Vigo County Clerk Clarifies Petition Problem
January 30, 2006
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Indiana's new automated petition filing and certification system only accepts petitions from major parties in Indiana, not minor parties or independents.
On January 18, 2006, Sarah Dillon, the Vigo County Green Party Coordinator, turned in 300 signatures for the Indiana Green Party candidate for Secretary of State, William Stant. Debbie Kirk, the Vigo County Clerk, did not certify the petitions.
Kirk did not certify the petitions because she could not enter the petitions into the certification system. The system only accepts petitions from Democrat, Libertarian and Republican candidates.
Kirk notified the Election Division about the problem. Thus far, the issue has not been resolved. Stant's petitions are still not certified.
Brad,
When Sarah came in (to the Voter Registration Office, which is temporarity located away from the Courthouse and removed from the Clerk) I told her that we had not been able to ceritfy her petition signatures because the State Wide Voter Registration system did not YET include the Green Party Option when we attemped to create a petition for them. Our options were Democrat, Republican, and Libertarian but we called the help desk immediately and they assured me that it would be addressed. I did not suggest that they needed to register or take any action, simply that we could not process the petitions until an adjusment was made in the Statewide Voter Registration System.
I'm really sorry for all the fuss to your office, Mr. Stant's office and the Vigo Clerk's office, please be assured that as soon as the Green Party Option appears for petitions or we receive other instructions for processing the Green Party petitions, we will process them.
Debbie Kirk
Vigo Voter Registration
St. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN