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This story was originally published by WFYI.
A new Indiana law that lets school board candidates run under a political party is now threatening to knock the only two candidates for an Indianapolis Public Schools board seat off the November ballot.
Both candidates running for the District 4 seat — Lindsey Cornett and Chris Bultman, who already holds the seat after being appointed in June — are now being challenged, in part because they both filed to run as Democrats.
One challenge filed against Cornett on July 1, argued she should be disqualified for various reasons, including questions about her ability to run as a Democrat on the ballot.
Bultman is also now facing a challenge, filed late Friday afternoon, that similarly centers on his eligibility to run as a Democrat.
The concerns around party affiliation for school board candidates all stem back to a 2025 state law that now allows school board candidates to run as a Democrat, Republican, Libertarian or choose not to affiliate with any party at all.
The Marion County Election Board was set to hear arguments on Cornett’s challenge during its Monday meeting. But once the second challenge against Bultman was filed, the legal counsel for the election board advised them to consider both challenges at the same time.
Brad Boswell, an attorney with Faegre Drinker advising the election board, also explained that conflicting language in state election law and the language in the new school board candidate law complicates both of these challenges.
The main issue lies in the fact that the new law concerning school board candidates identifying with a political party says that if the candidate wants to affiliate with one of the state’s major political parties, they must show that they voted in that chosen party’s last two primary elections “held by the party with which the candidate claims affiliation.”
However, the state’s candidate guide says that a candidate must have voted in the chosen party’s primary in the “two (2) most recent Indiana primary elections that the candidate voted in.”
Both the new law and the state’s candidate guidance also allows for candidates to get approval from their chosen party’s county chairman to earn affiliation with the party.
After explaining the conflicting language, Boswell advised the election board to delay consideration on both candidates’ challenges until further guidance is given on how to interpret the new law.
If the Marion County Election Board determines that the candidate’s party affiliation should be judged by the law’s stricter standard, both Bultman and Cornett could be disqualified from running.
Voter registration records for both candidates, obtained by WFYI, show they’ve only ever voted in Democratic primaries in Indiana and only in the 2026 primary; neither voted in 2024.
That raises a bigger question the board will have to answer: If both candidates are found ineligible to run as Democrats, are they removed from the ballot entirely, or would they remain on the ballot as unaffiliated candidates?
Indiana’s Election Administrator’s Manual states that if a candidate is successfully challenged based on their party affiliation, the county election board can remove them from the ballot. However, school board candidates who choose to affiliate with a minor political party, or claim to be an independent or choose not to affiliate with any party, can’t be challenged based on their party affiliation.
Boswell said that the Marion County election board is likely the first board in the state that will have to make decisions for candidate eligibility under the new law.
“First, thank you General Assembly, because this seems clear as mud,” said Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell during Monday’s meeting.
The three-person election board agreed unanimously to delay considering the candidate challenges.
According to records from Indiana secretary of state’s office, around half of the 1,034 school board candidates that have filed to run in the November general election haven’t listed any party affiliation.
Bultman and Cornett are currently the only candidates filed to run for the District 4 seat, which was previously held by Allissa Impink, who then resigned from the position after winning the primary race for Indiana State Senate District 46.
Bryan Regules filed the challenge against Cornett. Isaiah Tworek filed the challenge to candidacy and notes it’s only about party affiliation and not eligibility to be a candidate.
Aug. 21 is the final day to challenge any school board candidates who have filed to run through the normal process. Ballot language and candidates must be confirmed for the ballot by the middle of September.
A date has not been set for the Marion County Election Board’s next meeting.
The general election is Nov. 3.
Contact WFYI Government Reporter Caroline Beck at cbeck@wfyi.org
