INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Attorney General’s Office has asked the Indiana Supreme Court to directly hear the state Recount Commission’s appeal regarding a statewide candidate’s ballot eligibility, due to the importance of the case.
The Marion County Circuit Court on December 22 had reversed the Recount Commission’s ruling on a Secretary of State candidate’s 2010 ballot eligibility, but stayed that ruling pending appeal by the commission and other litigants. The Attorney General’s Office, which represents the Recount Commission, filed a motion Monday seeking transfer directly to the Indiana Supreme Court, the state’s highest court.
“It is in the public’s interest that this lingering question of whether a statewide candidate was eligible for the ballot be decided with certainty and finality. In this rare circumstance, my office has asked the Indiana Supreme Court to take this case directly. In our role defending the legal authority of state administrative boards, we will vigorously contend the Recount Commission’s unanimous decision was correct and ought not to have been reversed,†Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller said.
The commission made a unanimous finding concerning candidate Charlie White’s eligibility for the 2010 ballot as a candidate for Secretary of State, but the trial court reversed that decision, prompting the appeal. In the ongoing litigation, the Attorney General’s Office represents the Indiana Recount Commission only and does not represent candidate White. The commission’s verified motion to transfer jurisdiction of appeal before consideration by the Indiana Court of Appeals was filed Monday in the Indiana Supreme Court, and an appeal brief will be filed at a later date. The Supreme Court has not yet decided whether to take the case.
