Indiana Greens Seek Formal Apology Over Voter Disenfranchisement

SOUTH BEND, Indiana, March 18, 2007 - Bill Stant, Green Party candidate for Indiana Secretary of State, members of the St. Joe Valley Greens, and other local citizens will request a public apology from both the St. Joseph County Clerk, Rita Glenn (Dem.), and the county Election Board at their monthly meeting this Wednesday March 21 at 10am.

St. Joseph County failed to count, record, and report votes cast for Stant to the Indiana Election Commission in direct violation of Indiana law. Several local citizens who cast votes for Stant will be present to address the Board.

The Indiana Election Commission certified votes for Stant in 39 of Indiana's 92 counties while research of the Commission's records shows that 23 counties, including St. Joseph, did not report votes for Stant to the Election Commission as prescribed by Indiana law.

Those 23 counties are Cass, Clark, Crawford, Davies, DeKalb, Jay, Jefferson, Jennings, Knox, LaGrange, Marion, Martin, Monroe, Noble, Orange, Owen, Perry, Ripley, Starke, St. Joseph, Vanderburgh, Vermillion, and Tipton.

In bordering Illinois, Green Party candidate Rich Whitney received 361,321 votes, equal to more than 10% of the 2006 gubernatorial race. Running in Michigan's contentious race for Governor, Green Douglas Campbell received more than 20,000 votes. 73,847 votes were cast for the Green Party candidate Tim Kettler for Ohio Secretary of State.

It is unknown what level of support the Greens enjoy in Indiana, though more than 20,000 signatures were gathered statewide by unpaid volunteers as part of the Stant ballot access campaign.

The St. Joseph County Election Board meeting will be held in the County Council Conference Chambers on the 4th floor of the County-City Building in downtown South Bend.

Media attendance is welcomed.

Press contact:
Karl Hardy
(574) 807-1349
karl_j_hardy@yahoo.com

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St. Joe Valley Greens, South Bend, IN