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MUNCIE, Ind. Special Judge Gail Dues, of Jay County Superior Court, granted a motion Thursday to dismiss an appeal from three would-be Democrat precinct committeemen candidates over their removal from the May 3 Delaware County primary ballot.

According to Ralph E. Dowling, the attorney representing the three,her ruling camea little more than an hour before he was set to argue the case at a hearing that had been repeatedly rescheduled. Later Thursday, Dowling filed a motion to reconsider the dismissal.

The motion to dismiss the appeal contended the election board was within its rights toremoveHeather Williams, Jayne Beilke and Molly K. Robertson from the ballot at a Feb. 20board hearing, and that the issue was now moot, because early voting in the primary has already started.

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Delaware CountyDemocratic PartyChairman Ana Quirk Hunter had asked the board to remove thethree candidates based onmatters such as errors on election filing forms, address changes and lack of proofregarding past voting..

Hunter had originally requested 16 committeeman candidates be removed. All of them, Dowling said, were members of a group called theNew Democrat Coalition, which is opposed by the establishment wing of the county party organization.Nine of thosecandidates were kept on the ballot after candidates discussedtheir individual cases before the board,made up of sitting Delaware County ClerkRick Spangler, Republican PartyrepresentativePete Drumm andDemocratic Party RepresentativeAshley Nichols.

Democratic precinct committeemen are selected by Democratic primary voters to help run the county party organization and elect the county central committee.

The appeal on behalf ofthree of the people removed from the ballotwas filed weeks ago in Delaware County Circuit Court 3, where Judge LindaRalu Wolf presides. Dowling said Wolf had recused herself from the case, which involves local political and elected officials. The appeal went before two other area judges; one was rejected by the defense and another chose not to hear it,before the case camebefore Dues.

Earlier: Several would-be Democrat committeemen axed from Delaware County ballot

Donald K. McClellan, the attorney who is representing theelection board, said he made his motion to dismiss as soon as he reasonably could ahead of the hearing set by Dues for Thursday afternoon.

In his motion to reconsider, Dowling noted the hearing had been set for 1 p.m. Thursday.

"At 11:22 a.m., Respondents filed a motion to dismiss the appeal," Dowling wrote in his motionafter discovering the decision. "…At some point before noon, the Court issued an order dismissing the appeal. It is currently 12:08 p.m. and the undersigned has not been served a copy of the order and has learned of it only because court staff was courteous enough to call to tell us the hearing, set less than an hour from now, was not taking place."

Dowling said the dismissal was made without giving his clients any chance to respond to the motion to dismiss.

"The dismissal violated the Petitioner's due process rights under the Indiana and U.S. constitution," his motion read.

McClellan said that little in this case has gone as usual, given the time constraints and the effort to find a judge.

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Dowling argues that the respondents delayed the case.

"When the first judge on this case recused herself, Mr. McClellan refused to return a call… to discuss (or) agree on a special judge, which led to an eight-day delay in the appointment of a special judge, until April 1."

A hearing was then set for April 5, he said, but the attorney forthe election board waiteduntil April 4 to request a change of judge. Then Judge Dale Arnett, Randolph County Superior Court, declined jurisdiction in the case on Tuesday, sending the matter to Dues on Thursday.

"Having successfully delayed the hearing from April 4 to April 14, Respondents now claim that April 14 is too late for relief," the motion to reconsider said.

In addition to the issue of the appeal having to be considered after voting has begun, McClellan says Dowling's argument in his appeal seeks to have the court essentially redo what the election board already did, which is considerwhether the people involved should be placed on the ballot.

An appeal of the matter, he said, shouldbe based on whether the election board correctly followed its procedures, not on the final determinations it made.

The appeal document states efforts of the New Democratic Coalition are to rid the county organization of "insidiouscorruption" and said the decisions made by the election board were "unreasonable, lacked factual support, and were inconsistent with the law,"

Dowling is asking the court to rescind its dismissal and set an immediate hearing on the merits of the appeal.

He said he doesn't know how soon to expect a response but the judge would have 30 days to study his motion. He also said that, ideally, the matter could be resolved before Election Day.

It mightbe, Dowling said, that the Democratic primary election would have to be conducted again just in the three precincts involved,which he characterized asan expensive remedy.

David Penticuff is the local government reporter at the Star Press. Contact him at dpenticuff@gannett.com.

See more here:
Without hearing, judge nixes appeal of Democratic reform candidates struck from ballot - The Star Press