When the System Serves Itself
How ballot access and insider control are colliding in Indiana’s capital city
In the Army, we had a phrase for a system that exists primarily to sustain itself.
We called it a self-licking ice cream cone.
It’s funny when you’re talking about bureaucracy. It’s less funny when you’re talking about democracy.
Late Friday, more than 100 challenges were filed against people running as Democrats here in Marion County. Most of them are candidates for precinct committeeperson — the volunteers who knock doors in the rain, who know which houses have dogs, who stay late to stack chairs after the meeting. The people who hold this party together at the neighborhood level.
Those candidates are now being told to appear at a public hearing to defend their eligibility.
And to be precise: the Election Board didn’t initiate this. The challenges were filed by the party, giving the board a tight turnaround against finalizing the ballot.
That was a choice.
We Need Organizers
For years, the message from party leadership has been simple: we need organizers. We need new energy. We need people willing to step up.
So people did.
Teachers. Community organizers. Neighborhood volunteers. Current precinct leaders. People who have already devoted a lot of energy to getting other Democrats elected. They knocked doors. They raised money. Some even previously ran for leadership positions. They built structure that every campaign in this county will rely on.
When those people decided to take it to the next level and formalize their role by running for precinct committeeperson — the most basic unit of party governance — they were doing exactly what we say we want: engaging.
Instead, around 50 precinct committeeperson candidates are now defending their right to appear on a ballot. Some challenges are warranted (e.g., failure to update registration, felony offense, lack of party participation, etc.), but many are not.
Here’s what gets me.
Several candidates asked in advance whether they were clear to file. They were told requests would be reviewed after the filing closed. They were told not to worry about Rule 8(c). So they filed
Then the challenges came.
If “you’re fine” turns into “see you at a hearing,” people don’t feel supported. They feel hoodwinked.
When that happens at this proportion, it starts looking very deliberate.
Crossover Voting
Some of this centers on cross-over voting. Indiana doesn’t register voters by party. You choose a primary ballot. That’s the marker.
In recent cycles, there were organized efforts encouraging Democrats to pull Republican ballots for strategic reasons. That wasn’t quiet. It was public. It was on billboards.
Some of the very people now facing challenges were active Democratic organizers during those same cycles.
So a ballot choice that was openly encouraged at one moment is now grounds for questioning someone’s standing in the party.
You don’t have to agree with every strategy to recognize the inconsistency.
And the truth is, the law already narrows the field.
In Morales v. Rust (2024), the dispute focused on how Indiana defines party affiliation for candidacy. In the filings, Rust noted that while about 79% of Hoosier adults identify with a major party, only 24% voted in the 2020 primaries.
That means a large majority of Hoosiers would need party chair certification to run if they didn’t vote in the most recent primary.
The gate is already tight.
Layer more than 100 internal challenges on top of that, and the circle tightens further — and it tightens in the hands of insiders.
Right now, candidates are being told that if the party rescinds the challenge, the matter ends. If it doesn’t, the hearing proceeds quickly because of ballot deadlines. The Election Board’s role is limited to applying the statute.
So the real decision point sits inside the party.
That’s where the power is being exercised.
Who Controls the Door
We operate in a two-party system. In many districts, the primary effectively determines who governs. That means access to the primary process determines who holds office, who writes policy, and who controls public resources.
Precinct committeeperson is the entry point. It’s neighbors representing neighbors, and it’s where civic participation begins to look more like governance.
When dozens and dozens of grassroots Democrats are pushed into eligibility hearings at once, we show just how tightly the door is being held (remember the one I mentioned banging down?).
People see this.
If knocking doors earns you a hearing instead of a seat at the table, the system isn’t serving the people. It’s serving itself.
Like my old drill sergeant said, a self-licking ice cream cone — a structure more concerned with preserving itself than doing its job.
Power that has to guard the door this tightly isn’t confident.
It’s entrenched. And it’s overdue for change.