Published: August 27, 2006 01:10 am      

Filing laws

Nooks, crannies sabotage the intent

When Logansport attorney Leo Burns announced last week that his candidacy for Cass Circuit Court judge was threatened and in doubt, it raised some serious questions not about the candidate, but the process.

Burns was legitimately selected by a party caucus and election documents were filed. Yet because a notice of the caucus that selected him was not properly filed, voters in the November election in Cass County may be deprived of a choice in the highest-paying office on the ballot.

Whether Burns will be able to appeal a decision by a Secretary of State’s Office from the opposing party is uncertain, but it would be somewhat shocking if a Republican Secretary of State’s Office goes the extra mile for any Democratic candidate in an election this important. Meanwhile, one or more Marion County courts may have to hurry up and hear a case in time for an election that is just a couple of months away.

Whether or not Burns would be elected is not the real issue with the process now. The issue lies with making the process fail-safe for all candidates and parties that want to follow the rules and do things the way archaic election laws require them to be followed.

One problem with Indiana election law is that it allows candidates paid with state tax dollars to file in Indianapolis, but make only ministerial, advisory filings in their own counties. Candidates for the legislature, for example, are not even required to file in their own counties. For the sake of notifying everyone involved, it would make more sense to make the process reciprocal, so that if a candidate files in one location, all documents are automatically filed in another. If it can be done to make millions of Indiana motorists legal on the highways through the BMV, it ought to be easy to do with the Indiana Election Division. The BMV would not operate the way the Indiana Election Division does, and couldn’t. Given the recent problems with BMV services, holding it up as an example of good government is a stretch.

Stories such as Burns’ case raise issue with the reasons why candidates often avoid getting involved in politics. New candidates can be tripped up by technicalities. That can be discouraging for candidates and voters.

The ironic thing about outdated Indiana election law is that if Burns were already judge and he chose not to run again as Logansport City Councilwoman Mary Cotner did in the last election, he would continue to serve by default without filing for anything, anywhere.

What’s wrong with this process? When people who want to run for public office are unable to run because there is no documentation checklist when they file any document, the process itself becomes a way of sabotaging elections based on rules the average taxpayer who may want to run for office may not know. What’s really unfortunate is that no one in a position of authority is required to step forward before election deadlines and advise them what they need to know.

That could explain why fewer people are stepping forward and getting involved in elections and political parties.

They call the books chronicling Hoosier laws “Burns Indiana Statutes.” At some point in the future, a statute with the name Burns could be drafted that reforms an antiquated process for making democracy the form of government the forefathers have intended and 21st century Hoosiers are taking for granted.