Only two names will appear on the ballot in the Carmel mayoral race in the Nov. 7 general election.
Independent Darin Johnson will remain a write-in candidate for mayor after the Hamilton County Election Board Aug. 7 voted 3-0 to affirm he did not obtain enough valid signatures on his petition for nomination to be listed by name on the ballot.
Johnson needed 804 signatures to make the ballot, according to Beth Sheller, the county’s election administrator. He turned in approximately 830 signatures, but election officials rejected approximately 100 of them for various reasons, including missing last names and inconsistencies with county voter records.
Johnson, who did not attend the election board meeting because he was traveling back from Nevada, described his challenge of the board’s initial decision as a “Hail Mary.”
“(The Aug. 7 vote) will have very little impact on the campaign other than the fact that I need to update my literature to include, ‘Write in’ Darin Johnson for Mayor of Carmel,” Johnson said.
Mayoral candidates listed by name on the ballot will be Democrat Miles Nelson and Republican Sue Finkam. Both are members of the Carmel City Council.
The election board’s next meeting is set for Oct. 6, which will include a public test of the voting machines.
