By Marilyn Odendahl
The Indiana Citizen
June 18, 2026
Days after touting its efforts to collect the nearly 37,000 signatures required to get on the November ballot, Greg Ballard’s campaign is trying to distance itself from a “rogue volunteer,” who is accused of submitting allegedly fraudulent signatures to the Hamilton County Circuit Court Clerk.
Mario Massillamany, chair of the Hamilton County Republican Party, released a statement Thursday alleging a volunteer with the Ballard campaign had turned in a petition that contained 10 forged signatures. He also called on the Indiana State Police and the Hamilton County prosecutor to investigate and prosecute the volunteer.
“Our goal is to make sure that there’s fair elections, both for the Republicans and for the Democrats,” Massillamany told The Indiana Citizen. “In this case, if Ballard … is to get on the ballot with the use of fraudulent signatures, that hurts Hoosiers in general. Doesn’t matter if they’re Republican, Democrat, or independent.”
Ballard, a former Republican mayor of Indianapolis, has been trying to collect 36,943 valid signatures from registered Hoosier voters by the June 30 deadline, so that he can join the race for Indiana secretary of state as an independent candidate. On Tuesday, Ballard’s campaign announced that 35,167 individuals had signed petitions to get him on the ballot, although the campaign was uncertain how many of those signatures would be certified as valid.
In response to the allegations of fraudulent signatures, the Ballard campaign released a statement calling the individual who gathered the signatures a “rogue volunteer” and asserting the campaign’s association with that person had ended.
Also, the campaign seemed to downplay the need for an investigation. It indicated the signature certification process had already identified the problem and noted that the 10 signatures in question represented only 0.02% of the more than 35,000 signatures submitted so far.
“This is the system working exactly the way it’s supported to,” the Ballard campaign said in a statement. “It’s why all signatures are verified by the counties and why each signature gatherer had to sign each petition sheet attesting to the validity of the signatures on it.”
Kate Shepherd, spokesperson for the Ballard campaign, declined to answer further questions about the situation.
Massillamany pointed out in his statement that Ballard is running to be the secretary of state, which has the responsibility of administering and overseeing the elections in Indiana.
“The irony cannot be overstated,” Massillamany said in his statement. “Greg Ballard is running for the very office charged with protecting Indiana’s elections, and a volunteer on his campaign has been caught committing election fraud. If you cannot run an honest petition drive, you have no business running the office that safeguards our elections.”
Indiana State Police Sgt. John Perrine confirmed in an email that the ISP received information about the “allegation of a crime involving forged signatures” on a petition in Hamilton County. He said the matter is now “an active investigation,” but that no further details would be released.
The Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office did not respond to questions about the investigation and the possible criminal charges that could be brought against the volunteer.
Massillamany told The Indiana Citizen he has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Hamilton County for the name of the individual who submitted the suspect signatures. He wants to get the volunteer’s identity, so the 91 other counties in the state can be alerted to use “heightened scrutiny” for any petitions turned in by that person.
In addition, he is urging the Indiana Election Division to flag and audit petition pages that may have been filed by that volunteer in different counties.
“If we specifically have a name of somebody that’s been already conducting bad behavior that allows (the county election officials) an opportunity to kind of slow down when they see that name and make sure that truly the signatures … submitted by that individual are actually registered voters,” Massillamany said.
Also, Massillamany warned Hoosiers about signing ballot access petitions. He said voters signing the form should provide all the information requested, including name and address. Voters could face criminal charges if they sign a pre-printed petition that contains fraudulent information or leave anything blank that someone later fills with false information.
“People don’t realize this is potentially a serious offense,” Massillamany said. “So that’s why I want Hoosiers just to be careful what they’re signing. … I’m not telling people not to sign, but when they’re signing, make sure they fill out the full form.”
Dwight Adams, an editor and writer based in Indianapolis, edited this article. He is a former content editor, copy editor and digital producer at The Indianapolis Star and IndyStar.com, and worked as a planner for other newspapers, including the Louisville Courier Journal.
The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org
