PALERMO GALINDO 02C01-1611-PL-000519

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PALERMO GALINDO  02C01-1611-PL-000519
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DEMOCRATS EFFORT TO OVERTURN ELECTION RESULTS
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 http://www.wpta21.com/story/33775447/democrat-county-council-candidate-contests-election-win-by-deceased-republican#.WDTLTUKgm4E.facebook
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Case Summary

Palermo Galindo v. Allen County Election Board, Robert A Armstrong, Roy Buskirket al

Case Number	02C01-1611-PL-000519
Court	Allen Circuit Court
Type	PL - Civil Plenary
Filed	11/22/2016
Status	11/22/2016 , Pending  (active)

Parties to the Case

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	Defendant	Allen County Election Board
	Address 1 E Main ST RM 172 Fort Wayne, IN 46802
	Defendant	Armstrong, Robert A
	Address 1604 Rumsey AVE Fort Wayne, IN 46808
	Defendant	Buskirk, Roy
	Address 11015 Coverdale RD Fort Wayne, IN 46809
	Defendant	Tippmann, Eric
	Address 921 Willowind TRL Fort Wayne, IN 46845
	Defendant	Agen, Morrison
	Address 2318 Webster ST Fort Wayne, IN 46807
	Defendant	Roach, David Christopher
	Address 4936 Innsbruck DR Fort Wayne, IN 46835
	Plaintiff	Galindo, Palermo
	Attorney James Patrick Fenton #680802, Lead, Retained Attorney address  803 S Calhoun St. Suite 400 Fort Wayne, IN 46802 Attorney phone  260-425-9777(W) Attorney Patrick Lloyd Proctor #1750902, Retained Attorney address  Courtside Bldg. Ste. 400 803 South Calhoun Street Fort Wayne, IN 46802

Chronological Case Summary

11/22/2016	Cause Of Actions Complaint (Verified Petition for Contest of Election) Action Type Claim
11/22/2016	Case Opened as a New Filing
11/22/2016	Complaint/Equivalent Pleading Filed Filed By: Galindo, Palermo File Stamp: 11/22/2016
11/22/2016	Appearance Filed Attorney: Fenton, James Patrick Attorney: Proctor, Patrick Lloyd For Party: Galindo, Palermo File Stamp: 11/22/2016
11/22/2016	Motion Filed Motion For Change Of Venue From The Judge Filed By: Galindo, Palermo File Stamp: 11/22/2016

This is not the official court record. Official records of court proceedings may only be obtained directly from the court maintaining a particular record.

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FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA 21) -

It's official, a local political candidate is suing to try and win a seat on the Allen County Council from a man who died, but won the election anyway.

At the Allen County Courthouse before noon Tuesday, lawyers for Democrat county council at-large candidate “Pal” Galindo filed a brief, contesting the election win by Roy Buskirk.

In a six-person field, the three Republicans, including Buskirk, got the most votes to win the three seats up for grabs.

But Galindo asserts in the suit that Buskirk “…was ineligible to be a candidate by reason of the fact he died prior to the election and therefore ceased to be a candidate.”

The suit alleges it created a ballot vacancy, and that Allen County’s GOP chairman did not follow procedure to fill the vacancy, and as a result the vacancy remained at the time of the election.

The county election board on Monday certified Buskirk the winner.

"A person who is dead cannot be certified as the winner of an election," said Allen County's Democratic Party chairman Jack Morris.

He maintains Indiana law allows for a vacancy to be left open during a primary election, but he says the statute does not read the same in a general election.

"We think the law is clear and therefore the law should be followed and following that law the top three valid candidates should be named and certified as elected, and one of those would be Palermo Galindo," Morris said.

But local Republican Party leaders see it differently.

They contend that Buskirk's death should not rob them of the final council at-large seat.

"It's absurd to think that someone who lost by 22,000 votes would declare themselves to be the winner," said GOP chairman Steve Shine.

Shine says Buskirk's death occurred so late in the campaign that there wasn't time to get another name on the ballot, and he says with new rules in force, any votes for Buskirk during early voting would not have transferred to his replacement anyway, meaning those favoring Republicans in the contest would have been disenfranchised.

Why did Buskirk, who had been sick for months, opt to run in poor health?

"I think the last week or so really came on quite rapidly as far as a deterioration of his condition, not allowing him to take care of maybe some other personal matters that may or may not have included something to do with the county council at large race," Shine said.

He says his party plans on trying to intervene in the suit against the county election board, arguing Buskirk may have lost a battle with cancer, but should not lose his fight for a seat on county council.

Republicans plan on caucusing November 30th and December 8th to pick Buskirk's short-term and long-term replacements for the office.

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• David Christopher Roach

  RE -PALERMO GALINDO 02C01-1611-PL-000519 Allen Circuit Court PL - Civil Plenary COMMENTS- OFF THE RECORD FOR PRESENT TIME- JUST BACKGROUND INFORMATION AS TO =MY= POV. HAPPY HOLIDAYS,MS IVANSON.
• 

  7:52pm

  David Christopher Roach

  OOPS- I COPY/PASTED OVER MY COMMENTS- SORRY. I WILL RE SEND- A Recount and a special election would certainly be in order- there is also a provision- to fill a remaining term of a CC - "death of councilman- where the other CC members select a pro tem replacement. A caucus for the next term- of an undesignated as yet- GOP replacement would certainly be in order. I'll keep you in formed; Burke vs Bennet- clearly states the top vote getters- no provision of dead or not- are the winners- : and there is no privision i state election laws regarding late vacancies so late in the process due to logistical complications of the process- a praallel could be drawn between the delays in the recent Amber Alert- - a fairly drawn out step by step process must be followed- in order to legally properly srart with a missing child( or silver alert- adult)- to an alert being broadcast- 1- Mr buskirk passes away at the hospice; and a doctor "calls him"; and a nurse;clerk makes a note on the HIPAA controlled form. 2- a copy is sent transmitted/ faxed- to the coroners office- for issuance of a death certificate- with hopefull y the same date time recorded- 11:59 wednesday- as compared to 12:01 thursady - or was it thursday and friday? anyway.

  next- the coroner would sent that information to the clerk of the courts because as a politician; and an election; -well- complications can arise. Since the clerk of the courts is also a sworn member of the ACEB- she would notify all members for an expedited emergency meeting- hopeful at 8:01 AM- friday morning; and notify both party chairmen. Mr Shine could have anticipated the possibility of mr Buskirk and as a practical matter- had a replacement name and candidate ready to go in the hopper. a 72 HR waiting period for any precinct committee meeting is the requirement- and so we are at monday-

  I dont know how long it would take to insert thum drives and re boot all the machines- to reprogramm the ballots or even how that is done but 7800 machines at 110 per hour- is 7 hrs. -we all know how long it is to reboot a computer. vting machines are computers.

  What of all the absenttee paper ballots and early voting machine ballots; and how do you notify all those voters their balots are invalidated and then what? IM NOT A LAWYER and only have dabbled in election law cases and been slaughtered. -No one has answered definitively if a state form AB-5 can be filed by absentee/early voters to re-vote.

  to me logically and legally- it seems the ACEB has arrived at the best desicion they could under the circumstances.Unless the County democrats want to fight thos out to the bitter end- time and money and lawyers and so on- like the BUSH VS GORE 2000 ELECTION- HANGING CHADS AN ALL- well- this is a "very sticky wicket " to say the least. ABOUT THIS PICKLE WE FIND OURSELVES IN( yes-THAT movie scene)-

  FOR EXTENSIVE ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION- from an experienced PARALEGAL; and Politician-political analyst- go read the posts at GINA BURGESS ES FACEBOOK PAGE. I dont care what happens- other than there is a slip margin that mr Galindo may win but may have shot himself in the foot- as a recount of democrats votes could show a slimmer margin than the 1100 votes separating his votes and mine-I had 36,973 votes on election day after- and now the certified total is 37,017- so ive picked up oh- 50 votes ballpark figure. over the 312,000 votes called by the ACEB in their summary reports; and the 150,000 voters cast ing votes- well- im just along for the ride. I had fully expected the Democrats to run 3 other candidates in February; making it a 4 way primary for three seats and I would be eliminated. I never expected to go this far in the GAME- so- LIKELY - sound and fury signifying nothing- or we have found aGAP;LOOPHOLE IN THE STATE LAWS where there is NO LEGAL PRECEDENT or process by STATUTE- and so the CASE LAW will dictate until the STATEHOUSE CONVENES IN JANUARY. . happ y holidays to you and yours ms ivanson. You are a very good investigative journalist- and like i said- Ms Burgess is far more versed in this than me. I just hope the democrats "brain Trust"- of Jack Morris; adam Henry; Brian Stier; Mark Gia Quinta Tim Pape; ; and the other VOCAL VISIBLE DEMOCRAT LAWYERS- can make their case VS STEVE SHINE- AHD WHOMEVER HE SELECTS. and let the fireworks begin.!!;

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