Nikki Haley appears to reach petition threshold for Indiana ballot, refuting Trump claims

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has filed enough verified signatures to get on Indiana’s primary ballot for President at this point, though the Haley campaign still could face challenges before it is official.

As of Tuesday evening, county clerks and voter registration officials verified at least 500 petitions for Haley in each of Indiana’s nine congressional districts, according to tallies provided by the Indiana Election Division. Indiana requires candidates for president, U.S. senator and governor to submit 500 petition signatures from each of Indiana's nine congressional districts.

But nothing will be truly official until Haley files for candidacy and then survives any challenges to her petitions.

Last week, Trump and Indiana U.S. Rep. Jim Banks questioned whether Haley made the deadline to get on the state's primary ballot, despite the fact that counties were still counting petitions and the former United Nations Ambassador could still make the filing deadline this Friday.

Haley’s holdouts until this week were the 7th and 9th Congressional Districts. In the 7th, which comprises only Marion County, she has exactly 500. In the 9th, which covers southeast Indiana, she has 703.

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Cindy Mowery, the Republican appointee to the Marion County Voter Registration Board, said Marion County officials are done counting. With this razor thin threshold in Marion County, her opponents would need only one successful challenge to disqualify her from the ballot.

The deadline for her to take these petitions and file a declaration of candidacy with the Indiana Election Division is noon Feb. 9, after which they’ll be available for the public to see.

“We will be on the ballot and will file ahead of the February 9 deadline,” a spokesperson for Haley told IndyStar.

The deadline for filing a challenge is noon Feb. 16.

After that, it’s up to the Indiana Election Commission to declare, at a public meeting, whether a candidate will be on the ballot, Secretary of State communications director Lindsay Eaton said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Trump and President Joe Biden had both officially filed for the state’s presidential primary.

Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter@kayla_dwyer17.

Contact IndyStar's state government and politics reporter Brittany Carloni at [email protected] or 317-779-4468. Follow her on Twitter/X @CarloniBrittany.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Nikki Haley reaches signature requirement for Indiana ballot