INDIANAPOLIS (WRTV) — Both Democratic candidates for Indiana secretary of state said they would work to restore trust in the office and improve customer service.
Delegates at the Indiana Democratic Party convention on June 6 will choose between Beau Bayh and Blythe Potter when they nominate a candidate for secretary of state. That is the only contested race at the convention. The party's announced candidates for state treasurer and state comptroller, Coumba Kebe and Jessica Bailey, respectively, are unopposed.
Bayh and Potter both sat down for separate interviews with "All INdiana Politcs."
Bayh is an attorney specializing in commercial and business litigation. He is the son of former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh and the grandson of the late U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh. He served in the Marine Corps, rising to the rank of captain, and is a graduate of Harvard Law School. He said partisanship needs to be taken out of running elections, and trust needs to be restored in the office.
Current Secretary of State Diego Morales, a Republican, has drawn criticism for hiring family members, handing out large spot bonuses to staff, buying high-end vehicles with state funds and extensive overseas travel while claiming official business. Bayh said he would order an independent audit of the secretary of state's office if elected and he would make the results of that audit public.
"We have to clean up that corruption in this office because if people do not trust the officeholder, they cannot trust him to handle elections or anything else having to do with this office," he said.
Like Bayh, Potter is also a military veteran. She was in the Military Police during the Iraq War, serving on the personal protective detail for Army Gen. George Casey, then the commander of Multi-National Forces-Iraq. Potter owns a small business in Bargersville and holds an MBA.
Potter said she wants to create voter guides summarizing what each office does, who the candidates are, and where they stand on key issues. She said she would make those guides available both online and in print. She said she believes the office should be treated as a customer service job and should be approached with transparency.
"Pretty much anything Diego does, we'll do the opposite," she said. "Just be transparent and open if we have a bid for something, let's make it public. Let's make sure it's available for unions to bid on it. If we want to do something like the ballot book, let's show them the cost that it's going to be."
Although the Secretary of State's office is best known for overseeing elections, it is also responsible for regulating business licenses. Potter said the online portal the office uses for businesses is badly outdated and updating it would be one of her first priorities. Bayh said he also would prioritize updating the license portal.
Neither Bayh nor Potter said they would support mandating all 92 counties to use hand-marked, optically-scanned paper ballots. Bayh said that decision should be left up to individual counties. Potter said she would support a ballot measure asking voters whether the state should require them.
The winner of next Saturday's convention will face the Republican nominee, along with Libertarian Lauri Shillings, in November. In addition, former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard would appear on the ballot as an independent under the Lincoln Party label if he collects enough signatures from voters.
"All INdiana Politics" airs at 9:30 a.m. Sunday on WISH-TV and 11:30 p.m. Sunday on WRTV.
