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Party labels in Indiana school board elections
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| Indiana overview: • Election dates: On cycle |
| Key policies: • Election dates and timing • Party labels on the ballot |
| Key terms • On-cycle elections • Off-cycle elections • Off-year elections • Off-date elections • Party labels • Partisan elections • Nonpartisan elections |
A school board candidate nomination petition must contain one of the following: (a) the candidate's political party affiliation, (b) identification as an independent candidate, (c) a statement that the candidate elects not to disclose party affiliation, (d) or that the candidate is not affiliated with a part and doesn't want to be identified as independent. This statement regarding party affiliation must be included on the ballot along with the candidate's name. To validly claim affiliation with a major political party, a candidate must either (a) have voted in the two most recent party primaries for the identified political party or (b) have the affiliation certified by the party's county chairman.
See law: Senate Bill 275 (2025)
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) signed Senate Bill 287 into law on May 6, 2025, making school board elections in Indiana partisan, which means party labels for school board candidates will appear on the ballot.
There were 291 public school districts in Indiana with a total of 1,692 school board member seats as of 2023. Those school districts operated a total of 1,769 schools serving 997,869 students.
Indiana is one of 41 states with state laws providing for nonpartisan school board elections.
The information in this page was last updated in 2023. Please email editor@ballotpedia.org with any updates, corrections, exceptions, or improvements.
Indiana state law governing party labels on the ballot for school board elections
A school board candidate nomination petition must contain one of the following: (a) the candidate's political party affiliation, (b) identification as an independent candidate, (c) a statement that the candidate elects not to disclose party affiliation, (d) or that the candidate is not affiliated with a part and doesn't want to be identified as independent. This statement regarding party affiliation must be included on the ballot along with the candidate's name. To validly claim affiliation with a major political party, a candidate must either (a) have voted in the two most recent party primaries for the identified political party or (b) have the affiliation certified by the party's county chairman. Senate Bill 287 enacted in 2025 changed Indiana school board elections from nonpartisan without party labels to partisan with party labels. SB 287 allows challenges to a candidate's claimed party affiliation.
See law: Senate Bill 275 (2025)
Examples of how school board candidates appear on the ballot in Indiana
Examples of elections after SB 287 (2025) with party labels
Examples pending and to be added following 2026 elections
Examples for nonpartian school board elections prior to SB 287 (2025)
Below are excerpts from a sample ballot with both nonpartisan races — including school board elections — and partisan races.
How does Indiana compare to other states?
Across the country, there are 13,187 public school districts governed by a total of 83,183 school board members. They are elected directly by voters except for a small handful of exceptions who are appointed.
As of July 2025, over 85% of school boards are elected without any party labels on the ballot identifying the candidates' affiliation with a political party. State laws in five states containing 1,169 school districts (9%) provide for party labels on the ballot for school board elections. In five states containing 554 districts (4%), state laws effectively provide for both the option of including or not including party labels on the ballot for school board elections. In the remaining states with elected local school board members, state law provides for school board elections without the inclusion of party labels on the ballot.
Elections in which party labels are included on the ballot are referred to as partisan elections. Elections in which party labels are not included on the ballot are referred to as nonpartisan elections.
The state laws of 40 states containing 11,472 school districts provide for school board elections without party labels identifying the affiliation of candidates listed on the ballot (nonpartisan elections).
State laws of five states provide for school board elections with party labels identifying the affiliation of candidates listed on the ballot (partisan elections):
State laws of five states containing 554 school districts effectively provide both options depending on the district. The details and the number of districts that fall in each category vary among the states. Those five states are:
Learn more about party labels in school board elections on Ballotpedia's podcast
See also
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School board election rules: |
School board election coverage: |
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Footnotes
