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The results of the May 5 primary election will stand, despite the fact that two candidates may have violated election law.
County Republican chairman Mike Miner today decided not to request a special election.
Both Charles Waggoner and Daniel Hampton - Republican primary candidates for prosecutor - may have violated election laws that say a candidate cannot be within 50 feet of a polling place without credentials.
Waggoner admitted Monday to visiting seven polling places to thank the poll workers before a poll worker warned him he was in violation of election laws.
Hampton said he went inside one polling site because he was assisting an elderly woman who was partly paralyzed.
Miner, as county chairman of the party involved, has the authority to recommend a special election. A judge would then appoint a special polling committee to conduct the election in the precincts affected.
Miner said late this morning that calling for a special election at this point would only "trade one uncertainty for another at a great deal of expense and inconvenience to the county."
Miner believes a special prosecutor should be called to investigate the possiblity of charges against the candidates.
"Clearly this needs to go to a special prosecutor," Miner said. "We can't just shove it under a rug and ignore it. A special prosecutor is an independent person who can review the information" and decide if charges are warranted, he added.
"That way, people can have confidence that this wasn't some smoke-filled room type of thing. There needs to be an investigation," Miner said.
A special prosecutor should be called because county prosecutor David Kolbe was also a candidate in the election.
Under Indiana law, if the county election board determines a law was violated, it can refer the matter to the prosecutor or attorney general.
Waggoner won the Republican nomination in the primary by 61 votes over Hampton.
