. Senator: declaration (CAN-2); petitions (CAN-4) – Candidates for U.S. House files CAN-2 only 20

Candidate Filing Statewide candidates – Paperwork is filed with SOS or IED Copy/ Receipt of Statement of Economic Interest – Handled by Office of Inspector General Declaration of Candidacy (CAN-2) – Candidates for Governor must also file petitions (CAN-25) 21

Candidate Filing State Legislative candidates – Paperwork is filed with SOS or IED Copy/ Receipt of Statement of Economic Interest – Handled by Principal Clerk of House (House candidates) – Handled by Principal Secretary of the Senate (Senate candidates) Declaration of Candidacy (CAN-2) Remember, campaign finance committees for STATE LEGISLATIVE candidates are filed with the Indiana Election Division. It’s OK for them to file a courtesy copy with the county, however. 22

Candidate Filing Judicial candidates – Paperwork is filed with the SOS or IED Copy/Receipt of Statement of Economic Interest – Handled by State Court Administration Declaration of Candidacy – Filed with Indiana Election Division or SOS Remember, campaign finance committees for JUDICIAL candidates are filed with the county election board. 23

Candidate Filing County & Local Candidates – Paperwork is filed with County Clerk Statement of Economic Interest (CAN-12) – Dated for 2015! Declaration of Candidacy (CAN-2) Clerks MUST reject a declaration of candidacy if statement of economic interest is NOT filed at the same time (or before) 24

Candidate Filing Precinct Committeeman & State Convention Delegate (CAN-37) – Can run for both offices in the primary MUST file separate forms for each office sought – Reminder: Delegate Districts (if using) are apportioned by the county chairs » Parties file state convention delegate paperwork by NOON, December 31, 2015 A statement of economic interest does NOT need to be filed to run for these offices; No need to open or file campaign finance reports, either. 25

After Filing Provide a receipt to filer – Can be a copy of the file-stamped declaration of candidacy at the time of filing OR – Use CAN-5 form Must be hand-delivered, ed or mailed to candidate no later than one day after filing IC

After Filing Post publicly a list of candidates after filing deadline Publish legal notice of election – Notice for May election (CAN-9) requires candidate name, address, party and position sought Notice for November election (CAN-39) only requires the offices on the ballot to be listed – No candidate name, address required on CAN-39 IC