The Indiana Recount Commission on Tuesday denied a Trump-backed challenger’s request to depose 11 voters alleged to have voted in the Republican primary despite identifying as Democrats, the latest action for the panel recounting the votes cast in the May primary election.
Paula Copenhaver challenged incumbent state Sen. Spencer Deery in the primary for his seat in the Indiana Senate. Copenhaver was one of several challengers backed by the president after the incumbents defied Trump’s demands last year to redraw that state’s congressional map.
Armed with an endorsement from President Donald Trump, Copenhaver finished the primary just three votes behind Deery. Following the result, Copenhaver filed a recount petition alleging voter fraud and claimed to have identified approximately a dozen people who identified themselves as Democrats or “progressives” on social media and voted in the May 5 Republican primary.
The recount commission voted 2-1 to deny Copenhaver’s request to subpoena voters for questioning about whether they complied with a state law that limits primary voting to individuals who voted for a majority of the party’s nominees in the previous election. Republican Secretary of State Diego Morales was the deciding vote on the panel, but he ultimately sided with the lone Democrat member in denying Copenhaver’s request.
Despite the commission bucking her request, Copenhaver said she continues to carry on challenging the results.
“Every Republican that voted in this Republican primary in this district should be upset to know that there were Democrats who voted in the Republican primary with no intention to support [the] Republican Party in the fall,” she said following the vote.
Copenhaver’s allegations go beyond voters misidentifying themselves to cast ballots for Deery, as she has also requested subpoenas for testimony and documents from Tippecanoe County election officials about the processing of absentee ballots after the primary that added to Deery’s total. Additionally, she asked for access to the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements to verify the citizenship status of voters. Both of those requests were denied by the recount commission.
Deery’s attorney, Samantha DeWester, has denounced Copenhaver for challenging the election results, particularly her request to depose voters, which DeWester framed as a violation of voters’ First Amendment rights.
“She wants to win an election so badly that we need to disenfranchise people and risk the future of elections by letting people contest based on hearsay and social media, which I can’t believe,” she said. “It’s ridiculous.”
A previous ballot review by the State Board of Accounts did not dispute the original results that show Deery leading 6,337 to 6,334.
DeWester has voiced confidence in Deery’s lead while also lambasting Copenhaver for bringing her allegations this far.
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“It gets concerning to a certain extent, but I also have to place my beliefs and trust in the system and process, and that we aren’t going to disenfranchise Hoosier voters, several hundred of them, over wishes of one losing candidate,” she said.
The commission has until Aug. 21 to certify the primary results before the November general election, and its next meeting is Aug. 18, when it will take up approximately 300 ballots that both Deery and Copenhaver have disputed. Deery and Copenhaver could appeal the commission’s ruling in the state court of appeals.