Before the Primary Election, the board must hear any eligibility challenges of candidates. Challenges to candidate eligibility can be brought by either political party, or members of the public.
This time, complaints were brought solely by the Republican Party Chair Kyhle Moers, against would-be Republican state delegates.
“I think these challenges were all pretty clear cut,” Moers said.
Kenneth Colbert, the subject of a higher profile disqualification case, was not present. He was one of three individuals the board also voted to disqualify.
"(He was) well aware of his inability to file as a Republican on the ballot. And we have documentation to that end," Moers said. "And the other two challenges that I filed … are due to insufficient voting history, so they do not meet the two primary rules.”
For example, Moers challenged candidate John Siscel II for not voting in two recent primary elections as a Republican — a requirement for either party.
“I want to get involved. It's that simple,” Siscel said. “I'm a product of the 60s and 70s. I've seen everything going on, and I don't like everything that's going on, and I want to get involved.”
Moers pointed out that Siscel hadn’t voted in any primary elections in the past 12 years.
“You express a desire to get involved — what I would like to see from you is you start at the ballot box with that involvement,” Moers said, who also isn’t granting any waivers.
Siscel, a retired electrician turned beekeeper, was frustrated by the party rules but said he’d follow that advice.
“It was something to learn,” he said. “See the process, how it works, and everything. But you know, I'll just keep on trying. I'm not going to go away.”
Vanderburgh County Clerk Dottie Thomas spoke about finding enough vote centers for this election cycle — and enough people to staff them.
Early voting starts downtown at the Central Library on April 27th, but they’re also looking for a spot in German Township that’s ADA compliant. To increase available staffing for early voting, the election board voted on a new ordinance.
“Delegates are able to work at the polls,” Thomas said. “That was one of the ordinances that we voted on today — to allow PCs and delegates that are running for that role to still be a poll worker. A lot of them like to still work the polls.”
The next election board meeting is March 30 — the public test of election equipment on the third floor of the Civic Center in Evansville.
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