Greg’s Plan for the Secretary of State’s Office

Voting should be simple, clear, and accessible. Yet many voters arrive at the polls unsure about what offices are on the ballot or what those positions actually do.

Greg will work to create Indiana’s first statewide voter guide, similar to those already used successfully in other states.

The guide would:

• Explain the responsibilities of each office on the ballot
• Provide neutral information about candidates
• Help voters better understand the choices they are making

The guide will also include a sample ballot, allowing voters to review their choices ahead of time and bring their marked sample to the polls. This helps voters move through the voting process faster and reduces long lines on Election Day.

Providing clear information empowers voters, improves participation, and strengthens democracy.  Learn more and see a full sample guide!

The Indiana Recount Commission should be about the voters, not the parties. Right now, partisans pick the people who decide the outcome of our closest elections. That's wrong.

My plan would expand Indiana's recount commission from three members to five, with every member required to be a retired judge.

Under the proposal:

• The Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court would compile a list of ten eligible retired judges willing to serve, excluding anyone related to or living with a current elected official.
• Each political party with official ballot status in Indiana — currently three — would select one judge from that list, in order of their finish in the most recent Secretary of State’s race, to ensure no two parties select the same judge.
• The Chief Justice would appoint the remaining seats from the unselected names on the list.

Under this structure, no single party would appoint a majority of the commission. That's the whole point.
Retired judges are uniquely suited to the role because, unlike sitting judges or party officials, they are free from the pressure to satisfy a political party to get elected or reelected.

Look at what's happening in the Deery-Copenhaver race right now. Three votes separate two candidates, and it's been a mess from start to finish. Hoosiers deserve a recount process they can trust — one that isn't partisan in any way.

My proposal would require action by the Indiana General Assembly because the Recount Commission is established by state law. I will push for the legislature to adopt the plan and am offering my recommended selection process as a starting framework for lawmakers to build upon.

Too many Hoosiers feel that neither political party fully represents them. When good leaders feel shut out of the political process, voters lose out on the opportunity to support strong candidates.

Greg believes Indiana should encourage more choices and more competition in our elections.

His campaign is about more than one race. Indiana law allows an independent Secretary of State candidate to unlock ballot access for others if a certain threshold is reached on Election Day. This will create a pathway for additional candidates to compete and gives voters more meaningful choices in future elections. Learn more about how ballot access works in Indiana here.

More choices in our elections lead to greater accountability from those who hold office.

When candidates must earn the trust of voters in a truly competitive environment, government works better and leaders are more responsive to the people they serve.

As Secretary of State, Greg Ballard will establish a hands-on election training program for county clerks and poll workers, built and taught by the people who actually know how to run elections in Indiana: experienced county clerks themselves, working alongside the SOS's own staff.

1. A Clerk Training Boot Camp An in-person training program for new and current clerks, run in a "sandbox" version of the statewide voter registration system — a safe practice environment where clerks can actually work through setting up an election, processing ballots, and handling problems, without touching live data. This is a complement to the state's existing legal-update sessions, not a replacement for them — it's the hands-on, how-to-actually-do-the-job piece that's been missing. It will be built and taught by a team of experienced, sitting and former county clerks.
2. Finally Funding and Implementing Poll Worker Training — the Smart Way State law already authorizes the Secretary of State office to provide standardized poll worker and county election official training. It's never been funded or built. The Secretary of State's office can't train every poll worker in every precinct directly — but it can equip county clerks to do it well, consistently, and with real support. Ballard's plan does that through three steps:
   • A standardized SOS curriculum. The office will produce a professional training curriculum — video modules and printed materials, customized to the specific voting systems used across Indiana's counties — covering the issues that come up over and over: acceptable voter ID, provisional ballots, electioneering rules, chain-of-custody paperwork, and keeping lines moving without cutting corners. Every county starts from the same playbook.
   • Train-the-trainer for Clerks. Clerk boot camp attendees are trained not just to run elections, but to deliver poll worker curriculum locally — with the materials, timing, and talking points to run an efficient in-person session for their own poll workers.
   • SOS regional field staff support counties directly. The Secretary of State's office already has staff positioned around the state. This plan puts those existing employees to work helping county clerks plan and run local poll worker sessions — answering questions, troubleshooting, and making sure every county, especially smaller ones without the staff to build training themselves, has real support.
3. Consistency Across All 92 Counties Right now, Indiana effectively runs 92 different election systems, because there's no shared standard for the hands-on side of how clerks and poll workers are trained. This plan creates a common baseline of practical knowledge and best practices so that every Hoosier's vote is handled the same rigorous way, no matter what county they live in.

Indiana needs a professional election-training system built around demonstrated competency, clear authority, practical experience, accountability, and continuous improvement. 

This is what election security actually looks like: not slogans, but making sure the people running our elections — including the poll workers on the front lines every Election Day — have the training and support to do it right, every time. It's a plan built to work, using the people and the laws already in place.