Rick Santorum Doesn't Qualify for Indiana Ballot

It appears that Rick Santorum has become the victim of some bad luck—he fell just 24 signatures short of making the primary ballot in Indiana.

After failing to qualify for the ballot in Virginia and not filing in D.C., Santorum's campaign will have to fight in court for a chance to participate in Indiana's nominating contest.

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Indiana's primary isn't until May 8, and most expect the Republican candidacy to be decided long before then. Still, Santorum's failure to gather enough signatures to make the ballot is a hit to his candidacy's credibility.

Candidates in Indiana need 500 signatures in each of Indiana's nine congressional districts to qualify for the presidential contest. Santorum met the requirement in only eight of those districts, but he may have a legitimate gripe with being kept off the ballot. New district lines went into effect on July 1, after Santorum's presidential petitions went out, and in total Santorum produced almost double the amount of total required signatures.

John Brabender, Santorum's top strategist, says that this is not an unusual occurrence. "We believe strongly that because of the excess number of signatures that we do have that there is a very high likelihood that we will be on the Indiana ballot," he says.

Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Ron Paul have all been certified for the Indiana ballot.

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