The Marion County Election Board is reminding voters of several deadlines and information for candidate filings for the May 8 Primary Election.
(1) Candidate filing opened Jan. 11 for major political party primary nomination.
Local candidates (countywide offices, township advisory board, Republican precinct committeemen and state convention delegates) file with their county election board. In Marion County, these candidate filings will be made available on the home page of the website – www.indy.gov/election.
Federal, state and judicial candidates file with the Indiana Election Division.
Candidate filing closes at noon on Friday, Feb. 10.
The deadline to withdraw a candidacy for the primary is noon, Feb. 13.
Candidates for president, governor and U.S. Senate will file petition signatures with the county Board of Voters Registration in addition to filing a declaration of candidacy with the Indiana Election Division.
(2) 2011 Annual Campaign Finance reports due by noon, Jan. 18.
All candidates and PACs with open committees must file their annual report, which covers the period of time from Jan. 1 (or the date their last report was filed in 2011) through Dec. 31, 2011. Local candidates, including judicial officers, file with their county election board. In Marion County, those filings are available for review by following this link:
http://www.indy.gov/eGov/County/Clerk/Election/Candidate_Info/MCEBCampaignFinanceArchive/Candidates/mru.html.
Statewide and state legislative candidates file with the Indiana Election Division, while federal candidates file with the Federal Election Commission.
(3) 17-year-olds can vote in Indiana’s May primary election.
Indiana law permits those 17-year-olds that will be 18 on or before Nov. 6, 2012 (the date of the general election) to register and vote in May’s election. A special designation is made in the poll book and a 17-year-old ballot is printed, which allows them to nominate candidates for November’s general election. However, the 17-year-old ballot excludes races for precinct committeemen and state convention delegate as the outcome of those two races is decided in May.
(4) April 9 is the statewide voter registration deadline for May’s Primary Election.
If a person is new to town, recently moved or changed their name, they must register by this deadline to vote in the primary. Indiana voters can register online at indianavoters.com and Marion County residents can download a form at www.indy.gov/voter or receive a form by mail by calling (317) 327-VOTE. Forms must be original – faxed or emailed copies cannot be accepted.
(5) New precinct lines have been adopted by Marion County.
The mayor signed a new precinct order in late 2011, increasing the number of precincts from 590 to 600. Many voters will be impacted by these changes, mostly through new names of their ward/precinct.
The Marion County Board of Voters Registration is responsible for making these changes in the statewide voter registration system and is working on the updates. In the interim, the county’s GIS department is updating the Voter Information Portal (indy.gov/VIP) with the new data and it should be online and available soon.
(6) School Board elections are now held in November’s general election.
Recent changes in state law now require counties to hold school board elections in the fall. The first day to file a petition of nomination and consent for a school board member is July 25.
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