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St. Joseph County election board denies candidate who listed 'MAGA' in ballot name
Summary
The St. Joseph County Election Board voted Aug. 19 to deny Ben Dallas’s school-board candidacy because board members said the inclusion of 'MAGA' in his ballot name conflicted with the spirit of nonpartisan races and risked electioneering; the decision drew public objections.
The St. Joseph County Election Board on Aug. 19 voted to deny a candidate’s placement on a nonpartisan school-board ballot after members said the inclusion of “MAGA” in the candidate’s ballot name violated the spirit of nonpartisan elections and could amount to electioneering.
Board leadership opened the agenda item noting it had been added after public comments at a previous meeting. The chair said he would vote to deny the candidacy, arguing the label would effectively make the board participate in electioneering inside vote centers: “I would vote not to allow that candidacy with the MAGA in a nonpartisan race because of the… spirit of the law,” the chair said on the record, also raising concerns about the presence of partisan language at polling locations.
Another board member voiced agreement, citing legislative intent to keep certain contests nonpartisan and saying local officials should honor that intent in administering ballots. The board moved and voted on a motion to deny the candidacy; the motion passed with two yes votes and one abstention (the clerk, Amy Rolfes, abstained), as recorded at the meeting.
Public commenters sharply disputed the board’s reasoning. Clifton French told the board the argument that a name on a ballot constitutes electioneering was “asinine” and said Indiana code does not bar a partisan nickname on a nonpartisan ballot. The candidate at the center of the dispute, who identified himself on the record as “Ben Dallas Maga,” told the board it was adding rules the statute does not contain and said the decision disenfranchised voters in the Penn-Harris-Madison School District.
The board’s decision at the Aug. 19 meeting was a formal administrative determination by the election board; the meeting record shows the motion, the mover and seconder on the floor, and the tally (2 yes, 0 no, 1 abstain). The board continued with other business after taking the vote, and public comment followed.
Next steps: The board did not set a rehearing date during the Aug. 19 session; the meeting record ends with other agenda items and public comment continuing.
