INDIANAPOLIS -
The day before the municipal elections, tensions in the Indianapolis mayor's race were growing. It wasn't the candidates going head to head, but their respective political parties.
As Democrat Melina Kennedy campaigned with former Sen. Evan Bayh, and Republican Greg Ballard made the rounds with Lt. Gov Becky Skillman, the Marion County Election Board was arguing over Election Day protocol.
The three-person, Democratic-controlled board held an emergency meeting Monday morning to address several alleged violations. Democratic Party Chair Ed Treacy accused Republicans of using "underhanded tactics" and "making voting as difficult as possible."
His counterpart, Republican Party Chair Kyle Walker, called the accusations "absurd" and baseless, nothing more than "a dog and pony show to allow Ed Treacy to pontificate on the evils of the Republican party...all untrue."
The big issues involved the GOP's list of challengers, those people who are on hand at polling places who can dispute a voter's eligibility. That list of 760 GOP challengers included elected officials like house speaker Brian Bosma, members of Greg Ballard's family and several candidates actually on the ballot - like Indianapolis City-County Councilor Ben Hunter.
State law prohibits candidates from serving in that capacity. Asked why candidates were on the list, Walker said he didn't know but assured the board, "Clearly if they're not able to be challengers because they're on the ballot they will not be given credentials. He noted that the list the party provided was "exhaustive."
Marion County Clerk Beth White also questioned some of the instructions the Republican party had given its poll workers calling the information "inaccurate and confusing."
Another issue involved a Democratic voter who said he received a call from someone saying they were with the Marion County Democratic Party, but giving him incorrect information on his polling place.
While Walker said, "we had no knowledge of or anything to do with those calls," White indicated Republicans were "trying to confuse Democratic voters" by directing them to the wrong polling place.
The meeting went on for nearly two hours with several heated exchanges and no real resolution, just anger on both sides.
"Based on the evidence it appears there's an effort to create voter confusion and worse yet disenfranchisment... I'm disgusted to hear it's going on," said White.
Patrick Dietrick, the Republican member of the election board, called the move politically motivated.
"Make no mistake. This is a political act, not a legal act. This is a sad commentary on the state of the Marion County Democratic party that they would use this election under the guise of an emergency meeting to set forth a poliical message at this late hour," said Deitrick.
Meantime, early voting ended Monday afternoon. Early voters totaled 8,709 people compared to 2,738 in 2007 and 10,697 in 2010. Early voters are defined as those people who cast a ballot in-person at the clerk's office.
As of Monday the total absentee count (which includes the total by-mail, in-person, traveling board and military and overseas) for the 2011 municipal election is 18,766. Absentee vote-by-mail ballots are due no later than 6 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 8. Civilian vote-by-mail ballots received after 6 p.m. Tuesday cannot be counted.
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