Democrats eye seeking recount in Republican Senate leader Chris Garten’s tight reelection race

Indiana Democratic officials say they are preparing to seek a recount of Republican state Senate leader Chris Garten’s narrow election lead.

That announcement came after the Clark County Election Board voted 2-1 Tuesday night against conducting a planned count of the physical ballots cast for four precincts that voted at Jeffersonville High School, where a ballot scanner malfunction was reported on Election Day.

Republicans who control the state Senate are poised to vote next week on confirming Garten for the chamber’s top position of president pro tem — and Garten says he is confident that his election lead will stand.

Preliminary results posted by the Indiana Election Division show Garten leading by 297 votes, or about two-thirds of a percentage point, with 21,817 to 21,520 for Democratic challenger Nick Marshall in the Senate District 45 race. Libertarian Larry Mahaney had 993 votes.

Garten said in a statement to the Capital Chronicle on Wednesday that records from the precincts involved show 1,640 ballots cast on Election Day compared to 1,612 voters recorded in the electronic pollbook.

Garten’s statement said the 28-vote “discrepancy appears to be related to a technical issue with the electronic pollbook.”

State Democratic officials said the discrepancy is “fundamentally wrong” and that a jammed voting machine might have resulted in “several hours of votes that were not counted.”

“We must continue to push for transparency, honesty, and to ensure that every legal vote is counted. We will pursue all available legal avenues, including a recount and/or contest of the results in Senate District 45 and Clark County,” said the statement from state Democratic Chair Karen Tallian and 9th Congressional District Democratic Chair Adam Dickey.

Clark County Clerk Ryan Lynch did not immediately reply to an email Wednesday asking whether he agreed with Garten’s figures and explanation for the discrepancy.

Indiana Republican senators endorse Garten as chamber’s next top leader

Lynch and fellow Republican Election Board member Tony Singleton voted Tuesday against moving ahead with recounting the ballots, according to news reports.

Lynch told reporters after the meeting that it was unclear whether state law allowed the Election Board to conduct such a ballot count.

“We had some malfunctions on election morning, but at this point, I didn’t see a statistical basis to move forward with,” Lynch said. “I don’t ever want to take the easy route if there’s a chance that it goes against the law. I couldn’t get a clear answer from the state.”

County election officials have a Nov. 16 deadline to submit certified vote tallies to the Indiana Election Division. 

Candidates have until Nov. 17 to file recount petitions, with county party chairs having until Nov. 20 to do so.

A recount for the Senate seat would be overseen by the State Recount Commission. Current Republican Secretary of State Diego Morales is the commission’s chair, along with one Republican and one Democratic member.

The commission just two months ago saw the Indiana Supreme Court overturn its decision in a contentious Republican primary between state Sen. Spencer Deery and a President Donald Trump-endorsed challenger.

The court declared Deery the winner as it ruled the commission’s Republican members wrongly disallowed votes for him.

Garten on Wednesday called the claims from Democrats over votes in his race “political theater.”

“The records we have reviewed simply do not support their allegations,” Garten’s statement said. “Election officials have examined these issues, and the Clark County Election Board voted to respect the legal protections surrounding sealed ballots.”