Election commission rejects Wallace from primary ballot

The Indiana Election Commission voted today with a 3-1 vote to pull Jim Wallace from the Republican gubernatorial primary ballot.

This means that U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Muncie, will run unopposed for the Republican nomination in Indiana.

Wallace, who had to collect 500 signatures from each US congressional district in the state in order to be on the ballot, was accused of falling short on signatures in the 2nd and 7th districts by the Indiana Economic Development Corp.

After the vote, Wallace said that he will be exploring every avenue possible to overturn the commission's decision.

"I'm not throwing in the towel yet today," Wallace said to reporters after the hearing.

In the US Presidential race, Patricia Inez Sandifer, who only submitted one signature — her own — to be on the Republican ballot, was rejected by the Commission. Rick Santorum was approved despite earlier controversy over 24 rejected signatures in Marion County. After Santorum's campaign filed a request challenging the rejected signatures, Marion County approved his candidacy, making the IEC decision come at no surprise.

Orly Taitz, a national leader in the "birther" movement, challenged President Barack Obama's place on the ballot as well, saying that he is not a citizen of the United States and that his Social Security Number, which was used to file for candidacy, is invalid.

The challenge to Obama's candidacy was rejected with a 4-0 vote.

The IEC is currently taking up challenges to the residency of Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. Check back to idsnews.com for updates.