Welcome to the 2026 Indiana Secretary of State candidate debate presented by the Indiana Debate Commission.

Tonight's debate is made possible in part through the generous support of the Indiana Broadcasters Association, the Indiana State Bar Association, and the League of Women Voters of Indiana, and is being produced by WFYI Public Media from its Indianapolis studios.

Founded in 2007, the Indiana Debate Commission is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to providing Hoosier voters with fair, issue focused debates for statewide office.

The commission is the longest serving independent debate commission of its kind in the nation.

We invite you to learn more about the Commission and support its work at IndianaDebateCommission.com.

And now the 2026 Indiana Secretary of State candidate debate.

Good evening, and welcome to the 2026 Indiana Secretary of State debate organized by the independent, nonpartisan Indiana Debate Commission.

We're live in downtown Indianapolis at WFYI studios.

And in just a moment, you'll hear from all four candidates on the ballot this fall.

My name is Laura Merrifield Wilson, and I have the pleasure of serving as your debate moderator for this evening.

I'm a professor of political science at the University of Indianapolis, and a proud member of the Indiana Debate Commission.

Now we'll meet the candidates.

The order of opening and closing statements was determined at random.

In a meeting with the campaigns prior to the debate.

The first candidate is Libertarian Lauri Schillings.

The second candidate is Republican Max Engling.

The third candidate is Lincoln Party candidate Greg Ballard.

The fourth candidate is Democrat Beau Bayh.

The debate Commission has selected tonight's questions from ideas submitted by Hoosiers all across the state.

The topics have not been shared in advance with the candidates.

The rules for our debate are simple.

Candidates will have one minute to make an opening statement, and then I'll begin the questions.

Each candidate will have one minute to respond to each question.

Candidates may request an opportunity for a 30 second rebuttal as needed by raising their hands.

Rebuttals are primarily intended to allow a candidate to respond to when another speaker mentions them by name, or a clear reference.

In the interest of time, we ask with the candidates avoid prolonged back and forth debate on a single topic, so we may cover as many voters questions as possible.

As a moderator, I have the discretion to ask a follow up question if needed, to clarify a candidate's response.

Let's begin with the opening statements.

We'll first hear from Miss Schillings.

You have one minute to make an opening statement.

Thank you.

Laura.

My name is Lauri Schillings, and I'm on a mission to make the Secretary of State's office work for the people of Indiana.

Not for big donors and not for outside interests.

You deserve someone who will show up and do the work for you.

You deserve someone who will come to this office and represent you.

You deserve someone who will be invested in our communities.

And as a temps generation Hoosier, I have lived here and worked here my entire life and raised my family here.

Here are some things I'd like to accomplish in this office.

I would like to modernize our website so that it's functional and user friendly.

I would like to scrutinize the budget for fraud and abuse.

I would like to educate voters and protect their privacy.

You deserve someone who will do this work for you as your next Secretary of State.

Thank you.

Next, we'll hear from Mr.

Engling.

You have one minute.

Thank you.

Laura.

It's an honor to be here.

I appreciate this opportunity.

So I'm a Christian.

I've been married for 15 years now, and I have four kids.

And I believe that Indiana is doing good things.

We are a net positive, active growth state in the Midwest for a reason.

People want to be here.

So I'm running so that my kids.

So your kids.

So the next generation puts their roots down here.

And as the candidate with the most experience for this particular role, and the only candidate that is dedicated and committed to election integrity, I am asking for your vote now.

All the way through November 3rd.

And it's an honor to be here.

Thank you.

Next, we'll hear from Mr.

Ballard.

You have one minute.

Hi, I'm Greg Ballard.

I'm a two term Republican mayor of Indianapolis.

I was a marine for 23 years, including the Persian Gulf War.

in retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

And I have the most experience by far of anybody in this debate here today.

Today, we know that there's division, toxicity, partizanship in our politics and an anger so many of us.

And there's an old saying that you do the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result.

So what we have been doing here is electing the same two parties and then expecting a different result.

And we're not getting that.

And that's why I am running as an independent.

I'm running it for you and not the politics.

When in office, I will not endorse.

I will not fundraise for, I will donate to any other candidate because I want to make that office independent.

We talk about policy.

You will not hear attacks from my commercials or any way whatsoever against any of the candidates.

But this office must be independ Thank you.

Next we'll hear from Mr.

Bayh.

You have one minute.

Thank you so much, Laura, and the Indiana Debate Commission for putting on this event.

The corruption and insider dealing that has consumed the Secretary of State's office is unacceptable.

I'm running to clean it up.

First, I'll conduct an independent audit.

No more.

No big contracts to large donors or wasteful world travel.

Second, I'll sign an unprecedented ethics pledge that no donor to our campaign will receive a Secretary of State contract, and that I will not trade individual stocks.

As a statewide elected official.

Third, I'm going to sell that luxury SUV that the Secretary of State bought with your tax dollars.

I'm gonna drive my own car.

We're going to return that money to you.

Because after all, it's your money being wasted.

We need a change here in Indiana.

I hope to have your support this November.

Thank you.

Candidates will now go to the first question.

We've received questions from voters across Indiana about how to improve the Secretary of State's office and better serve Hoosiers.

This question asks, what's the single most important change you would make during your first year in office, and how would that improve the Secretary of State's service to Hoosiers?

Miss Schillings, you'll go first.

One of the first things I would like to improve is the website.

It is our window to the world as a business entity for the state.

Right now, it certainly isn't functional with broken links and errors for everyone who tends to visit.

I want people to be able to interface with that website and get their business done when they're working on their dream at 11:00 at night, without having to make a phone call to correct an error that they're not responsible for.

I want people to know who's paying for their politicians in a transparent way.

And I would like to be able to have this is a templated issue that we can send down through our county clerks, and they would have that ease of use as well.

Thank you, Miss Schillings.

Mr.

Engling.

The first thing that we would do as it relates to benefiting and changing the office, would be to institute a transparency portal.

I think transparency is very important, and Hoosiers want to see an office that they can trust, that they have confidence in that office.

But they also want to know that if they see challenges, issues at the county level in their local elections, that they can submit that information directly to the Secretary of State's office.

So we will be instituting Eyes on elections, a transparency portal.

So you if you see a challenge, a conflict of interest, any issues around elections, you can submit that directly to the Secretary of State's office.

So we could further investigate that exact issue.

And you know that you are heard.

Thank you, Mr.

English.

Mr.

Ballard, you know several things early that I think need to be tackled in the first year.

First of all, we'd like to put out the voters guide, which would be by precinct level, be sent out to individual homes or by app so that you know who you're voting on for your ballot.

Your ballot will be on the back page of that of that, voter's guide.

I think that's very important.

I think we need to get with the clerks and get some standardized training throughout the state.

They have been asking me to do that when I get in office.

They want that standardized training as a baseline.

We certainly want to look at going over to the legislature and advocating to redo the recount commission, to put five retired judges in there, and we also want the Election Commission to be abolished from what it is right now, and put an administrative law judge who's in there to make all of this fair into the future, and not the political bodies that they are now.

Thank you, Mr.

Ballard.

Mr.

Bayh.

I will conduct a forensic audit of this office.

The current Secretary of State has spent $92,000 of your taxpayer money on a luxury SUV for himself.

He's hired members of his family, six figure positions.

He's taking trips all over the world and won't tell us who's paying or the purpose of the travel.

He's giving up millions of dollars in no bid state contracts to his largest campaign donors.

That's unacceptable.

I've been to every county in our state, all 92 counties.

I meet people on a daily basis that are struggling to get by.

Grocery prices are up.

Diesel's at $7 a gallon.

The cost of gas is through the roof because of a senseless war in the Middle East.

When you pay your taxes to our state government, they should not be wasted like that.

We have to audit the office, running the corruption, running the insider dealing, and then we can turn to our legislative priorities, hopefully to increase voter participation and help our business owners found their businesses and create good paying jobs.

Thank you.

Mr.

Bayh several voters also asked about ethics and accountability and the office itself.

Public confidence in the Secretary of State's office depends on trust.

What specific ethics, transparency or accountability reforms would you implement if elected?

Mr.. Engling, we'll start with you.

Of all the candidates that are up here right now, I am the only candidate that has actually done something about the issues that we've seen in the office.

I ran at the convention and replaced the current Secretary of State.

I am the Republican candidate in this race, and I'm pressing forward to win, to bring new processes to bring new procedures into this office.

And I will work.

And I've said this many times in many places, worked directly with the independent inspector general, the IG, to review the office, to make sure that there are no issues or if there are, that they're found and dealt with appropriately, because that is the role of the IG and that is my job, where I will work directly with them to do that.

So as the only candidate that has worked on a transition that has also had to interview for your own job when the office is turning over, I know what it means to bring good procedures, new procedures, a new vision and processes to the office, and I'll be doing that on day one.

Thank you, Mr.

Engling.

Mr.

Ballard, I would suggest that the incumbent was pushed aside because they had a poll, the saying that he would not win in a three way race, a 3 or 4 way race.

That's why he is now gone.

And the party shoved him out.

That's what really happened.

One of the first things I'll do for transparency is I've already called a law enforcement official.

We will.

I will be talking to him in the future.

Also.

we're not going to the IG.

I'm going to.

I'm going to have a law enforcement official look at what has been happening in that office.

That's very important to us, because we need to get down to the bottom of what has been happening.

We also, need to put all the contracts online.

We want to make sure all the contracts online.

I was the first mayor of Indianapolis to ever do that, because I believe that people have a right to know how their money is being spent with the contracts.

Thank you, Mr.

Ballard.

Mr.

Bayh was.

I mentioned I'll conduct an independent audit of this office.

And every other candidate on the stage tonight should say the same thing.

It's not a question whether the current secretaries Secretary state is corrupt.

At least it's not to me.

Yes, he spent money on luxury SUVs that you worked for.

He's taking trips overseas and won't tell us who's paying for them.

He's giving up millions of dollars in no big contracts to his largest donors.

I made an unprecedented ethics pledge in this campaign that no donor to our campaign, large or small, will receive a Secretary of State contract, and that I will not trade individual stocks as a statewide elected official.

Everyone here tonight should be able to say the same thing.

Thank you.

Mr.

Bayh.

Miss Schillings.

Thank you.

I think the first thing I would like to do is create a policy that would not continue the culture that allows these ethical infringements.

We should address that at the office level and institute policies that prevent no bid policy, no bid contracts that prevent donors from getting contracts within the office that we can say these are not allowable.

And to hold the people who are allowing this to happen accountable for those actions.

Thank you, Miss Schillings.

We now turn to elections, which understandably generated the largest number of questions that we received from voters.

Several voters expressed concerns about election fraud.

Election administration and public confidence in election outcomes.

Ethan, from Kokomo asked what measures you would take to prevent election fraud.

And Anna, from Noblesville, asked how you would ensure only eligible citizens vote while also protecting every eligible voters constitution.

Right to cast a ballot.

Mr.

Ballard, you go first.

Thank you.

The.

This is essentially the same answer for both those questions, which is the clerks run their elections within their within their counties.

they want standardized training, and they are the the poll workers and the clerks are the leading edge to make sure about fraud and make sure the right people vote.

And the people who are eligible to vote actually can vote.

So we want to make sure that that will occur as soon as we get in office and bring those folks together.

Generally speaking, has been good there, in the state of Indiana.

I don't want people to think otherwise.

when one evidence of fraud is there's too many, no question about it.

But generally speaking, it's been good.

And I believe that it's because the clerks have done such a good job, but they're essentially training themselves as they go to each other to train.

And I think if we want to make sure that the security of our elections is as strong as it possibly could be, we need to help them out with their job.

throughout the all 92 counties.

Thank you, Mr.

Ballard.

Mr.

Bayh our elections are safe and secure here in Indiana.

And don't take my word for it.

Take the word of the current attorney general or the current Secretary of State who conducted an investigation into voter fraud in our state.

And out of millions of votes cast, millions of votes cast.

They uncovered 22 instances of illegal voting.

Now, to be clear, one instance is one too many.

And so to them, I know the attorney general is a big supporter of Mr.

Engling.

We should ask why has been no one been held accountable?

If we're serious about election integrity and election security, there should be repercussions for illegal voting.

We ought to hold those people accountable.

Thank you.

Mr.

Bayh Miss Schillings.

Thank you.

I've always advocated for tools and training for our county clerks to make sure that they have the information and education that they need to do their jobs well.

I think we should also understand that the checks and balances that are in place are working as intended.

That's how we caught those 22 individuals.

and to make sure that people are more educated about the process of how we certify our elections after the votes are cast.

We need to be more transparent about how we do that and to assure our voting public that, yes, we have found an issue and we've corrected it, or shot to the moon that we've done everything correctly and allow people to understand that our our elections are safe.

Thank you, Miss Showings, Mr.

Engling.

Voter confidence is absolutely key.

You have to know that your voice is being heard when you go to the ballot box.

And I am the only candidate that is standing up for election integrity in this race.

You can look at the last debate.

All three of the other candidates said they thought it was unduly burdensome to verify that you're a U.S.

citizen to be voting in our elections.

That is the bare minimum of the job.

If you're unwilling to do that, you are unfit for this office.

So the plan that I have is working directly with the legislature, of whom I've already been talking to, and put forward an idea where an I.D.

that you get a driver's license or otherwise, if you are here legally, but you're not an eligible citizen because you're not a citizen of the US.

You change the background color of that ID to purple or another color.

So if you did attempt to vote, it would be very obvious to the clerk or to the inspector, of which I've been an inspector in the polling place that you're not eligible to vote.

You have to have confidence that your vote counts.

And I'm the only candidate committed to the election integrity part.

Thank you, Mr.

Engling voters also raised questions about emerging technologies and how they may affect both elections and business.

Daniel, a 21 year old voter from Georgetown, asks what role, if any, should the Secretary of State's office play in addressing misuse of artificial intelligence in elections and business?

Mr.

Bayh.

It's a very important question and AI tools are getting very good at, becoming more human, like large language models, AI images, AI sounds can be very deceptive.

And so the Secretary of State needs to move into the new age of fraud.

One of the very important responsibilities of the Secretary of State is rooting out securities fraud in our state and making sure, particularly our seniors, are not taken advantage of.

In my day job as an attorney, I have handled federal investigations into securities fraud myself, and I hope to bring some of that experience to this office.

We need to keep an eye out for AI fakes.

moving to the the new age here, and make sure that our seniors are well informed about the telltale signs of fraud so that we can, raise some flags about it.

Thank you.

Mr.

Bayh Miss Schillings.

So I've given some thought to this.

I think we should start to work collaboratively with other secretaries of States for evidence and analytics that they have already for existing bad actors.

Use that and flag those individuals in advance so that we can be aware of them.

Secondarily, AI is moving at a rate of speed that is exponential to what humankind can possibly keep up with.

I think we need to have somebody on staff full time that can monitor this, or work with a trusted partner who can ensure that AI is being used effectively to, flag these instances to prevent it, and to work and test our election machines and our businesses teams over and over again repetitively to ensure we're doing the work as we can to prevent AI attacks.

Thank you, Miss Schillings.

Mr.

England.

Nobody has all the right answers to what we're seeing with artificial intelligence, but we certainly have to do our best to work inside of that challenge.

And one of the ways that we can do it is to use it as a tool.

So when you're investigating a fraud around LCS, like we've been talking about with some fraudulent trucking companies, you can use it to compile data, to look for anomalies that show fraud, and then to capture that data and work to eventually prosecute that, fraudulent actor.

I think it's also important when we see notaries, which are also overseen by this office, when they're using AI and fake notary stamps to with title fraud or deed fraud, that we have to be able to root that out to find new ways to work with the state house to solve for notary fraud.

And we're already talking with, one of the committees to work on making it a specific crime to impersonate a notary, because that is not a crime currently.

So we're already working on some of these issues.

But artificial intelligence is going to be a challenge and an opportunity.

Thank you, Mr.

Engling.

Mr.

Ballard.

You know, we have to really be aware that we're at the very beginning of this.

there are, what this looks like today.

And what we can imagine today is going to be completely different than four years from now.

It's moving that fast and that rapidly.

and so I think it's going to be incumbent upon all of government, particularly the Secretary of State's race, with all their their duties to partner with universities and businesses that are on the leading edge of this and that, so that we can anticipate what's going to happen here in the future with this as best as we can.

You're at the very beginning.

We don't know what this is going to look like, and we have to be aware that this can change in a in just a few months.

And then we have to look at a whole nother set of data.

And we have to be very, very careful about that.

And so I think we need to bring in some experts, into the Secretary of State's office to make sure that that happens.

Thank you, Mr.

Ballard.

The Secretary of State's responsibilities do extend well beyond elections.

The office oversees business filings and helps supports Indiana's business environment.

What role should the Secretary of State play in supporting entrepreneurs, small businesses, and economic growth while maintaining appropriate consumer protections?

Miss Schillings, we'll start with you.

I think it is a wonderful opportunity for people to start a business in Indiana.

You're trying to work on your dream.

You want to improve your life and the life of those around you and your communities.

I think one way we can do that in the Secretary of State's office is to reduce unnecessary licensing burdens.

if it's not a requirement, that is something that seems to be like a medical issue or, you know, something that will harm others.

Like if you need a license to braid hair, I feel like that's unnecessary.

It's a it's a duty that is is an exceptional cost.

I think the other thing that we could do is be better about promoting the information that we do have on our website and make it functional for people to be able to get.

There's a portal there for new business owners to go through the steps to become licensed, to have information about starting their business, taxation and what that requires for them, and just be better about educating people about those resources.

Thank you, Miss Jones.

Mr.

Engling.

I have worked my whole life.

I'm one of eight kids.

I know what it means to get up and work for something that you want.

I've worked for many small businesses here in the state of Indiana.

I've also filed my own small business with the Secretary of State's office.

And we have to make sure that the Secretary of State's office is focused, as the customer is the business owner, so that they can focus more on hiring Hoosiers, making money, being successful and not on weeding through the bureaucracy of the state House.

So as someone who has worked for a number of small businesses, I know the importance of that.

And they have already stood up an entrepreneurial office that the Secretary of State can work more closely with at the statewide level to ensure those tools are in the hands of, especially young entrepreneurs who want to get out there and be successful.

And we certainly work very closely with that office to help them find success.

Thank you, Mr.

Engling, Mr.

Ballard.

Thank you.

I think we all would agree that the website needs to be updated.

The technology is ancient, and it's, in its current form.

It's just it's just horrible, frankly.

also, one of the things I think we need to be looking at is the reregistration, now is two years, and we should be able to push that out to 3 to 4 years for established businesses and make that pretty simple for them so that they don't have to keep coming back to the website all the time, and then they can concentrate on entering the businesses.

The other thing that I think it'd be really important, especially for people who are new and what are they doing?

It takes a little time, to reach that business.

And they pay their $100 to register that business.

And maybe we should put links on here with the places like the Small Business Administration or the Service Corps.

Retired, executives that help these small businesses grow in their especially in their formative stages.

I think those things will make it a lot easier for small businesses to grow here in the state of Indiana.

Thank you, Mr.

Ballard.

Mr.

Bayh.

Well, there's likely some business owners watching tonight, and I know in my legal practice I help people set up businesses.

There's a lot of anxiety and pressure and that decision you're taking on sometimes loans, you have your family looking at you to provide your employees.

And when new business owners in this state look at the Secretary of State's office, they should see a good faith partner.

That's not what we have right now, and that's why we need fundamental change right now.

We have someone who's giving out no bid contracts to his largest donors, who's wasting our tax money on luxury vehicles.

As a new business owner in our state.

You can't trust someone like that.

And so that's why it's so important we audit the office to rebuild trust, and then we can work to modernize these systems, reduce our filing fee.

There's no reason Indiana shouldn't have the lowest business filing fee in the country and make the tools, which the Secretary of State's office oversees work for the business business owner and not for self-promotion on the part of the office holder.

Thank you,Mr.

Bayh.

Another important but often overlooked responsibility of the Office of Secretary of State involves securities regulation and investor protection.

Protecting Hoosiers from investment fraud is a key responsibility of the office.

What steps would you take to better protect investors, particularly seniors and those from vulnerable populations?

Mr.

Engling, we'll start with you.

The securities division is primarily a consumer protection function.

It's making sure that when folks like you and I are working with any type of finances or someone who's dealing in finances, that they understand the regulations and that they understand how to operate well inside of those regulations so that you and I are not defrauded.

It's a very important part of the office.

I think it's also important to make sure that the Prosecutor Assistance Unit, which was stood up not too long ago, is leaned into heavily.

So when you see fraud in securities all around the state, wherever it happens, that you can send someone with expertise from the Secretary of State's office directly to that county to help them further investigate and then prosecute that fraud insecurities.

We also have to make sure that we're working with those that are regulated in the industry and the educators in the office of Secretary of State, to make sure they have an excellent relationship, that they understand who their regulators are, and then how to follow those rules, because we know they want to do good work here in the state of Indiana.

They are doing good work here in the state of Indiana, and we want to give them that further opportunity.

Thank you, Mr.

Engling.

Mr.

Ballard, you know, the Secretary of State's office has civil authority here.

Civil enforcement actions here are not criminal.

And that goes to the, attorney general and the prosecutors involved.

And so I think we need to look at what that relationship is.

And where that crossover is.

I think it could use some refinement in that we have to really look at that relationship to make sure, because no one wants to see what seems to be fraud.

And we need we need to make sure that we get the word out.

I think the outreach on this is very important.

I think we probably would all agree with that, that the average on this is not as strong as it should be.

We need to make sure that the people who have the you absolute can be, are easier targets than others, I guess is the way to look at that and that they we reach out to them to make sure that they know that Secretary of State's office, is there for civil and that the attorney General's office is there for criminal activity.

Thank you, Mr.

Ballard.

Mr.

Bayh.

I have handled securities fraud investigations myself as an attorney at the federal level, and I want to bring some of that experience here to the state level, because having someone that's well informed about what securities fraud entails is beneficial in this office.

We talked a little bit earlier about the advance of AI that's going to make it, you know, particularly dangerous for some more vulnerable communities for fraud, particularly in our elderly communities who may be more susceptible to some of these tricks that people are pulling.

I want to use this office to inform those target communities about the telltale signs of deepfakes, of large language models deceiving them.

We have to be proactive here in catching this stuff before it happens, and then work with people, very strongly to make sure that they get the recompense that they're out.

Thank you.

Mr.

Bayh Miss Schillings.

Thank you.

I think we do need to do a better job of educating and informing our most vulnerable populations about the signs of fraud and what that is.

I think that the other portion of this office is managing the restitution funds.

Let's make these people whole after their prosecution of the bad actor.

And to make sure that they are compensated for what they have lost.

Thank you, Miss Schillings.

Let's return to an issue raised by voters in the communities across Indiana and when near and dear to my heart.

Participation in elections.

We heard from Shaun, a factory worker in Shelbyville.

Deborah, a retiree from Chesterton.

And Hayden, a legal assistant from Ashton and others who expressed concerns about low voter participation and barriers to voting.

Indiana does have some of the lowest voter turnout numbers in the country.

What specific actions can the Secretary of State do to increase participation while maintaining election security?

Mr.

Ballard, we'll start with you.

Yeah, that's a terrific question.

I think everybody's actually very, very concerned about this one.

And one of the things I really want to do is to, is to reach out to the voters with the voters guide, which I think is a very common sense and not a very expensive, piece of, piece of legislation that we could put forward to ensure that, you know, who you're voting on.

And I think that's really important, because right now, how many times have you gone in to the voting booth and said, who are these people?

Or you go in like you might this year and look and find out that there are two constitutional amendments on the ballot and you don't know anything about them.

I think those are things we really need to, to improve in this state because we are near the bottom, always in the bottom five of the states.

One other thing I think we need to really look at is physically going into the high schools and teaching them how to vote on the machines in their area.

I think that's critical.

And also, I think we need to look out for the long term future of the state to registering 17 year olds in high school so that they can vote as soon as possible so that they're comfortable with the voting process.

Thank you, Mr.

Ballard.

Mr.

Bayh.

We have one of the lowest voter participation rates in the country, and we have to improve that.

Our state is at its best when there are more voices participating in our democracy.

We need bold legislative legislative action to fix this.

First, we have to end straight ticket voting.

There's a lot of reasons why people don't vote, but chief among them, people do not participate because they feel like their vote doesn't matter.

I hear that all the time.

Well, there's some reasons for that.

We're one of only six states in the country which has a straight ticket voting system.

What this means is that the first page on your ballot won't have a list of names or offices on it.

It'll have political parties, red team, blue team.

And that reinforces some of the worst instincts of tribal politics.

We get rid of straight ticket voting.

We have people succeeding because they're the right person for the job.

And then we also have more competitive elections, which increases the likelihood that folks will participate.

We have to institute citizen led ballot initiatives as well.

That would put the biggest issues of the day on your ballot.

For you to have a direct saying that would really motivate people to get out and participate as well.

Thank you.

Mr.

Bayh Miss Schillings.

Thank you.

I think we really need to meet people where they're at today.

without spending millions of dollars on a printed voter guide.

Meet them digitally.

Have the information that's already on our website, readily available in a user interface that's able to use on your phone.

Let's make sure people get that information.

We can text registered voters and say, here's what's on your ballot.

Please come to our website to see it.

I think the other thing is barriers to voting.

A lot of people have mobility issues.

I would like to try to institute curbside voting for individuals who are simply not able to make it into the voting booth.

Let's have qualified individuals who are running that particular voting location, go out and meet those individuals so they can cast their ballot in a way that's meaningful for them.

Thank you, Miss Schillings.

Mr.

Engling.

I have actually served as an inspector in the polling places.

I've seen it firsthand that there's low turnout in our elections.

It's a challenge that we have to take head on, and one of the ways to do that is to clean up our voter rolls.

So very first, we know how many folks are actually participating.

Right now there's bloat in those voter rolls.

So we'll clean it up.

first thing the second thing is that we have to work with folks that need an extra opportunity, like our county veteran service officers, so that they can get extra information to veterans so that they can register so they can get out and vote and make sure they have all of the information that they need.

We can also work with community foundations and offering when they offer a scholarship, let students applying for those scholarships earn their community service by tabling at their high school, registering other students, and making sure that they get information directly out to their peers.

And then I think it's important to take resources, not mandated, mandates down from Indianapolis, say what you have to do, but resources that allow our clerks and election administrators to get that information directly out to those that need it.

Thank you, Mr.

English.

Mr.

Ballard, you requested rebuttal.

You have 30s, sir.

Yes.

Going back.

Going back to the voters guide.

We already have that by app.

We've developed already how to do this by precinct.

And it's not very expensive.

It's a penny for every hundred dollars that the state spends.

not to mention, we already pay for the primaries.

$10 million, annually for every time an election cycle comes in.

But we've already created.

And it can be on your phone.

very quickly, because the technology already exists.

Because we have it.

Thank you.

I want to follow up with a question on integrity.

Several of you mentioned the important role that county clerks play in our elections.

How would you work with local clerks to maximize voter's experience and confidence in the system?

Mr.. I will begin with you.

Well, it's very important that we, make sure that this the Secretary of State's office has a direct line of communication to all 92 county clerks throughout our state who are doing a fantastic job on a bipartisan basis, handling our elections.

I want to be a good resource for them, and I want to give them the tools to succeed their closest to the ground, and they can make those decisions.

But we got to give them the tools to do that.

So I'm looking forward to establishing good relationships with all of them.

I've already done that with several of them.

Just giving them the tools to succeed is important, and making sure that this office leads the way in, making sure that more people are participating, that we have bold legislative action that actually makes our democracy more vibrant.

as well.

Thank you.

Mr.

Bayh Miss Schillings.

I think we do need to provide ongoing tools and training for our county clerks, allow that information to be spread out throughout the state.

I think that, you know, we need to allow them to serve their voting public in the best way that they know how.

They know the people in their communities, they know the voting locations.

They know how to get this information.

There.

And I think that's one way we can truly support those county clerks, is give them the tools and training that they need, and ensure that everything that we can is up to date.

In the most recent technology.

Thank you, Miss Schillings.

Mr.

Engling.

Our clerks are doing excellent work around the state and I appreciate you for it.

I've talked to so many of you in counties around the state, and I thanked you directly for the work that you're doing, actually administering elections at the county level.

And it has to be a partnership.

You don't want to hear from Indianapolis a dictate of things you have to do.

We I will be a partner with you.

I've talked to the Clerks Association and made that real to them.

They know where I'm coming from.

We've also put real dates on the calendar to continue each of these conversations, so that we make sure we're a partner with you.

I think it is helpful to provide resources that are off the shelf so you can use them, but not a mandate for you to run elections the way Indianapolis wants you to do.

It's county by county.

And I think it's also important to note that we can have a lot of really good ideas, you know, from the statehouse, but if they can't be implemented at the clerk level, then you're just talking.

So we have to work directly to make sure as we're coming up with ideas and innovations and solutions, that we're working with the clerks who are doing excellent work across the state so those can actually be implemented.

Thank you, Mr.

Engling.

Mr.

Ballard.

anybody who's ever done training in their life knows that there has to be a baseline for training.

There has to be some sort of standard.

and here in the state of Indiana, the clerks train themselves and they're happy to do it with what they have right now.

This is what they're telling me.

I'm not mandating anything down to them at all.

I would not I would never do that.

But they have been asking for the state to get involved, keep them, not only keep them up to date, but if you're a new clerk, what do you do?

I talked to a former clerk just today.

Said she had to do the exact same thing.

You have to go out to another clerk to get the training, and anybody who trained one day in their life knows there has to be a baseline.

And that's what we have to do with the clerks.

because right now they are training each other.

They did a tremendous job, obviously, because because they are so tight as a group.

But they they're looking for help from Indianapolis.

They are looking for the help from the state House and the right now they're not getting it.

You have to ask them.

You really have to ask why is that not happening now?

Why is that?

Why is that not happening?

It could have happened at any time.

Thank you, Mr.

Ballard.

As we've had the opportunity to hear your responses thus far in the debate, there seem to be some differences between the candidates on whether an audit of the Secretary of State's office is needed, and whether a crackdown on non-citizens voters is needed.

Could you please clarify for our voters watching and listening at home where you stand on this position?

Ms.. Schillings, I'll ask you to go first.

I do believe we need to have a, strict look at the budget for this office to understand where we've gone astray.

We've all heard the headlines in the news about how our current Secretary of State has mismanaged the funds or mismanaged the office itself.

and when you said a crack down on.

Can you repeat that?

Yes.

Involving voters.

security, voter fraud, voter security and voter fraud.

Again, we have checks and balances already in place for what we're doing.

And I do believe that those are effective.

We have caught the individuals and they're very minimal.

And I, I think that we're in good shape there.

Thank you, Miss Schillings.Mr.

Engling.

Thank you.

I have said repeatedly that we need to work with the inspector general in the state House, who is an independent entity, to do the work that they are supposed to be doing and investigating the office and I have said repeatedly as well that when that audit happens that I would work with them as required if they asked for something from the office.

We will certainly work with them to find anything that's happening there.

And then they do their own due diligence to see where it goes from there and whether they need to further investigate or prosecute.

So yes, but importantly to the second question, I think when you're talking about only eligible voters voting in our elections, this was what the the question was, do we need to ensure that it's only US citizens voting in our elections?

The answer is an absolute yes, and I'm the only candidate that has said that and put that straight forward.

Whether it's in this debate or in the previous debate, we must have only eligible citizens voting in our elections.

Thank you, Mr.

English.

Mr.

Ballard.

That's a ludicrous assertion.

We all think that that's ludicrous.

Looking at this, going into that office, like I say, I've already called the law enforcement professional, and that's where I would start.

I would not start with the IG if it goes down there, that's great.

But the fact is, what we have seen publicly, publicly that everybody knows what's going on in that office has been, said many times during these debates.

There's much more behind that.

And we have to get to the bottom of all of this.

We absolutely do.

Because when you talk to people who have left the office, they'll tell you a different story than what you're saying publicly.

And there's three of us who will go in and do that.

We won't do it as required.

We're going to go in and do that.

And I think that's very important.

Thank you, Mr.

Ballard.

Mr.

England requested a 30 second rebuttal, but I'm going to allow first, Mr.

Bayh one minute to answer the question, and then I'll address that rebuttal.

Yeah.

So the folks at home were listening.

What you didn't hear from Max is that he would audit the office.

There's reason for that.

Max wants to pretend like the last four years of corruption that you witnessed never happened.

I will audit this office because spending money, your tax money on luxury SUVs and hiring relatives is unacceptable.

I'm not going to wait for some other entity to investigate this.

Maybe that's ridiculous.

We have to get to the bottom of this.

And you're misspeaking as well.

You're saying the three of us want illegal voting in our state?

That is untrue.

Untrue?

That's not what I said.

It's.

No, no, no.

I'm talking to him.

It's untrue.

I support voter I.D.. I think that makes common sense.

To make sure that the people who are voting in our state are doing so legally.

We have uncovered 22 instances of illegal voting.

You need to call your buddy, the attorney general and get him on the case.

You haven't done that.

Thank you, Mr.

Bayh.

Mr.

Ballard, if you'd like, you can have a 30 second rebuttal.

But first,Mr.

Engling, you have your 30s.

I would note that nobody here I would note that nobody here actually said that they would verify that it's a US citizens, except for me.

They said it's ludicrous.

They said they wouldn't do that.

But then they talked about voter ID.

You could rewind and go look at the other debate.

It's on my social media.

It's on the YouTube page for the entity that ran the debate, the Indi chamber.

They all said it was unduly burdensome to verify.

If you're a US citizen to be voting in our elections, that is a very big problem.

And they all said it directly.

Thank you, Mr.

English.

Mr.

Ballard, would you like 30s to.

That's not even close to true.

Not to mention your faction of the party wanted to subpoena voters to ask them how and why they voted.

That makes no sense at all.

You also said that the six ballots in the Deary Copenhagen case shouldn't been should have been thrown out.

The Supreme Court disagreed with you when the other three of us agreed with with what the Supreme Court said, and you want to be the chief elections officer, and you want to throw out six ballots where the voter intent was clear.

Good luck with that.

Mr.. BI, you requested a 30 second rebuttal.

I'd like to address Mr.

English.

We've already done a rebuttal on this question, so I'll move on after Mr.

Bayhs, but I'm sure we'll have the opportunity to address these comments in the next question.

Mr.. BI, you have 30s.

It's unfortunate.

We only have limited time with the audience, and Max is going to use some of it just making stuff up.

We don't think it's un unduly burdensome, burdensome to have to verify your citizenship status.

In fact, that's already federal law.

In order to register to vote, you do have to verify your citizenship status.

And so he's just spinning yarns.

I'll note that I offered three rebuttals that were taken for this question.

Mr.

schillings, would you like the opportunity to take a rebuttal?

I would actually, we already know that it's a felony to vote if you're not an American citizen.

There's already checks and balances in place.

What Mr.

Engling is trying to propose is that we have more burdensome rules and regulations for people who are legally allowed to vote, but they now have to prove if you're a divorced woman, if you have married, if you're adopted and you have to produce a birth certificate, it's an undue, burden for them.

It's an additional cost that not everyone on this stage would have to do.

Thank you.

We're going to move on to our next question.

Mr.

Engling, you will have the first opportunity to answer it.

Many voters asked about your views on policy issues.

Some of you have mentioned policy changes.

You'd like to see that the Indiana General Assembly passed to help you and your work as Secretary of State.

What specific policy changes would you advocate for?

Mr.. Engling?

The first one that I would advocate for, it goes back to the theme of ensuring that its only eligible citizens voting in our elections, which you can rewind the tape on yourself to watch the previous debates and see that I'm telling you the direct truth on this about what my opponents have said, but I would say that one of the things that we can do is work with the state House to change the color of the background of an ID.

That way, if you are here legally and you are working, that's wonderful, but we want you to make sure that you're only voting if you're a U.S.

citizen.

So if you change the color on the ID, which is a state House function, and folks that I'm already working with people at the statehouse to do that, I think it's important.

So we ensure proactively that it's only folks that are eligible that are voting in our elections.

Thank you, Mr.

English.

Mr.

Ballard, you know, there are two things that come to mind right away.

One is the Recount Commission, which is a very political body right now because the Secretary of State for political office is in there.

Two appointees, one Republican, one Democrat.

And as we just saw, the recount commission certainly on orders from their higher ups in the party, voted to throw out those six votes that were is an unbelievable move on their part.

And of course, a couple of weeks later, I was in that, session with the Supreme Court where they were basically asking, what are we doing here?

The intent here is very clear.

That needs to be five retired judges, no political appointees.

The other one is the election commission, which should have been voted, which should have met by now to look at campaign finance issues.

But because it's two Republicans and Democrats on that election commission, they're not meeting either because they don't want to meet.

Those should be that those duties should be handed off to administrative law judges to make sure that the people see that this is fair for everybody, because right now the two parties are really hampering what is the right thing to do.

Thank you, Mr.

Ballard.

Mr.

Bayh.

Yeah.

We have to end straight ticket voting here in Indiana.

It's bad policy to have people succeeding, not on their individual merits, but based only on their party affiliation.

That doesn't make sense.

We ought to have people succeeding to these very important offices because of the right person for the job, not because we're wearing the right color jersey.

So we have to end straight ticket voting.

That makes our elections more competitive.

That also holds our politicians more accountable because there are repercussions for bad acts at the ballot box.

We have to implement citizen led ballot initiatives here in our state.

I trust the 5 million registered Hoosier voters to have a more direct saying.

Some of the biggest issues that you're facing.

I trust you.

I want you to have a direct say in those big issues.

If we did that, we'd have better policy, and a whole host of things would also really motivate people to get off their couch and into their polling place to solve our participation problem as well.

Thank you, Mr.

Bayh.

Miss Schilling.

I want the viewers to know that this is not a policy making role.

This is an administrative role to give services to the people of Indiana for business, voting and licensing.

That being said, I could be an advocate for you in the state House if a good policy would come forward to help you.

If straight ticket voting would be eliminated, I would be in favor of that.

If we could reduce red tape for licensing for our businesses, I would be in favor of that also.

If you have something you'd like to bring forward that I could be an advocate for you, I would be happy to do so.

Thank you, Miss Schillings.

Before we get to our final questions of the evening, let's briefly discussed campaign finance transparency.

Many voters say they want to know who's funding political campaigns and political advertising before they cast a ballot.

Indiana voters, do you believe currently have enough information?

And if you believe, they do not.

What changes would you support?

Mr.

Ballard, you'll go first.

I would like the Election Commission to actually hold a meeting, which there should be required to do, but apparently they're not at the chairman's discretion.

So, that's the one thing I'd like to do.

We want to make sure that the website operates well.

We want to be as transparent as possible within the law, and I think we can.

We can do that.

there are there are going to be always a little bit here and there.

Little couple of mistakes.

We made a couple of mistakes early on when we switched out treasurers, but we corrected that very quickly.

So I think we we need to make sure that, those things are handled as quickly as possible, but also to make sure that there's transparency, on online for the voters.

But also the Election Commission actually has to meet to discuss on issues, because right now they're not.

Thank you, Mr.

Ballard.

Mr.

Bayh.

We need to update this website, because it's almost as hard by design to find out who's funding who's campaigns right now.

It should be very intuitive and operate just like everyone's favorite search engine that you almost use on a daily basis.

People should know who's funding who's campaign.

That's why it's extremely concerning.

Then Max Lang accepted an illegal campaign contribution from a dark money group.

And for the folks at home, a dark money group does not have to disclose any of its donors.

You return that campaign contribution because you got caught.

And then when you're asked by the South Bend Tribune about it, you said, we're going to look for another way to get that money.

We don't.

We should know who's funding who's campaigns.

And it should be disqualifying the person overseeing campaign finance transparency to be okay with accepting money from dark money groups.

Thank you.

Mr.

Bayh.

We're going to state in our 60 second addressing order, which gives Miss Schillings next answer.

And then,Mr.

Engling, you've raised your hand for rebuttal.

I'll give you 90s as both a rebuttal and your response to that question, because you were mentioned by name by Mr.. By miss.

So you have 60s.

Thank you.

I do agree that we need more transparency.

And who's paying for your politicians?

If we had a functional website that you could look through and understand who's funding each politician in a way that's fluid and responsive, you could then see who's donating to those individual PACs and then understand if those particular donors align with your beliefs.

And if you think that's okay.

We need to have a standardized website that is from the state down to county clerk level, so that each entry for finance is easy to enter, easy to understand, and easy to search.

Thank you, Miss Schillings.

Now to clarify, Mr.

Engling, you still have the 60s to address the initial question, plus 30 additional section seconds as part of the rebuttal.

Since you were named.

Thank you.

I will note that, what my Democratic opponent has said, we did the right thing when no one was looking.

We got a donation that was in the gray area.

And our compliance team, who is the best?

They said, we think that there may be an issue here.

And so we're going to return those funds and make sure that we don't have an issue.

We did that.

We returned it, and we did it when no one was looking.

There was a complaint filed from someone who didn't know what was happening.

And we addressed the complaint as well.

I think it is important to make sure that campaign finance, to the original question, is easily accessible, and my campaign manager, state Rep Kyle Pierce, already has authored a piece of legislation on this to make sure that the website is more transparent, that we know who is donating funds and that it's easier to use the website.

So we're ahead of the curve on this, making sure that you at home know who is funding these campaigns.

And we're doing the right thing, not just when we're called out.

We're doing the right thing when no one's watching.

And that's what I appreciate about my campaign.

And you should have confidence when you send me.

If you give me that responsibility in November, that I will work on your behalf and you have confidence in the office.

Thank you, Mr.

Engling.

Before our final question, we have one more we'd like to ask.

This will be a 30 second question.

So 30s per candidate with four candidates in the race.

Some voters were not sure how to choose among you.

I do hope they're better informed after our debate this evening.

what would you say most clearly distinguishes you from your opponents?

And again, we'll have 30s for each answer.

Mr.

Bayh.

You can go first.

Well, I've been very clear since the day we launched this campaign that my main priority in seeking this office is cleaning up the corruption and insider dealing that has consumed it.

I will conduct an independent audit of this office.

I have pledged to no other person on the stage tonight.

Has made the same pledge to not trade individual stocks.

Should I be successful?

No donor to our campaign will be awarded a secretary state contract.

That is the type of integrity and transparency that Hoosiers deserve in this very important office.

I hope you're in your support.

Thank you.

Mr.

Bayh.

Miss Schillings.

I want the viewers to know that I'm one of you.

Born and raised in Indiana.

I've worked several jobs multiple times during my entire life.

I work to balance my budget at the end of the week, just like everyone else.

I don't answer to big donors, and I don't answer to special interests.

I want people to know that I'm here to do this job.

This is not a stepping stone for me.

I'm dedicated to do the work of the Secretary of State alone.

Thank you, Miss Sykes.

Mr.

Engling.

Indiana is doing good things.

We know that we're a positive growth state, and I'm committed to making sure we build on those good things.

And as the candidate with the most experience for this role, it's important to know that I've worked with small businesses.

I've failed my own small business.

I worked for the chief Elections Committee in the U.S.

House, and I worked with the legislatures, both federal level and here in the General Assembly, to make sure we can get good priorities across the finish line on your behalf.

And I'm the only candidate that has committed to ensuring election integrity.

Thank you, Mr.

English.

Mr.

Ballard.

Such a ludicrous statement.

The.

I, People know how hard I had to work just to get on the ballot.

Both parties have in place laws and policies that preclude independents from getting on the ballot.

They make it as hard as possible.

We want more voter choice into the future.

Into the future.

Because right now it is a rigged system that only allows the two major parties to participate fully when when you are in that voting booth.

That has to change, and I'm here to change it.

Thank you.

Now it's time for our final question this evening.

We've covered a wide range of responsibilities associated with the office.

So we'll conclude with this for our final question, which will serve as your closing statement.

Each each candidate has 30s to respond.

The question is this why should Hoosiers cast their votes for you to become the new Secretary of State?

Michelle, you'll be answering this question first.

You have 30s.

If you're tired of a political machine that wants to keep us divided instead of united to make a better future, I'm running for you.

Political parties in power for too long.

I'd like to keep that power.

They want to feel entitled to your vote.

They want to feel entitled to your tax dollars.

I want you to know that I'm working to make a better tomorrow with you as your next Secretary of State.

Thank you, Miss Schillings.

Mr.

England, you have 30s.

I know what it means to be a Hoosier.

I've lived here, worked here, went to school here, met and married my wife here.

My son was born here.

We go to the same church that we started attending 20 years ago.

I'm feeding a family of six right here in Indiana.

And I know what you are going through.

I'm also the candidate that has the most experience for this role and the candidate that's committed to election integrity.

And for those reasons, I would ask for your vote now or through November 3rd.

And I would very much appreciate your support.

Thank you, Mr.

English.

Mr.

Ballard, you have 30s.

If you ever wanted more voter choice when you were in that voting booth, this is that opportunity.

I worked hard not to just get myself on the ballot, but I want to get ensure that people in the future are able to get on that ballot without that punitive signature requirement that I had to go through just for this office.

We need to ensure that these elections are fair for everybody.

The people who want to run for office can do so at a much higher clip than they can right now, because the what the Democrats and Republicans have put in place, we need to have more choice into the future, and I will do that.

Thank you, Mr.

Ballard.

Mr.

Bayh.

I had the privilege of my life serving as a captain in an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps and in the units that I was privileged to command.

People come from every, every walk of life, from all over the country.

That's one of the best parts about our nation's military folks.

We didn't always agree on everything, but at the end of the day, we came together despite those disagreements, achieve some very difficult missions.

There's too much division and fear and anger in our politics today, and there's too many politicians that seek to divide Americans and Hoosiers rather than unite us.

I want to be the type of leader in the statehouse that tries to bring us together.

I'm asking for your support this November.

Thank you.

Mr.

Bayh.

Candidates.

On behalf of the Indiana Debate Commission, thank you for participating in tonight's debate.

The commission is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and media outlets across the state to make events like these possible.

The commission also wants to thank our sponsors, the Indiana Broadcasters Association, the Indiana State Bar Association, and the League of Women Voters of Indiana.

Finally, thanks to all of you and our audience of voters for submitting questions and topic ideas and for watching or listening.

Now it's time to make your choice and cast your vote in this year's election for the Indiana Debate Commission.

I'm Laura Merrifield Wilson.

Good night.