To run for office in Indiana, you must meet the eligibility rules for the seat you want, file the right declaration or petition with the correct election authority before the deadline, and register and report your campaign finances once contributions or spending cross a set threshold. Indiana candidate requirements vary by office and by whether you run as a partisan, independent, minor-party, or write-in candidate, and a missed form or deadline can keep you off the ballot.
Who Can Run
Every candidate must be a registered Indiana voter before filing. Beyond that, the qualifications depend on the office.
For the Indiana House of Representatives, you must be at least 21. For the Indiana Senate, at least 25. Both require U.S. citizenship, two years of Indiana residency before the election, and one year of residency in the district.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Constitution (as amended 2024) – Section: Article 4, Section 7
Governor and lieutenant governor candidates must be at least 30, U.S. citizens for five years, and Indiana residents for the five years immediately before the election.2Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Constitution (as amended 2024) – Section: Article 5, Section 7
U.S. House and Senate qualifications come from the federal Constitution: 25 and seven years a citizen for the House, 30 and nine years a citizen for the Senate. Federal candidates must be Indiana residents on Election Day but are not required by state law to live inside the specific congressional district.
Local offices such as mayor or city council usually add their own residency thresholds, often at least one year of continuous residence in the jurisdiction. Trial and appellate judicial candidates generally must be licensed Indiana attorneys in good standing with the Indiana Supreme Court.
How to Get on the Ballot
The path onto the ballot depends on how you are running.
Partisan Candidates
If you are seeking the Democratic or Republican nomination, you file a Declaration of Candidacy (form CAN-2) with the appropriate election authority. For the 2026 primary, the filing window runs from January 7, 2026, through noon on February 6, 2026.3St. Joseph County, IN. Declaration of Candidacy for Primary Nomination in 2026 (CAN-2)
You also have to show party affiliation. Indiana generally looks at whether you voted in that party’s primary in one of the two most recent primary elections. Without that record, or if you are switching parties, you need certification from the county or state party chair.
Candidates for the Indiana General Assembly have an extra step. You must file a Statement of Economic Interests before submitting your declaration of candidacy. The disclosure covers financial interests that could create conflicts once in office, and missing it can delay or prevent your candidacy from being accepted.4Indiana General Assembly. Statements of Economic Interest
Independent and Minor-Party Candidates
Independent and minor-party candidates skip the primary and instead submit a petition of nomination. Petitions are due by noon on the first business day in July of the election year (July 1 in a typical year). Miss that deadline or fall short on signatures and you will not appear on the general-election ballot.
Write-In Candidates
Indiana allows write-in candidates for federal, state, legislative, and local offices in general, municipal, and school board elections. You file a declaration of intent with the same election authority that handles declarations of candidacy for that office.5Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 3-8-2-2.5 – Requirements for Write-in Candidates No petition signatures are needed, but if you do not file the declaration by the applicable deadline, votes cast for you will not be counted.
Petition Signature Requirements
Independent and minor-party candidates must gather signatures from registered voters to prove public support. The count depends on the office.
Statewide candidates, including those running for governor or U.S. Senate, need at least 500 signatures from registered voters in each of Indiana’s nine congressional districts, for a minimum of 4,500 signatures total. Each signer must be registered in the district where the signature was collected, and the signature must match voter-registration records. Election officials review every petition and reject signatures that are invalid, duplicated, or incomplete.
Local offices carry lower thresholds set by county election boards. A school board candidate in a community school corporation, for example, needs just ten registered-voter signatures from inside the corporation’s boundaries.
Campaign Finance Registration
Indiana treats you as a “candidate” for finance purposes once money moves. For an office that pays more than $5,000 per year, you become a candidate as soon as you, your committee, or someone acting with your consent receives more than $100 in contributions or spends more than $100. For local offices paying $5,000 or less, the threshold is $500 in contributions or expenditures.6Indiana Secretary of State. 2026 Indiana Campaign Finance Manual
Once you cross the threshold, file a Statement of Organization (form CFA-1) by noon ten days after becoming a candidate, or noon seven days after the final filing date for that office, whichever comes first.6Indiana Secretary of State. 2026 Indiana Campaign Finance Manual The form establishes your committee and names a treasurer.
If your campaign committee is a political organization under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code, you also have to file IRS Form 8871 electronically within 24 hours of forming. Committees that reasonably expect annual gross receipts under $25,000 are exempt until they cross that line, then have 30 days to file. Miss the deadline and the committee loses its tax-exempt status for the period before the form is filed.7Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8871 – Political Organization Notice of Section 527 Status
Contribution and Expenditure Reports
Campaign finance reports (form CFA-4) disclose everything the committee raises and spends. Contributions over $100 from a single donor in a calendar year must be itemized with the donor’s name, address, and the amount and date of each contribution.8Indiana Secretary of State. 2024 Indiana Campaign Finance Manual Contributions of $100 or less can be reported in aggregate without naming the donor.
Making a contribution in someone else’s name is prohibited. A person who does so, or a campaign that knowingly accepts such a contribution, faces a civil penalty of up to $1,000 and can be charged with a Class B misdemeanor.8Indiana Secretary of State. 2024 Indiana Campaign Finance Manual
Penalties for Late or Missing Reports
A late report triggers a civil penalty of $50 per day starting the afternoon of the filing deadline, up to $1,000 per report plus investigative costs. If a report is filed but defective, you have five days after notice to correct it; after that, the penalty is $10 per day up to $100 per report plus investigative costs. Failing to file a complete and accurate report as required by Indiana campaign finance law is also a Class B misdemeanor.9Miami County, IN. Candidate’s Statement of Organization and (CFA-1) Designation of Principal Committee
What Can Disqualify You
Under Indiana Code 3-8-1-5, a person convicted of a felony is disqualified from being a candidate for elected state or local office. A felony for this purpose is any offense carrying a possible sentence of more than one year. The bar is not necessarily permanent. It lifts if the conviction has been pardoned, reversed, vacated, set aside, or expunged under Indiana’s expungement statute, and a guilty plea the court did not accept does not count.10Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 3 Elections 3-8-1-5 The same statute separately disqualifies anyone who offered or gave a bribe in connection with holding office. Sheriff candidates face a stricter rule and cannot have any felony conviction on their record unless it has been expunged or otherwise removed. The felony rule does not reach candidates for federal office.
Incomplete or fraudulent filing paperwork, false residency claims, and missing financial disclosures can also remove you from the ballot. Election authorities review filings for completeness, and challengers can file objections with the Indiana Election Commission, which has authority to remove candidates who do not meet legal qualifications.
Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment separately bars from federal and state office anyone who previously took an oath to support the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection or gave aid and comfort to enemies of the United States. Congress can lift the bar by a two-thirds vote of each chamber.
If You Work in Government
The federal Hatch Act restricts political activity by certain state and local employees. Since the Hatch Act Modernization Act of 2012, the ban on running for partisan office applies only to employees whose salary is entirely funded by federal loans or grants.11U.S. Office of Special Counsel. State, D.C., or Local Employee Hatch Act Information If you work in public health, law enforcement, transportation, housing, or another federally funded program, check whether your salary is 100% federally funded before filing.
Even employees who are free to run remain prohibited from using their official authority to influence an election or coercing others for political purposes. Violations can bring demotion, suspension, removal from employment, civil fines, or debarment.12U.S. Office of Special Counsel. OSC Files Hatch Act Complaint Against Federal Employee Who Solicited Political Contributions in the Workplace
Where to File
Filings for statewide and federal offices go to the Indiana Election Division in the Secretary of State’s office. County election boards handle filings, petition-signature verification, and candidate certification for county and municipal offices, and county voter registration offices confirm that petition signers and candidates meet the registration and residency rules. Eligibility challenges and campaign finance complaints are heard by the Indiana Election Commission, which can rule on candidate qualifications and impose civil penalties.