Indiana Libertarian Party Could Lose Automatic Ballot Access

Indiana’s Libertarian Party stands just 300 votes away from losing its automatic ballot line after holding statewide status since 1994, according to preliminary election results reported by WFIU.

State law requires political parties to secure at least 2 percent of the total vote in the secretary of state race to maintain automatic ballot access. Preliminary tallies show Libertarian candidate Lauri Shillings pulled in 36,314 votes, translating to 1.9 percent of the vote.

Paul Helmke, director of the Indiana University Civic Leaders Center, addressed the jeopardy facing the party during a recent appearance on Noon Edition. According to WFIU, Helmke pointed out the narrow margin separating the party from compliance.

It looks like the libertarians may have lost their party line because they are like 300 votes short of the 2% requirement.

The statewide election cycle also featured a strong showing by the newly formed Lincoln Party, which cleared the statutory threshold by capturing 3.6 percent of the vote. In the top-tier secretary of state contest highlighted by WFIU, Democrat Beau Bayh secured 51.9 percent of the vote, while Republican Max Engling followed with 42.7 percent.

Libertarian candidate Lauri Shillings responds to a question during the Indiana Secretary of State Debate hosted — Photo: lpm.org

Failing to clear the 2 percent threshold alters the operational landscape for future candidates under Indiana law. Without an automatic party line, candidates must run as independents or write-ins. Independent hopefuls face the hurdle of submitting a petition with valid signatures equaling 2 percent of the number of voters in the previous secretary of state election. For Greg Ballard, that was at least 36,943 signatures.

Election results will be certified later this week. The final numbers will determine whether the party loses its ballot access.

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