Supreme court restores Deery to ballot after recount reversal

The Indiana Supreme Court declared Sen. Spencer Deery the winner of the May 5 Republican primary Thursday, reversing a recount commission decision that had briefly unseated him.

The court’s ruling focused on whether election officials can count ballots missing certain legal requirements. The disputed ballots lacked the county clerk’s signature and seal, or initials from both a Republican and a Democratic election judge. The court applied the “Savings Clause,” a legal provision allowing officials to count ballots that might otherwise be disqualified because of an election officer’s mistake.

Deery originally won the primary by three votes. After the recount commission threw out several ballots and declared challenger Copenhaver the winner by three votes, the Supreme Court’s intervention restored Deery to the November ballot. Deery is one of eight Republican state senators who faced primary challenges from Trump-backed opponents after voting against a mid-decade redistricting plan. Six of those incumbents lost their races.

Read the full story at WRTV.