This plan is for Democratic and Republican candidates running in Indiana's municipal primary on Tuesday, May 4, 2027: candidates for city office, for office in a large town, and for office in a small town that adopted a primary ordinance. It runs in six phases. You prepare in November and December 2026, file between Wednesday, January 6 and noon on Friday, February 5, 2027, build your base in February and March, push voter registration before it closes on Monday, April 5, and work the early voting period from Tuesday, April 6 to noon on Monday, May 3. Then comes primary day.
Every date in this plan comes from the Indiana Election Division's 2027 calendar. Door counts, volunteer numbers and weekly goals are examples only, so set your own from the size of your district and the time you have. If you are running as an independent, or in a small town that nominates by convention, your timeline is different; our guide to running for local office in Indiana explains those routes.
The dates this plan is built on
- Wednesday, January 6, 2027: filing opens at the county election board.
- Friday, February 5, 2027, noon: declaration deadline for the primary.
- Friday, February 12, 2027, noon: last day to withdraw from the primary.
- Saturday, March 20, 2027: deadline for the county to mail absentee ballots to approved applicants.
- Monday, April 5, 2027: voter registration ends.
- Tuesday, April 6, 2027: early voting begins in the circuit court clerk's office.
- Thursday, April 22, 2027, 11:59 p.m.: deadline for the clerk to receive vote-by-mail applications.
- Saturdays, April 24 and May 1, 2027: Saturday early voting.
- Monday, May 3, 2027, noon: early voting ends.
- Tuesday, May 4, 2027: primary day; polls open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time.
A county election board may reduce early voting days or hours in a municipal election year, so confirm your county's schedule before you print or send anything. Our Indiana 2027 municipal election calendar lists every date, including the fall election.
Phase 1: Prepare (weeks of November 9 to December 28, 2026)
Use the weeks before filing opens to remove every obstacle to filing and to set up the campaign's basic tools.
- Weeks of November 9 and November 16. Confirm that you are registered to vote at your current address in the district, and that you meet the residency rule for your office. Check your primary voting record: the last two Indiana primaries in which you voted must have been your party's, or you will need a certification from the party's county chair (IC 3-8-2-7). If you need one, ask now.
- Weeks of November 23 and November 30. Ask your county election board or city or town clerk which seats are up and which district you live in. Form your campaign committee and get an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) if you plan to text supporters. Campaign Verify requests made on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026 last until January 31, 2029.
- Weeks of December 7 and December 14. Write a short statement of why you are running and what you will work on. As an example, list 50 people you know personally who might help, sign, volunteer or host a coffee.
- Weeks of December 21 and December 28. Line up a notary for your declaration, and ask your county election board when the 2027 forms will be available.
Phase 2: File and announce (weeks of January 4 to February 8, 2027)
- Week of January 4. Filing opens on Wednesday, January 6. Pick up the current declaration of candidacy and the Statement of Economic Interests (CAN-12). Sign the declaration before the notary.
- Week of January 11. File both forms by hand with the county election board in the county with the largest share of your district's population. Filing early leaves time to fix a problem. Ask for copies of what you filed.
- Weeks of January 18 and January 25. Announce to the 50 people on your list first, then publicly. Bring a sign-up sheet to every gathering, with a line that plainly asks whether the person agrees to receive campaign texts and a place for the date. Recruit two or three volunteers who can help with doors on weekends.
- Week of February 1. The declaration deadline is noon on Friday, February 5. After it passes, ask the county election board which candidates filed in your race.
- Week of February 8. The withdrawal deadline is noon on Friday, February 12. From then on, your primary opponents, if any, are set, subject to any eligibility challenges decided by the county election board.
Phase 3: Build your base (weeks of February 15 to March 15)
These five weeks are the main door-knocking period before early voting.
- Plan your areas. Ask your county voter registration office how to obtain a list of registered voters in your district, and divide the district into areas small enough for one evening or one weekend morning. If several volunteers help, Beacon, a door-to-door canvassing app, lets you draw those areas as turf on a map, assign each to a volunteer, give them walk lists ordered by distance, and record a result at each door, such as contacted, not home or come back later.
- Set a weekly goal. As an example only: a candidate and three volunteers who each knock on 50 doors a week for five weeks would reach about 1,000 doors.
- Collect permission as you go. At each door where someone wants to help or hear more, ask whether they would like campaign texts, and note it on your sign-up sheet with the date.
- Week of March 15. The county must mail absentee ballots to approved applicants by Saturday, March 20. Supporters who plan to vote by mail should have applied.
Phase 4: Registration push (weeks of March 22 and March 29)
Voter registration ends on Monday, April 5, 2027, at close of business at a voter registration office or at midnight online at indianavoters.in.gov. Use these two weeks to remind supporters who have moved to update their registration, and return to undecided households from Phase 3.
If your campaign plans to hand out voter registration forms or absentee applications, Indiana has rules for returning completed forms and for labeling mailed applications (IC 3-7-32-7.5; IC 3-11-4-2). Read the Election Division's candidate guide or ask your county election board before you do.
Phase 5: Early voting (weeks of April 5 to April 26)
- Week of April 5. Early voting opens in the circuit court clerk's office on Tuesday, April 6. Tell your supporters where and when, using the hours your county has published.
- Week of April 12. Keep knocking on doors, now focusing on supporters who have not voted and households that were undecided.
- Week of April 19. The clerk must receive vote-by-mail applications by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, April 22. Saturday early voting is on April 24.
- Week of April 26. Saturday early voting is on May 1. Confirm your volunteer schedule for primary day.
Text your supporters during early voting
The early voting weeks are when a reminder helps most. Set up texting in CampaignCNX+ in January or February, so that it is ready by April 6.
- Committee and Campaign Verify. Campaign Verify confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that a political sender is a real campaign. It needs a 527 committee (the federal tax status of a political committee) with an EIN and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Check that your committee filing with the county election board is viewable online before you request Campaign Verify, and ask Campaign Verify Support if it is not. It costs $95, a request made on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026 lasts until January 31, 2029, and Campaign Verify decides eligibility.
- Registration. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration, as 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number) or toll-free, and files your Campaign Verify token with it. For a toll-free number, the carrier review usually takes about three business days.
- Your supporter group. Add only the people who agreed in writing on your sign-up sheets, and record the consent date and source in a custom field.
- Scheduled reminders. Schedule texts for April 6, the Saturday before the primary and May 4. Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and STOP replies are handled automatically. For example:
Hi [First name], it's [Name], running for [Office]. Early voting is open at the county clerk's office through noon Mon, May 3. Reply STOP to opt out.
Today is the primary. Polls are open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Find your polling place on your county's election website. Thank you, [Name]
100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month. For more wording, see our campaign text templates for local races, and for texting rules across the region, see campaign texting in the Midwest.
Phase 6: Primary day and the week after
- Monday, May 3. Early voting ends at noon. Confirm your volunteer schedule for the next day.
- Tuesday, May 4. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. Thank your volunteers by name.
- Week of May 10. If you won, plan for November 2: voter registration closes on Monday, October 4, and early voting opens on Tuesday, October 5, 2027. If you lost, note that the "sore loser" law prevents a defeated primary candidate from running for the same office in November, including as a write-in (IC 3-8-1-5.5).
Begin in November
The candidates who have the easiest January are the ones who confirmed their registration, party record and notary in November. Start Phase 1 this month. When you are ready to keep your supporters informed through early voting, start a CampaignCNX+ trial.
