An Indiana candidate asked a judge to force an election commission meeting before November 3 over complaints, including a disputed $60,000 campaign contribution; the judge refused, delaying review until after voting

A judge in Indiana has ruled that the state’s Election Commission is not required to consider campaign finance complaints against two secretary of state candidates before the November 3 election, rejecting a legal bid to force an early hearing.Marion County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Harrison on Monday denied a request by Lincoln Party candidate Greg Ballard, who had sought an order compelling the commission to meet before Election Day to examine allegations against Republican Max Engling and Democrat Beau Bayh.The commission is scheduled to take up the complaints at its November 20 meeting, after voters have cast their ballots.Harrison said Ballard had failed to show that delaying the hearing would cause him concrete harm. She also questioned his argument that an earlier meeting would affect voters’ decisions in the secretary of state race.“He instead presents hypothetical harm with no support that if Defendants meet before November 3, it will affect voter decision-making in the Secretary of State race,” Harrison wrote in her decision, as reported by the Indiana Capital Chronicle.Judge cites lack of evidence of harmBallard had argued that voters should have an opportunity to learn about the campaign finance allegations against his opponents before voting. His legal challenge sought to compel the commission to consider the complaints before the election.The state attorney general’s office opposed the request, arguing during a court hearing on Friday that state law does not specify a deadline for the commission to review campaign finance complaints. It also accused Ballard of trying to use the commission to influence voters before Election Day.In her ruling, Harrison said Ballard had not established any concrete harm arising from the commission’s decision to wait until its scheduled meeting.Ballard criticised the decision in a statement, saying the law was failing to protect voters from political manoeuvring.“Might makes right. The laws are intended to protect those in power,” he said, adding that he was exploring legal options to compel the commission to fulfil what he described as its statutory duty to meet.$60,000 donation at centre of complaintOne of the most prominent complaints concerns an alleged $60,000 campaign contribution received by Engling’s campaign from Hoosier Leadership for America, a political group associated with Republican US Senator Jim Banks.The complaint, filed in July by Knox County Clerk David Shelton, alleged that the contribution was improperly accepted. Shelton had finished second to Engling in the contest for the Republican nomination at the state party convention in June.Engling’s campaign has said it returned the money about a week before the complaint was filed.Other pending complaints concern Bayh, with allegations that he attended several events sponsored by county Democratic parties but did not report in-kind contributions from those organisations.Republican Shelton has also joined Ballard’s legal challenge. He has argued that the return of the $60,000 contribution does not eliminate the need for a hearing examining the source of the money.Commission yet to take up complaintsIndiana’s Election Commission has two Republican and two Democratic members. Its chair, Beth Boyce, who also serves as the Republican chair in Johnson County, has the authority to call meetings of the panel.The commission is currently scheduled to consider the pending complaints on November 20, more than two weeks after Election Day on November 3.The ruling means the commission will not be compelled by Ballard’s lawsuit to convene before voters choose the next secretary of state. The underlying campaign finance allegations against Engling and Bayh remain complaints and have not been resolved by the decision.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.