Hamilton County Democrats miscount convention delagates NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — Hamilton County’s election administrator on Friday said the county’s Democratic leadership gave her an inaccurate delegate count. Beth Sheller told News 8 that the chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party, Josh Lowry, told her on Dec. 4 the county would have slots for 144 delegates to the Indiana Democratic Party Convention on June 6. Dec. 31 was the deadline for party chairs to turn in their delegate numbers. Then, Sheller said, Lowry called her on Thursday to tell her he gave her the wrong number and Hamilton County is supposed to send 162 delegates. She said the county election board met and concluded her office could not legally adjust the number of delegates. “I hope that he’s able to appoint those 18 delegates. I don’t want them to lose any delegates,” she said. “But according to what I’ve been given from our Indiana Election Division, we are not allowed to change the number once we have been given those numbers.” Party nominees for all statewide offices in Indiana other than the governor are chosen by delegates at state party conventions rather than through primary elections. Voters elect those delegates during the primaries. The delegates then choose the nominees at the conventions, with votes being held anytime there is more than one candidate. Beau Bayh and Blythe Potter are the two declared candidates so far for the Democratic nomination for secretary of state. Potter told News 8 she doesn’t believe Hamilton County’s shortage of 18 delegates will impact the results one way or another. “Four months is plenty of time that we have to talk to people, persuade if we need to,” she said. Lowry did not respond to News 8’s request for comment. In a lengthy statement on the Hamilton County Democratic Party’s Facebook page, he attacked Sheller’s handling of the situation. “I want to address the issue surrounding the delegate count in Hamilton County. I made a simple clerical error and copied and pasted the wrong breakdown for our delegates per township. The Election Administrator, Republican Beth Sheller, uploaded the incorrect delegate count into their voting system despite knowing it was the incorrect count. “After finding this error, Ms. Sheller was notified and originally told me it would be an easy fix since the deadline for candidates to withdraw had not yet passed. “Unfortunately, what was originally an administrative error became a partisan issue. Ms. Sheller has subsequently decided that she will not update the ballots and has given varying reasons for her decision. “To be clear, this was my error and I apologize to everyone for any inconvenience I have caused. The (Hamilton County Democratic Party) is working closely with the (Indiana Democratic Party) to resolve this issue. “However, unsurprisingly, the Republicans are making everything into an unnecessary partisan battle. “Look, 2026 will be the most successful year yet for Democrats in Hamilton County. We have had a record number of candidates file and have broken every record for volunteer attendance and fundraising. “A Blue Wave is coming to Hamilton County – no matter how many political roadblocks the Republicans try to throw in our way.” Josh Lowry, Hamilton County Democratic Party chair In an email exchange Sheller provided to News 8, her office in December contacted Lowry, following up on an email from a couple of weeks earlier, asking him to provide a township-by-township breakdown of how many delegates he would need. Her office pointed out the state Democratic Party had quoted to them a countywide total of 162 delegates. Lowry responded less than half an hour later with a breakdown for all nine townships in the county, but his totals only added up to 144. Lowry did not notify Sheller’s office of his error until Thursday. Sheller said she and Lowry met with the Hamilton County Election Board, which consists of one Republican and one Democrat plus the Republican county clerk. The board concluded state law prevents Sheller from making any changes to the delegate ballot. “This was entirely his fault. Maybe he needs to get somebody to check his numbers before he sends them in. But it’s not our job to check his numbers,” Sheller said. “And I resent that greatly that he would blame that on myself or our office because we work diligently to make sure that we are aboveboard.” News 8 also contacted the Bayh campaign and the state Democratic party for comment. Bayh’s campaign declined, while the Indiana Democratic Party did not respond. ...read more read less