By Marilyn Odendahl
The Indiana Citizen
June 17, 2026
Indiana Secretary of State candidate Greg Ballard announced Tuesday his campaign is about 1,800 signatures short of the 36,943 he needs by June 30 in order to get on the November ballot as an independent.
The campaign said at least 35,167 have been submitted to date. However, Ballard’s communications director, Kate Shepherd, said in an email that the number of valid signatures that have been certified and will count toward the goal of roughly 37,000 is unknown.
Shepherd said the team is working to get more signatures than required, so if some are found to be invalid, Ballard will still have enough to be a candidate in the general election.
County clerks must verify each signature on the petition. Under Indiana Code 3-5-6, signatures that do not “substantially conform” with the registered voter’s signature, name and address on file in the county voter registration office will be considered invalid and cannot be certified.
Ballard, former mayor of Indianapolis, was optimistic his campaign would meet the signature requirement by the deadline.
“We are close to the amount needed and I’m encouraged by the progress we are seeing around the state,” Ballard said in a press release.
Ballard has been pushing in the last several weeks to meet the signature requirement. On May 7, his campaign launched the “100 Hoosiers, 100 Signatures” effort with the goal of each volunteer getting 100 registered voters to sign the petition to put Ballard on the ballot. At that time, the campaign said it had collected more than 20,000 signatures.
Ballard’s potential entrance into the race for secretary of state could make the contest even more competitive.
This Saturday, Indiana Republicans are expected to select their secretary of state nominee at the party’s convention in Fort Wayne. Embattled incumbent Diego Morales is facing challenges for the nomination from Max Engling, a staff member of U.S. Sen. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, Knox County Circuit Court Clerk David Shelton and Jamie Reitenour, former candidate for Indiana governor in 2024.
Already on the ballot is Democratic nominee Beau Bayh, son of former Indiana governor and U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, and grandson of former Indiana House Speaker and U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh.
Also, Lauri Shillings is running for secretary of state as the Libertarian nominee.
Ballard launched his campaign as an independent for secretary of state in March, saying voters “deserve a really nonpartisan, low-key professional in that office.” A few days later, the candidate announced he was starting a new political party called the Lincoln Party.
Shepherd said Ballard is running as an independent.
Describing as “punitive” the state’s signature requirement for independent candidates to get access to the ballot, Shepherd said the Lincoln Party will provide an easier path to the polling booth in coming elections. If Ballard were to win the November election without creating the new political party, she said, he would have to collect another 36,943 signatures to run for reelection.
“Indiana is not set up for independents to run,” Shepherd said in her email response. “The Lincoln Party is a future tool for good people who want to serve, but don’t fit within the two major parties.”
A Hamilton County retiree contacted by The Indiana Citizen, who did not want to be identified, supports Ballard and circulated a Ballard petition, collecting about 12 signatures from his neighbors and friends.
The voter said he was attracted to Ballard’s candidacy because the former mayor was a moderate Republican who did good things for Indianapolis during his tenure in office. Yet, now that Bayh will also be on the November ballot, the voter said choosing between Ballard and the Democratic nominee will be difficult.
Although he has been a longtime Republican, the voter said he is concerned about what he sees as the party’s shift to the extreme right. Neither Morales nor Engling will get his support the voter said, but he might vote for the GOP secretary of state candidate if Shelton or Reitenour gets the nomination.
The voter said he wants a secretary of state who will bring a different view and perspective than the one from the Republican supermajority in the legislature and Gov. Mike Braun’s administration.
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
