Central Vision

As Secretary of State, Vop Osili will be an advocate for voters, business owners and investors.

The Vision to Work for Free and Equal Elections

The Indiana Constitution guarantees Hoosiers the most fundamental of all rights promised by a government founded in Democracy – the right to vote.  Voting should be one of the simplest and easiest of all of our fundamental rights to exercise.  Voting is far from simple in Indiana.  Indeed, at no time in the history of Indiana have more barriers been attached to the voting process.

Hoosiers need a voter advocate to serve as the chief election officer of Indiana.  Hoosiers need a secretary of state who will not be afraid to take the cause of Hoosier voters to the Statehouse.   While we want to make certain that no one casts more than one vote, it does not mean that we must adopt rules and procedures that make it impossible for some voters to even cast a single vote.   As the chief election officer in the greatest state in the greatest democracy in the world, the Secretary of State of Indiana must be willing to forego politics and serve as an advocate for all voters, regardless of their political affiliation.  As chief election officer, the Indiana Secretary of State has a duty to hear and understand the needs of the voters, to implement policies that ensure everyone entitled to vote is able to do so, with ease.  But, the responsibility of the Secretary of State does not stop there.

The work to ensure free and equal elections does not mean that we only ensure voters are able to access the ballot box.  The Secretary of State also has a duty to hear and understand the needs of the local election officials, and groups dedicated to promoting fair and open elections and to implement actions that positively impact and clarify the voting process.  This means that as chief election officer, the Secretary of State must provide guidance and resources for local elections boards and prosecutors to investigate and prosecute voter fraud as well as voter intimidation.  The Secretary of State must assist in dealing with potential voter registration fraud while also working to implement common sense voter registration policies.

The Secretary of State must look at opportunities to modernize our processes for voting; on-line voter registration, longer voting hours, more early voting sites, no reason absentee voting, and fully accessible voting sites for all Hoosiers.  Vop stands ready to make all these things happen.

Please let us know your thoughts on these and other issues you think we need to consider.