Delaware County Election Board hearing stopped by evacuation due to downtown gas leak
MUNCIE, Ind. — A natural gas leak in downtown Muncie Thursday morning put an early end to the Delaware County Election Board's consideration of challenges to three candidates on the 2024 Republican primary ballot.
The board, meeting in the County Building downtown, was discussing a challenge to the candidacy of Bradley Bookout for county council at-large when the building was ordered evacuated due to a gas leak about 10:45 a.m.
The leak was traced to an incinerator in the former county jail that now houses condominiums as well as parking spaces for Muncie City Hall, Deputy Chief Dan Ninde of Muncie Fire Department said.
He said that "minute" levels of the explosive gas were found in the County Building, which led to its evacuation. But the amounts detected at the condo building across were also small. Firefighters were on the scene while the leak was being repaired, and Ninde said the County Building would be reopened after a short period.
Workers returned to the County Building and firefighters left the scene before noon, but the election board meeting did not resume Thursday. Delaware County Clerk Rick Spangler, who is also a member of the board, said the meeting will resume before the end of February next week.
The board was able to take care of some business before the evacuation, including the installation of a new member.
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Ashley Nichols, who had been the Democratic Party representative on the three-person board, resigned. The county chairman for the Democrats, Ana Quirk Hunter, appointed her husband and fellow attorney Joe Hunter to the board as Nichols' replacement.
Nichols resigned after being appointed to the Center Township Board. She cannot legally serve on both the election board and the township board.
David Williams, who is a Republican candidate for at-large county council and Republican committeeman for precinct 51, had filed challenges to Bookout and also to Ed Carroll, who is the GOP county chairman and the county auditor. Williams is running against Carroll for the precinct committeeman spot.
Williams had claimed paperwork errors in the filing by both Bookout and Carroll, but his challenges were, ironically, rejected because of the way he filled out his challenge filings.
Spangler said Williams made the challenge as a candidate filing a petition, which he is not because his candidacy doesn't require a petition. The clerk said he should have filed the challenge as a registered voter. The election board rejected his challenges.
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"You have filed improper paperwork for a challenge for improper paperwork," Spangler told Williams.
The next challenge was brought by local podcaster Kristopher Bilbrey against Bookout's candidacy. The challenge was based on the fact that the notary who affixed a seal on Bookout's filing paperwork failed to sign the document. The parties were discussing the necessity of a notary's signature when the meeting ended due to the building evacuation.
David Penticuff is a reporter for The Star Press. He can be contacted at dpenticuff@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie firefighters briefly evacuate county building due to gas leak
