Democrats won’t seek a costly recount or contest to election in HD 25 despite widespread issues

The Indiana Democratic Party announced today that county parties will not file a recount or contest to the election results in House District 25, which concluded in a very narrow victory for incumbent Becky Cash over Tiffany Stoner. 

“Our intent since polls closed on Election Day was to investigate systemic and widespread issues with the administration of early, vote-by-mail, and Election Day voting in Hendricks County. They were not alone in having challenges with getting people to staff the polls, but they stand very much alone in some of the egregious errors committed,” said Indiana Democratic Party Chair Mike Schmuhl. “Our candidate, Tiffany Stoner, ran a fantastic campaign that was centered on the good people in Boone and Hendricks counties. While we will not seek a recount in this election, we do believe the public deserves more transparency so we ensure that every vote is counted accurately and every Hoosier’s voice is heard in every election.”

Errors that were uncovered over the last couple of weeks include:

• Approximately 280 absentee mail-in ballots were rejected across Hendricks County. The clerk’s office never gave a definitive and accurate number despite several requests.
• An unknown number of absentee ballots were sent to voters without the required security initials from the clerk’s office. After the error was discovered, the clerk knowingly chose not to inform voters that their ballots would be rejected due to the office’s mistake. Consequently, any completed and returned ballots were not counted, and the affected voters remain unaware of this issue. 
• Voting machines were left unattended at polling locations overnight, raising concerns about their security. One machine was powered off and its votes were not even tallied until the following day, while another was found to be broken and went unused. 
• The county clerk’s office rejected dozens of absentee ballots, citing signature mismatches. However, signatures can vary due to changes in style, age, illness, or disability. Notices were sent via the postal service to affected voters on November 7th, requiring them to submit a signed affidavit by 12 noon on November 13th. This left voters with very little time to address the issue and resolve the rejection.
• The county election board rejected a military ballot, claiming the signature did not match the one on file. This decision denied an active-duty service member, currently defending our freedoms, their vote. Moreover, they were not provided the legally required notice or opportunity to correct the issue.
• Mistakes occurred in voter registration and the transfer of registrations between government agencies. For instance, the BMV failed to include a voter’s signature in one case. In other instances, voters who registered through the Secretary of State’s portal discovered their registrations were never processed. One voter with an Indianapolis address, but residing in Hendricks County was forced to vote provisionally after their registration was erroneously sent to Marion County.
• Inspectors weren’t present at any early voting site. This is required by statute on election day and most counties employ these same secure practices in early voting.  One description we received from a poll-worker said, “everyone and no one was in charge.” We even discovered an instance where a librarian gave the keys to the room where voting machines were secured to a poll worker without confirming their identification.

“Let us be very clear: these errors in the administration of the election disenfranchised voters. The Republican Party in Indiana is constantly talking about election integrity, but stands by while dozens of voters in the suburbs of Indianapolis aren’t able to vote. In addition, Hendricks County voters consistently faced 3+ hour wait times,” said Schmuhl.

“Many of these errors could be addressed by having the Hendricks County Clerk simply follow already prescribed procedures. However, some of these procedures need to be addressed by the Indiana legislature in the next legislative session. The early vote in Indiana is not protected by the same procedures as Election Day voting, and in House District 25, where almost 66% of the total in person votes were cast early, we believe those votes are entitled to the same protections as Election Day votes. We call on our state and legislative leaders to address these issues promptly.”