The bi-partisan Indiana Election Commission voted Tuesday to remove a David Nicholson, a Democrat running for Indiana Senate District 36, after he filed the wrong economic interest disclosure form.
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A Democratic candidate running for a southside Indiana Senate seat has been removed from the ballot.
David Nicholson, an Indianapolis man running for Indiana Senate District 32, was removed from the ballot following a unanimous 4-0 vote by the bi-partisan Indiana Election Commission Tuesday. Senate District 32 covers all of Franklin Township and areas of Center, Perry and Warren townships in Marion County, along with all of Clark and a majority of Pleasant Township in Johnson County.
With Nicholson’s removal, only one person is running in the seat’s Democratic primary: Katrina Owens.
Nicholson’s candidacy had been challenged because he accidentally filled out an economic interest disclosure form for the Indiana House of Representatives, and not for the Senate. Indiana statute says candidates must file proper paperwork for a state seat, and Myrna Martin, who filed the challenge against Nicholson, expressed concern that someone who wanted to “uphold public policy” couldn’t have taken the time to file corrected paperwork, she said.
A chain of events led to Nicholson filing incorrect paperwork, he told the commission. When he filed for office with the Indiana Secretary of State on Feb. 8, a staffer directed him to the House Clerk to file an economic interest form. He brought the form back to the Secretary of State’s Office, where he was given the impression everything was fine with the form, he said.
He only learned something was wrong after he received a letter informing him of the candidacy challenge hearing, he said.
After this, Nicholson went back to the Secretary of State’s Office to see how he could rectify the issue. They told him to go the Indiana Election Division, who told him to go back to the Secretary of State. He ended up going to the Senate Secretary’s office, who let him file the Senate paperwork, he said.
Commission members were sympathetic to Nicholson’s situation, but questioned how he didn’t realize he filed the wrong form.
“Weren’t you at all surprised that it said ‘House of Representatives’ instead of Senate?” said Karen Celestino-Horseman, a Democratic commission member.
Nicholson assumed he was being directed appropriately, he said.
Other commission members discussed who Nicholson was supposed to file the form with, as the law says it had to be filed with the “principal administrative officer.” Under the law, these officers would be the House Clerk and Senate Secretary, depending on the respective office, said Matthew R. Kochevar, co-general counsel for the Indiana Election Division.
As for questions about whether the Secretary of State should have accepted the filing with the incorrect form, Co-General Counsel Valerie Warycha said the office’s role was ministerial, meaning it was up to a voter to challenge it. In a perfect world, the error would have been caught, Kochevar added.
The form could also have been fixed if the error was caught before the filing deadline, officials said.
Celestino-Horseman ultimately motioned to uphold the challenge, doing so with great reluctance, she said. The other commission members agreed.
“I think the law is pretty clear, although unfortunate,” said Litany A. Pyle, a Republican commission member.
