Secretary of State Alerted of Potential Ballot Petition Signature Issues

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Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales and his election administration staff are closely monitoring reports of attempted candidate petition signature fraud coming from county election offices where workers are responsible for verifying signatures and addresses.

As the February 9 deadline for candidate filing for Indiana’s 2024 Primary Election nears, last week a handful of county election offices reported concerns involving apparent fraudulent signatures and invalid addresses on nomination petitions filed for voter certification.

The Secretary of State’s Office has been in communication with election administrators in the counties reporting these issues. The counties affected were not listed in the report.

Proper protocol, which involves preserving materials and notifying law enforcement agencies, is being followed. The Secretary of State has requested the Indiana State Police and Indiana Election Division assist the counties involved. Only petitions signed by registered Indiana voters are acceptable for candidate qualification.

Secretary Morales commends county clerks and staff for professionalism and attention to detail in the verification of thousands of nominating petition signatures and addresses, to assure candidates meet qualification requirements.