One act frequently on “The Ed Sullivan Show” was a guy who spun, to frenetic music, dishes on sticks about eight feet high. The audience was in suspense, wondering if any dishes would drop. Today: many ugly events have occurred & there’s a risk of distraction. 1/10

Nationally, this iteration of the GOP is intent on eliminating free elections. The guy in the Oval Office suggested his party just taking over elections. Steve Bannon declared that ICE will surround the polls in November. That’s what the klan did in the 1920s. [FN1] 2/10

Take your eyes off those plates & look at state GOP moves. We should not lose track of skewing of elections being carried out by state GOPs such as Indiana. (“IN”) 3/10

The Secretary of State (“SoS”) is IN’s chief elections officer. [FN2] A 2/3/26 article [FN3] noted two places where people can file candidacy for elective office by a deadline of noon on February 6 & questioned whether staff in the SoS office could validly process forms. 4/10

Diego Morales, IN’s SoS, is GOP and denied any problem with his office staff being qualified to process the forms. [FN4] In a response to Morales, Abdul noted that the forms that Morales produced were not time-stamped. [FN5] And that can be a significant problem. 5/10

Those who litigate IN election cases should know: attention to details matters if a candidate can be tossed. [FN6] In this instance, a court, on review, can find insufficient Morales’s assurance that the forms were not back-dated. Candidates would be tossed. Period. 6/10

If you are a Hoosier and want to appear on the ballot AND you already filed at the office of the SoS, you might want to file again, before Friday’s deadline. This never should be a problem, but these are dangerous times for democracy. Try not to watch for plates to drop. 7/10

Footnotes:
FN1. The Horse Thief Detective Association, in the 1920s, was the kkk’s enforcement arm for D.C. Stephenson and drove through black neighborhoods displaying their guns as a warning for “blacks to stay home.” Lutholtz, “Grand Dragon,” Purdue Univ. Press, 1991, p. 213. 8/10

FN2. IN’s Constitution establishes the office of Secretary of State (“SoS”). IN Const., Art. 6, § 1. Statute provides that IN’s SoS is IN’s chief elections officer. I.C. 3-6-3.7-1.
FN3. Abdul Hakeem-Shabazz, “The Tiny Signature That Could Rattle Indiana’s Ballot,” Indy Politics, 2/3/26, accessed 2/4/26. 9/10

FN4. Diego Morales, press release, 2/3/26.
FN5. Abdul Hakeem-Shabazz, “Diego’s Defense; SOS Reveals List of ‘Special Deputies,’” Indy Politics, 2/4/26, accessed 2/5/26.
FN6. Unless you enjoy the favor of the GOP leadership, like Sen Todd Young. 10/10