Donald Trump faces a challenge aiming to keep him off Indiana ballot. Here's why

UPDATE: The Indiana Election Commission at its Feb. 27, 2024 meeting dismissed ballot complaints against former President Trump and President Joe Biden. In the U.S. Senate race, the commission voted to remove John Rust from the Republican primary ballot. In the race for governor, the commission voted to remove Democrat Tamie Dixon-Tatum from the primary ballot and dismissed Dixon-Tatum's challenge against Democrat Jennifer McCormick.

Former President Donald Trump’s effort to get on Indiana’s May presidential primary ballot has been challenged over his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The Indiana Election Commission is scheduled to hear the challenge to Trump’s candidacy at its Feb. 27 meeting.

A challenge was also filed against President Joe Biden's candidacy, arguing that the incumbent Democratic candidate for president submitted "fraudulent" and "incomplete" signatures.

More: Nikki Haley appears to reach petition threshold for Indiana ballot, refuting Trump claims

About 30 challenges were filed on candidates across Indiana ahead of the state's May primary. The Election Commission decides whether a candidate who is challenged appears on the ballot.

The challenge against Trump was submitted Feb. 13 to the Indiana Election Division. The document filed states that Trump should be disqualified from holding public office due to a portion of the U.S. Constitution that states that a person cannot be president if they “shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion.”

The deadline for challenges to May primary candidates was noon Friday. The Trump 2024 campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Trump's alleged involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack has been the subject of ballot debates around the country. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on whether Colorado could remove Trump from the state's presidential ballot because of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack and the insurrection portion of the U.S. Constitution.

In Indiana, a private citizen brought the challenge against Trump.

Benjamin Kester, a registered voter in Monroe County, told IndyStar he submitted the challenge to Trump's campaign because he believes the former president is ineligible to serve.

"I looked in the news to see if anybody else was going to, and I didn't see that there was anything in the news about anyone else," Kester said Friday. "So as a voter I thought, at least somebody should."

Trump earlier this month questioned whether Nikki Haley would make Indiana’s May primary election ballot. The former South Carolina governor made it through the state’s challenge filing period unscathed.

Haley had exactly 500 petition signatures in the 7th Congressional District, which is entirely Marion County. Candidates must have 500 or more signatures in each of the state's nine congressional districts, so one successful challenge in Marion County could have removed her from the ballot.

U.S. Senate and gubernatorial challenges

In Indiana's U.S. Senate race, six challenges were filed against Republican candidate John Rust, all citing that Rust did not meet the state's party association statute that is the subject of a lawsuit.

The Indiana Supreme Court on Thursday issued a stay in Rust's lawsuit, making him vulnerable to election ballot challenges less than 24 hours before the challenge deadline.

All six challenges against Rust were filed on Friday.

Rust told IndyStar Friday that he was not surprised by the challenges. Rust said the Election Commission still has to meet and the Indiana Supreme Court still may issue an official ruling in his lawsuit.

"I am confident I will prevail," he said.

One challenge was filed against U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, alleging that the congressman did not make the signature requirement to get on the ballot for the Senate primary.

There were just two challenges filed against candidates in the governor's race, both against Democrats.

Registered voter Kelly Wittman, who lives in Speedway, challenged Tamie Dixon-Tatum's candidacy for governor on the grounds that Dixon-Tatum failed to collect enough signatures. As of the filing deadline, Dixon-Tatum, the civil and human rights director for the city of Anderson, had less than half the verified signatures she needed, according to the Indiana Election Division.

But she filed a declaration of candidacy anyway.

Dixon-Tatum, in turn, filed a challenge to Jennifer McCormick's candidacy – the former state schools superintendent running as a Democrat for governor. Dixon-Tatum claims that Indiana Democratic Party chair Mike Schmuhl told her that McCormick would be written in at the party convention regardless of whether McCormick made the signature requirement. McCormick, in fact, had about double the requisite signatures.

State party spokesperson Sam Barloga said that claim is "unequivocally false."

Challenges were also filed against primary candidates running in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th Congressional Districts as well as candidates in statehouse and local races.

IndyStar reporter Kayla Dwyer contributed to this story.

Contact IndyStar's state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at brittany.carloni@indystar.com or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter/X @CarloniBrittany.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana presidential election: Jan. 6 cited in Trump ballot challenge