Sec. 25. (a) Except as provided in subsection (b), whenever the commission makes a final determination under section 18 of this chapter that the candidate who is subject to a contest proceeding is not eligible to serve in the office to which the candidate is nominated or elected, the candidate who received the second highest number of votes for the office is entitled to a certificate of nomination or certificate of election even though a certificate may have been issued to another candidate upon the tabulation of the votes.

     (b) This subsection applies to a contest proceeding for a state office other than the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, justice of the supreme court, judge of the court of appeals, and judge of the tax court. Whenever the commission makes a final determination under section 18(b) of this chapter that the candidate who is subject to a contest proceeding is not eligible to serve in the office to which the candidate is elected the following apply:

(1) This subdivision does not apply to the filling of a state office following a contest proceeding or court action that resulted from an election held before January 1, 2011. The office is considered vacant, and the governor shall fill the vacancy as provided in IC 3-13-4-3(e) by the appointment of a person of the same political party as the candidate who is not eligible to serve.

(2) The commission’s determination that the candidate is not eligible to serve in the office does not affect the votes cast for the candidate for purposes of determining the number or percentage of votes cast for purposes of other statutes, including IC 3-5-2-30, IC 3-6-2-1, IC 3-6-4.1-6, IC 3-6-5.2-7, IC 3-6-6-8, IC 3-6-7-1, IC 3-6-8-1, IC 3-8-4, IC 3-8-6, IC 3-10-1-2, IC 3-10-2-15, IC 3-10-4-2, IC 3-10-6, IC 3-10-7-26, IC 3-11-2-6, IC 3-11-13-11, IC 3-11-14-3.5, IC 3-13-9-4.5, IC 6-9-2-3, and IC 36-4-1.5-2.

As added by P.L.3-1987, SEC.412. Amended by P.L.10-1988, SEC.180; P.L.225-2011, SEC.78; P.L.233-2015, SEC.2.