This story was originally published by TheStatehouseFile.com
By Anna Cecil
TheStatehouseFile.com
August 19, 2025
As they have for many years, the Katz family visited the Indiana State Fair on $2 Tuesday to partake in the array of sweet and savory deals.
Barry and Zoe Katz wandered the fairgrounds on Aug. 5 and enjoyed dressed-up sheep, a $2 key-lime pie milkshake, some walleye sliders and even fried cookie dough. As they collected souvenirs to remember their visit, they found themselves in need of a bag to carry their state-fair swag.
So, like many other fair attendees, they grabbed a much-needed plastic sack at Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales’ voter registration tent outside of the Indiana Arts Building.
The tent attracted Hoosiers with goodies including the bag, which was marked with the Indiana Secretary of State’s seal, Morales’ name, the words, “VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!” and the Indiana voters’ portal link. The stand also offered chip clips, election guide books and can koozies— all with his name prominently displayed on them.
More important than the freebies, Morales’ team of staff and volunteers were also giving fair attendees the opportunity to register to vote and update or check their voter registration status.
Fair goers can do this every day at the fair at various smaller booths across the grounds, but $2 Tuesdays are sponsored by Morales’ office, hence the larger initiative.
Sarah Lehman, Morales’ deputy director of communications, said this was his administration’s third year holding the event and sponsoring $2 Tuesdays, which happen twice during the fair.
However, some voting-rights groups and voters questioned whether Morales was using his office’s presence at the fair to bolster his own campaign for reelection in 2026. He has been accused in the past of using his office for self-promotion.
As Lehman helped fair goers register to vote and handed out free goodies, she told TheStatehouseFile.com that the event does not have anything to do with party politics, despite the clear Morales branding on everything from the tent his constituents sat under to munch on their $2 treats, to the bag that held their Diego Morales coloring book.
On Aug. 12, she clarified that although he is a Republican on the 2026 ticket, Morales’ office is nonpartisan, and he does not use events like $2 Tuesdays to promote his candidacy.
“He’s not campaigning here,” Lehman said. “He’s just trying to get people to come over and register.”
Linda Hanson, president of the League of Women Voters Indiana, said that although the Secretary of State’s office and its voter registration initiatives should be kept non-partisan, her organization’s concern is that things like the event at the Indiana State Fair promote Morales’ name more than registering Hoosiers to vote.
In October last year, the league filed an ethics complaint to the state ethics commission director and the inspector general. The group accused Morales of printing his name larger than the name of his office on certain election guide materials that were distributed before the 2024 general election.
Although Morales was not on the ballot in that election, Hanson and the league thought it appeared as a “campaign ploy.”
While Hanson did not attend the fair this year, she said her fellow league members were “startled and appalled” by the visibility of Diego Morales’ name on his tent, voter pamphlets and the free items his team handed out. She said they would rather the SOS’s office be promoted instead of Morales himself.
“It could have been handled very differently if they want to make sure it is appearing non-partisan to all viewers,” Hanson told TheStatehouseFile.com. “The concern is the perception and the perception is that it is there to hype up Diego Morales as opposed to the work of the secretary of state’s office.”
Despite the concerns of the League of Women Voters, other fairgoers who stopped by the Secretary of State’s booth were appreciative of the services and swag offered.
Tiffany Koehler said her kids were drawn to the booth by the free coloring books, but she appreciated the secretary of state spreading awareness of voting and voter registration at places like the Indiana State Fair.
Charles Scott, who like Barry Katz stopped at the tent because he needed a bag, also thought the initiative was beneficial, even though he knew his registration was up to date.
“We vote every year,” Scott said.
Although Barry, like the others, was in favor of encouraging Hoosiers to register to vote he said he “despises” Morales.
“He’s shady, self-promoting, borderline illegal,” Barry said. “They’re probably doing it at the state fair because they think that people coming to the state fair are more rural and probably would vote his way.”
Lehman responded by saying the voter registration initiative aims to attract all types of Hoosiers, not just the state’s rural residents.
“We don’t care what you look like. We don’t ask where you’re from. We don’t ask what party you vote for,” Lehman, who was working the booth all day, told TheStatehouseFile.com. “There’s no rhyme or reason for who gets registered. Wherever they live, wherever they’re from, they can absolutely come here.”
In 2026 voters will be electing the secretary of state. Hanson said, since many voters might not do ample research before they cast their ballot, seeing a name they recognize could be a factor in how they vote.
“Name recognition is going to get him votes,” Hanson said. “Name recognition is a big issue when you’re running for office.”
In addition to questions about campaigning, Morales has also been criticized for a possible attempt to purge the state’s voting rolls less than a month before the 2024 general election.
In October last year, Morales and Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita asked U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to verify the citizenship status of more than 585,000 Hoosier voters.
In April, after the federal agency did not respond to their request, the two state officials filed a lawsuit against the federal government for not allowing them to review the list of voters.
Last month, Morales signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to get access to Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE), which is a system that he will use to investigate someone’s immigration status based on provided documents and other government records.
The service was originally intended to be used by government entities that need an individual’s citizenship status to provide them with benefits and licenses.
Morales promoted the agreement as helping to ensure safe and secure elections.
“This agreement is another step in safeguarding the rights of every eligible Hoosier voter and reflects our commitment to protecting the integrity of our elections,” he said in a press release.
Some critics say it may not be able to accurately process and identify large quantities of data like voter rolls. A July 2025 analysis from the Brennan Center for Justice highlighted concerns with the SAVE system, which contains incomplete and outdated information.
“The U.S. government and nonprofit groups have warned that overreliance on the SAVE program for the purposes of voter list maintenance can lead to errors, false negatives, and wrongful voter purges,” the Brennan Center report said.
Anna Cecil is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
