Further proof that ballot access in Indiana is too difficult:
An Indiana elections official said Monday that GOP presidential contender Rick Santorum still lacks the signatures needed to make it onto the state's May primary ballot.
Santorum has questioned Marion County's decision to throw out 49 signatures. But Cindy Mowery, Republican member of Marion County Board of Voter Registration, said the signatures are still invalid.
Candidates have to collect 500 valid signatures from registered voters in each of the state's nine congressional districts, and it's the "valid" part that trips candidates up, as Santorum is learning. You need a pretty big cushion to make sure the invalid signatures don't take you down below 500.
Indiana was able to have an influece in the great Clinton-Obama faceoff four years ago. It'd be nice for there to still be a hotly contested GOP race by the time our primary comes around, with all four candidates competing for our votes. Romney, Gingrich and Paul have all qualified.
