OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Marion County Election Board Meeting August 10, 2026: IPS Ballot Question and Candidate Challenges

Other Meetings (J-Z) — Monday, August 10, 2026
BodyIndianapolis, Indiana
SessionOther Meetings (J-Z)
DateMonday, August 10, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:16:50
Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

I'll call the election Marion County election board meeting here to order.

0:04

Um it is August 10th at 2 07.

0:08

Um we'll start with the round of introductions for everyone in the room, starting with the board first, and then I'll have staff and council introduce themselves.

0:15

I'll start with myself, Nolita Stewart, Chair.

0:18

Jennifer Ping, Vice Chair.

0:20

Kate Sweeney Bell, Secretary.

0:24

Patrick Becker, Director of Elections.

0:26

Brad Boswell, outside council.

0:29

Adam Wicker, Office of Corporation Council.

0:32

Thank you guys for the introductions.

0:34

Uh thanks for everyone for being here.

0:36

Uh we'll get started first with uh some business from last meeting with the approval of the minutes.

0:42

Um I know staff sent those over for review.

0:45

I'll ask the board do you have any updates or changes to the minutes from July 27?

0:50

None for me.

0:51

None for me.

0:54

If no changes, can I ask for uh a motion to approve the minutes from July 27th?

1:00

I move approval of the July 27th, 2026 uh election board meeting minutes.

1:07

Second.

1:08

Okay, properly motion and second, call roll, vice chair.

1:11

Aye, madam clerk, aye.

1:12

Okay, and show the chair, no leader voting aye.

1:17

Okay, the next thing uh on the agendas Indianapolis Public Education Corporation public question approval.

1:25

Uh Director Becker, can I ask you to give a context here?

1:29

Thank you, Madam Chair.

1:30

Uh so in front of you uh in your packet is um a resolution from the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, as well as the approval from the Department of Local Government and Finance related to the uh language that would be appearing on the ballot for this fall.

1:47

Um we have tabbed in that packet for you uh the page that actually um has the language as it would appear in the ballot on the ballot.

1:56

Um and similar to the last meeting um where we had I believe four other school corporations um that had public questions.

2:05

The board uh is approving the question, the language um essentially you're ratifying that the language as it exists in the order uh to put it on the ballot for the fall.

2:17

So um the board doesn't have to make any changes to it or or anything like that.

2:22

The the language has been approved by the Department of Local Government and Finance.

2:28

Any questions from the board?

2:31

Um I see it's 37.372 cents per hundred dollars of assessed value for public education.

2:42

No, I don't have any questions.

2:44

You can pay mine too.

2:47

Uh hey, we have to hire smart people.

2:51

So I'm okay with that.

2:54

Uh I move approval of the language for the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation for the ballot on um in November of this year.

3:10

Second.

3:11

Okay.

3:14

No, I got a second, but Director Becker, did you have a I just for the for the board?

3:19

I just offered that.

3:20

Uh I do believe members are uh here representing uh the corporation if the board does have any questions for them.

3:28

Would the representatives like to include or add anything?

3:34

No, okay.

3:35

I see I see head nods.

3:37

Um I think it was properly motioned and second.

3:42

Um call roll of vice chair, aye, madam clerk, aye.

3:45

Okay, and show the chair voting aye.

3:48

Thank you.

3:51

All right, so then the next agenda topic uh are candidate candidate challenges to the IPS district four.

3:58

Um I know we have representatives here for both of the challenges.

4:03

Um before we start with the challenge, I'll sort sort of walk through the candidate challenge hearing procedure.

4:11

Um I think you guys, everyone has a copy of the procedure, but uh in the hearing order, uh we'll go through first.

4:19

Um we'll have the challenger or their representative and then the challengee, and then we will have the challenger uh we'll have a rebuttal period.

4:27

Um so we'll walk through that process.

4:29

I know also in this uh the hearing procedure.

4:32

We noticed there are some rules around timing, and so I didn't know if the board we wanted to take a take some time or take a vote to adjust the um the hearing procedure to allow the candidates to have more time to speak to their challenge.

4:48

I think that makes sense.

4:49

Uh what this has is that it's two minutes and uh these are complex issues with a new law, and I think uh it behooves us to um extend that period uh to at least five minutes and then I mean we can go from there, right?

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Election Procedures█████████████████████████████████████████████83%
Legal and Liability████8%
Public Safety██4%
Elections██3%
Public Education Corporation█1%
Procedural█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Marion County Election Board Meeting Summary – August 10, 2026

The Marion County Election Board met on August 10, 2026, at 2:07 PM in the Public Assembly Room of the City-County Building, Indianapolis. The board approved the IPS public question for the November ballot, heard two candidate challenges related to IPS District 4, extended the hearing time limit, and voted to remove one candidate from the ballot while denying the other challenge. The meeting adjourned at 3:24 PM.

Consent Calendar

  • Minutes Approved: The board unanimously approved the minutes from the July 27, 2026 meeting.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No separate public comment session was held; however, all testimony was part of the two candidate challenge hearings.

Discussion Items

IPS Public Question Approval

  • Director Becker presented the resolution from the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation and the approved language from the Department of Local Government and Finance. The question on the ballot will be a property tax levy (37.372 cents per $100 of assessed value) for public education.
  • The board approved the language unanimously for the November 2026 ballot.

Candidate Challenge – Lindsay Cornett (IPS District 4)

  • Challenger's Attorney (Chris Bandy, representing challenger Brian Regales) argued that Cornett should be removed from the ballot due to:
    1. Untimely filing of the CAN 34 (allegedly submitted after the June 18, noon deadline) and initial rejection by the election board.
    2. Invalid party affiliation (claimed to have voted in two Indiana primaries but only voted in one – 2026).
  • Cornett's Attorney (Nabila Vergie) and Lindsay Cornett provided sworn testimony that Cornett arrived at the voter registration office before noon, was advised to fix a signature issue, and was later notified by Director Becker in writing that her filing would be considered timely. Cornett conceded she had only voted in one primary but argued the law does not provide for removal for affiliation issues.
  • Board Discussion: The board considered the Indiana Election Division's guidance that for school board candidates, the party affiliation test is the last two primaries in which the candidate voted, and that a successful challenge results in removal (as per general statute 3-8-1-2).
  • Vote: The board voted 3-0 to uphold the challenge and remove Lindsay Cornett from the ballot, citing the vote history issue.

Candidate Challenge – Chris Boltman (IPS District 4)

  • Challenger (Isaiah Tork) argued that Boltman did not vote in the May 2024 primary, so he cannot list as a Democrat on the ballot.
  • Chris Boltman presented his CAN 34 showing 12 verified signatures, and argued that the CAN 34 form requires voting in the last two primaries the candidate participated in, not necessarily the last two held. He provided an email from the Indiana Election Division indicating that his situation met the standard.
  • Board Discussion: Director Becker and Counsel Brad Boswell clarified that the election division's guidance interprets the requirement as the last two primaries in which the candidate voted, and that Boltman's voting record showed Democratic primaries in 2006, 2008, 2018, and 2020 – which met that interpretation.
  • Vote: The board voted 3-0 to deny the challenge, allowing Boltman to remain on the ballot as a Democrat.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved IPS public question for November 2026 ballot (37.372 cents per $100 assessed value).
  • Removed Lindsay Cornett from the ballot for IPS District 4 (3-0 vote) based on her failure to meet the party affiliation requirement (only one Democratic primary vote).
  • Denied challenge against Chris Boltman (3-0 vote), allowing him to remain on the ballot as a Democrat.
  • Extended hearing time from 2 to 5 minutes per topic (3-0 vote) after a motion, and later allowed additional time for legal arguments.
  • Judicial review option: Parties have 30 days to challenge the board's decisions in circuit court; the timeline is tight due to upcoming absentee ballot mailing.

Next Steps

  • The board will schedule its next meeting at a later date to be determined.

Meeting Transcript

I'll call the election Marion County election board meeting here to order. Um it is August 10th at 2 07. Um we'll start with the round of introductions for everyone in the room, starting with the board first, and then I'll have staff and council introduce themselves. I'll start with myself, Nolita Stewart, Chair. Jennifer Ping, Vice Chair. Kate Sweeney Bell, Secretary. Patrick Becker, Director of Elections. Brad Boswell, outside council. Adam Wicker, Office of Corporation Council. Thank you guys for the introductions. Uh thanks for everyone for being here. Uh we'll get started first with uh some business from last meeting with the approval of the minutes. Um I know staff sent those over for review. I'll ask the board do you have any updates or changes to the minutes from July 27? None for me. None for me. If no changes, can I ask for uh a motion to approve the minutes from July 27th? I move approval of the July 27th, 2026 uh election board meeting minutes. Second. Okay, properly motion and second, call roll, vice chair. Aye, madam clerk, aye. Okay, and show the chair, no leader voting aye. Okay, the next thing uh on the agendas Indianapolis Public Education Corporation public question approval. Uh Director Becker, can I ask you to give a context here? Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh so in front of you uh in your packet is um a resolution from the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation, as well as the approval from the Department of Local Government and Finance related to the uh language that would be appearing on the ballot for this fall. Um we have tabbed in that packet for you uh the page that actually um has the language as it would appear in the ballot on the ballot. Um and similar to the last meeting um where we had I believe four other school corporations um that had public questions. The board uh is approving the question, the language um essentially you're ratifying that the language as it exists in the order uh to put it on the ballot for the fall. So um the board doesn't have to make any changes to it or or anything like that. The the language has been approved by the Department of Local Government and Finance. Any questions from the board? Um I see it's 37.372 cents per hundred dollars of assessed value for public education. No, I don't have any questions. You can pay mine too. Uh hey, we have to hire smart people. So I'm okay with that. Uh I move approval of the language for the Indianapolis Public Education Corporation for the ballot on um in November of this year. Second. Okay. No, I got a second, but Director Becker, did you have a I just for the for the board? I just offered that. Uh I do believe members are uh here representing uh the corporation if the board does have any questions for them. Would the representatives like to include or add anything? No, okay. I see I see head nods. Um I think it was properly motioned and second. Um call roll of vice chair, aye, madam clerk, aye. Okay, and show the chair voting aye. Thank you.

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