Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
The process for contesting a school board election is spelled out in Indiana law (IC 3-12-8).
According to Indiana code, an election may be contested if a petitioner alleges that, among other things, "a mistake occurred in the printing or distribution of ballots used in the election that makes it impossible to determine which candidate received the highest number of votes"; or "a mistake occurred in the programming of a voting machine or an electronic voting system making it impossible to determine the candidate who received the highest number of votes. ..."
The candidate who wants to contest the election must file a petition with the county's circuit court clerk no later than noon seven days after Election Day.
After the petition is filed, the county clerk is required to notify the circuit court judge, who in turn notifies the county sheriff and directs the sheriff to serve notice on the other candidate in that particular race (contestee) and the county election board. The notice also requires the parties to appear and answer the petition in the circuit court on a specified date.
At the hearing, if the court finds that there was "a mistake in the printing or distribution of the ballots used in the election," making it impossible to determine which candidate received the highest number of votes, the court can order a special election.
That election, according to Indiana code, "shall be conducted in the precincts identified in the petition in which the court determines that ballots containing the printing mistake or distributed by mistake were cast."
After the special election, the county election board is directed to issue a corrected canvass of the votes, and then the board or the county clerk will issue a certificate of election and provide a corrected vote count.
