More Information about these election results
NOTE:
Due to a programming error and data entry error, two mayoral candidates for November 2007 are listed on this site under the heading “Marion County.” The Election Division worked with Access Indiana and the Office of Information Technology to correct this error, but has been advised by Access Indiana that extensive reprogramming will be required. Until this error is corrected, the vote totals for these two candidates will show zero (0) votes.
1. When do these results become final?
The election night returns reported on the "Live Election Returns" area of this site are not yet final and official, but represent what is known as the "Election Night Canvass."
A. Closing the Polling Places:
Indiana state law requires counties to begin counting votes cast at the primary election immediately after the polls close at 6 p.m., prevailing local time.
In accordance with prevailing local time, the polls in the counties of Clark, Dearborn, Floyd, and Ohio close at 5 p.m., Indianapolis time. The polls in all other counties close at 6 p.m., Indianapolis time.
In most counties, ballots are counted first at local polling places by precinct election officials. These officials then travel on election night to a central counting location (often the county courthouse) to report the precinct election results to the county election board.
B. Reports from County Election Boards:
To help this office provide election night returns to the public, each county election board has been asked to forward the primary election results for federal and state level candidates to the Indiana Election Division.
Complete or partial returns from each county will be posted continuously on election night as received from each county. Data entry will cease at midnight, and resume the morning after election day until reporting is complete. Please remember to refresh your browser for the latest returns.
C. Provisional Ballots, Corrections, and Recounts:
To comply with a new federal and Indiana law, county election boards may be revising election night vote totals to include votes cast on "provisional ballots." A provisional ballot is cast by a voter whose eligibility to vote is questioned on election day. If the county election board finds that the voter was in fact eligible to vote, then the provisional ballot cast by that voter is counted, and candidate totals will be revised accordingly. All valid provisional ballots must be counted by May 10, 2004.
After completing the county canvass, each county election board includes a complete set of certified returns in its minutes. A county election board may vote to correct any error in the election night canvass through May 14, 2004. After this deadline, these election returns are subject to further revision if a recount is conducted.
A recount for a local office occurs after a petition for a recount is granted by a court. A recount for a state level office occurs after a petition for a recount is granted by the state recount commission (http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/voters/recount.html).
A recount for a primary nomination to a local office must be completed by June 25, 2004. There is not a specific deadline in Indiana law to complete a recount for a primary nomination to a state level office.
After the completion of any proceedings involving recounts, the election results from the primary become final and official.
2. Which primary election results can be found on this web site?
The election night returns presented on this site includes votes cast in the Democratic Party or Republican Party primaries to nominate candidates of those parties for election to federal offices (such as U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative) or to "state level" offices in Indiana.
A "state level" office refers to governor, state senator, state representative, circuit court judges, and superior court judges.
The primary election results for federal and state level candidates are voluntarily reported by the county to the Indiana Election Division for publication on this web site.
3. What about primary election results for local offices?
A candidate seeking nomination to a "local level" office, such as circuit court clerk, a county office, and any town offices elected in 2004 must file the candidate's declaration with the local circuit court clerk (or county election board).
The primary election results for these candidates are not reported to the Indiana Election Division until approximately May 18, 2004, the deadline for filing a post-election report. The county post-election reports are available in paper form for inspection and copying at the Election Division, but are not available in electronic form, or currently published on this web site.
However, some counties do publish their own election night results on county web sites for some of these offices. The Election Division links to these county web sites can be found at http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/voters/usefullinks.html
4. Why are some offices not on the primary election ballot?
The Democratic Party and Republican Party do not choose their nominees for the offices of lieutenant governor, attorney general, or superintendent of public instruction at the May 4, 2004 primary election. Instead, the candidates for these offices are chosen at the state party conventions, usually held in June of each general election year.
In addition, the major political parties do not elect their delegates to the national party conventions at the primary, but instead choose delegates at their state party conventions. The delegates chosen at the state party conventions then cast votes at the national party conventions to nominate the Democratic Party and Republican Party nominees for President and Vice-President of the United States.
For more information about the Indiana Democratic Party convention or the Indiana Republican Party convention see http://www.indems.org/ and http://www.indgop.org/.
5. Does a candidate who wins a primary automatically appear on the general election ballot?
A candidate who wins the Democratic Primary or Republican Primary is entitled to appear on the November 2, 2004 general election ballot as a candidate of that party, unless the nominee chooses to withdraw as a candidate, subject to certain deadlines, or is disqualified as a candidate after the primary, due to death, or felony conviction, for example.
6. What about candidates of other political parties or independent candidates?
Other political parties are not eligible to use a primary election to nominate their candidates for the general election. The Libertarian Party (http://www.lpin.org/) is entitled to nominate all of its candidates by party convention. If a party other than the Democratic, Libertarian, or Republican parties chooses to nominate candidates, or an independent candidate wishes to appear on the ballot, then the political party or independent candidate does not conduct a primary election, but instead nominates the candidate by petition. For links to some of these other political parties, see http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/voters/usefullinks.html. If enough registered voters sign the petition, and other filing requirements are met, then the candidate appears on the general election ballot.