Ballard Submits Over 41,000 Signatures to be on November Ballot

The independent candidate for Indiana Secretary of State needed 36,943 petition signatures to secure his place on the ballot. He submitted 41,299 signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office.

A smiling older man wearing glasses and a black vest stands in an office setting with a wooden desk and sign reading "Tyler". — Source: Ryan Hedrick

INDIANAPOLIS — Independent candidate for Indiana Secretary of State Greg Ballard announced on Tuesday that he has enough signatures to be on the ballot for the November election.

The former mayor of Indianapolis needed 36,943 petition signatures to secure his place on the ballot. He has submitted 41,299 signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office.

“I think it’s something that really does open up the system that needed to be opened,” said Ballard. “It’ll provide opportunities, not just this year, but opportunities in the future to make sure we get good candidates throughout the state of Indiana running for office again.”

Ballard will face Democrat Beau Bayh and Republican Max Engling in November’s election. Bayh is the son of former Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh and the grandson of former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh. Engling is an adviser to U.S. Sen. Jim Banks and defeated incumbent Secretary of State Diego Morales at the State Republican Convention in June.

“The Republican and Democrat in this race were each nominated at closed party conventions by about one thousand party insiders,” Ballard said.

Voter registration for the 2026 general elections is open until Oct. 5. Early voting begins Oct. 6 and Election Day is on Nov. 3.

On Wednesday, Ballard’s campaign said its fundraising is near $1 million. The campaign raised $876,267.33 since it launched in late February, with $548,542.51 of that being raised in the quarter that ended June 30. Since the most recent reporting period ended, the campaign’s fundraising has added about $40,000 for a total of $916,527.89 raised over the course of the campaign.

The campaign is also reporting $26,477.41 cash on hand and zero debts.

Ballard is also making a push to create a new political party in Indiana, called the Lincoln Party. If he makes the November ballot as a candidate for Indiana Secretary of State, he would become the first independent candidate in more than 30 years to make a statewide ballot.