Indiana Supreme Court restores Deery to ballot after recount dispute

The Indiana Supreme Court issued an order on Sept. 10 directing that Sen. Spencer Deery’s name be placed on the ballot for the November general election in Senate District 23. The decision came hours after oral arguments before the five-justice panel, and the court said it will issue a written opinion at a later date.

The ruling overturns a finding by the three-member Indiana Recount Commission that had invalidated a number of Deery ballots for missing clerk initials or stamps, which had briefly given challenger Paula Copenhaver a three-vote lead. The court cited state law that ballots remain countable despite clerical errors.

"The commission went too far and abused its discretion," said Karen Celestino-Horseman, Deery’s attorney, during the hearing.

"We could never have secure elections in our state if our votes could be invalidated by government error or malfeasance," Deery said in a social-media post following the decision.

Deery, who was ahead by three votes after the May primary, will now face Democratic city councilman David Sanders and independent Joshua Brant in the November race. He indicated he would seek legislative changes to modernize Indiana’s election statutes if re-elected.

The case has drawn attention to procedural issues in Indiana’s recount process, with critics warning that ballot-validation rules could disenfranchise voters. Earlier attempts by Copenhaver’s counsel to subpoena voters based on social-media activity were rejected by the commission.