Monroe County election officials say Amanda Barge could still win the Democratic primary election, despite suspending her campaign to unseat Mayor John Hamilton.

Election officials previously said Hamilton was effectively guaranteed to win the election even though her name would remain on the ballot on election day.

Amanda Barge suspended her campaign Tuesday shortly after the Indiana Daily Student published allegations that she sexually harassed a county contract worker for months. Barge denies the allegations.

Monroe County Election Supervisor Karen Wheeler says Barge's announcement took them by surprise.

"We were scrambling to figure out all the legalities and everything," Wheeler says. "And we're very glad that the Indiana election division is there to help us out, too."

The deadline for Barge to officially withdraw from the race was Feb. 11. After the deadline, a candidate can only be removed from a primary ballot if the candidate dies, moves out of the district, or is convicted of a felony.

If Barge does win the primary election in May, she would have until July 15 to file paperwork officially withdrawing from the general election. At that point the Democratic Party would caucus to choose a new candidate for the general election ballot.

State law prohibits write-in candidates and write-in votes in primary elections.

The Republican and Libertarian parties have until noon on June 30 to choose a candidate, through a caucus or convention.

Independent or minor party candidates have until noon on July 1 to file a petition with 522 valid signatures from registered residents to be on the November ballot.

Correction: A previous version of this post included inaccurate information about the upcoming election, including that Amanda Barge would remain on the ballot but could not win the race. Monroe County Election Supervisor Karen Wheeler says the state provided the incorrect information and later contacted her to correct it. This post has been updated with the corrected information.