On July 20, Indiana independent candidate Mark Herak filed a lawsuit to get back on the November 2007 ballot. He is running for re-election to the city council of Highland, a small city in Lake County, Indiana. His ballot label is “Highland First Party.”
He was removed from the ballot by the Lake County Election Board on July 18, on the grounds that he isn’t a “true” independent. However, Indiana election law does not limit who may be an independent candidate, except that the candidate must not have lost a partisan primary for the same office in the same election year.
The Board said he isn’t a “true” independent because he won the previous election as a Republican nominee, because he voted in the May 2007 Republican primary, and because he still has custody of a piece of Republican Party equipment in his garage. That piece of equipment is a hot dog vendor stand. The vote on the Board was 3-2, with the Republican members voting to keep Herak off the ballot and the Democratic members voting to leave him on the ballot. The lawsuit is called Herak v Lake County Election Board, and it has a hearing in Hammond, Indiana, at 9 am on Wednesday, July 25.
These games played by the major party wonks would would be amusing if they didn’t continually have negative consequences for third party candidates in our nation. It’s obvious that the Dems want Mr. Herak on the ballot to “spoil” the Rep vote. They may even be passing $ to his campaign. As soon as a Green party candidate attempts to get on the ballot (anywhere) and threaten the Dem candidate’s “vote share”, the Dems will predictably yell bloody murder, claim the candidate is benefiting from outsider funding, and then file suit to keep him or her off the ballot. Then somewhere else, as in this case, the game will play out in reverse.
It all boils down to the fact that both syndicates simply believe they OWN our votes and no Mr. Herak of any persuasion should dare step out of line— a belief whose time should be expired.