TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– Representatives with the Vigo County Board of Elections confirmed reports that Cody Alsman, an independent candidate, was left off the ballot in the race for 45th State Representative. Alsman is facing incumbent Bruce Borders in the race.
This impacts three precincts in Southern Vigo County: Linton, Prairie Creek, and Prairieton.
The Republican and Democratic representatives on the board, John Kesler and Jerry Arnold, said they made the discovery sometime between 10 a.m. and noon Tuesday morning. They said they are looking into the incident, but they said Alsman reported being on the ballots within other counties. Kesler said the board is still determining what the next steps will be.
Update: Wednesday morning the Associated Press projected Bruce Borders to defeat challenging candidate Cody Alsman by a large margin. With 99% of precincts reporting, Borders is listed as having 13,400 votes, while Alsman was listed as having received 5,797 votes.
According to Vigo County Clerk Brad Newman, Cody Alsman has informed the county that he will not be contesting Tuesday’s election results even with the error.
Newman said via phone call that this incident has been investigated a lot by his office since it happened. He added that a list given to them by the state did not have Alsman’s name on when Vigo County ran it.
“I made a mistake. There’s no other excuse other than I missed it. I spoke with the candidate and he was very understanding about the incident. I made a mistake, this is on me,” Newman added.
As for future elections, Newman said the county will take time to ensure the list is correct.
When asked for comment, Alsman said “I am moving on past it. It wouldn’t [have] mattered anyway.”
