Has Diego Morales' new campaign ads violate the law on the law on the state elections law?

Foreign Minister Diego Morales' new re -election campaign video seems to contain film material that during an official visit to Marion County, a mixed campaign and official activities that the top priority officer of Indianapolis is accepted against, against state law.

To put it more, it accuses the officials of implementing the state's electoral laws in order to violate precisely these laws.

Morales, a Republican who was elected to the top election officer in Indiana for the first time in 2022, published an early campaign video for the 2026 election on May 1, in which his commitment to secure the elections in Indiana was emphasized.

The video includes recordings of an earlier visit, which he has made to a limited, non -public area of Marion County's election service center, in which volunteers cross -party teams run through the ballot paper in order to determine whether they are entitled to count, said Marion County Clark Kate Sweeney Bell. The video also includes film material from the early coordination in the city building of an official visit to the Morales office.

The visit of Morales in the rooms was an opportunity “to find out in real time for the hard work and the commitment of the state election officers in Hoosiers and the commitment to free and fair elections,” said Bell, Democrat.

In other words, it shouldn't be a campaign display.

“At no point in the volunteers and employees who were recorded in the film material were still agreed in a campaign display, and they also agreed.” Carry out campaign -related activities. “

Sweeney Bell asks for “immediate action” to ensure that the campaign no longer uses or shares the campaign video with this film material. It indicates that “you will consider” all available options for further persecution of this matter “if this is necessary.

The Morales office sent a short answer to several questions that Indystar sent on Wednesday about how his campaign was given access to the film material: “Our office does not offer any materials outside of the official use,” said spokeswoman Lindsey Eaton. She did not answer a question of whether she would be removed from the video.

The Indiana code explicitly limits the government employees to deliberately ask contributions or to deal with the election or defeat of a candidate for state property during working hours.

Morales has recently been increased by a 10-day trip to India with a mysterious source of financing that gives its employees, including a broken-in-broke that gives six figures for campaign donors without BID BID Contract, as well as for the purchase of the purchase of his office of $ 90,000.

Julia Vaughn, Executive Director of Common Cause Indiana, a state watchdog Advocacy Group, said that the campaign material was another example of moral to “play quickly and easily with the rules”.

“There are clearly bright lines between someone who does his job as a civil servant, and then someone who works for a public office,” said Vaughn. “These are things that are supposed to be kept separately. It is disappointing that someone who has been in office for a few years now would make such a mistake. It is sloppy and should comply with the request of the employee.”

Vaughn pointed out that there was a pattern of moral that seemed to defend the right to vote by Indiana, although it has its job to maintain it.

Shortly before the 2022 elections, in which he was selected by the voters as the main elections in Indiana, Indystar reported that he seemed to have lived in a district in a county, while in previous elections in a different election, he seemed to be a violation of the Indiana electoral law.

Public records show that Morales held a main residence in Marion County in 2018, while he voted twice in Hendricks County who were registered at a temporary address. Morales has refused to comment on this claim in the past.

In his new campaign video, which was published on May 1st, it says in a voice -over that Morales' first priority is the eligibility and that he has worked on expanding the Voter -ID law of Indiana to improve the proof of the residency requirements and much more.

“Through these efforts, Indiana today is a top 10 for voting security,” said the video voice -over.

One of the areas shown in Morales' campaign video is a limited area in the election service center in the East Washington Street, which is only accessible by employees and volunteers from the Marion County Election Board or the guests with registration information.

In this room, thousands of ballot papers flow through the center during each election, and a cross -party team of workers ensures that this ensures that

According to the local officials, candidates cannot access the area due to security concerns. Local civil servants believe that the film material comes from 2024 or 2023.

Morales already has a Republican opponent for the 2026 elections: Knox County Clerk David Shelton. Shelton previously competed against Morales to nominate Republicans in the 2022 elections.

In a press release on May 7, in which he announced his candidacy, Shelton Morales criticized the office for “mismanagement”.

Contact the Senior Government Accountability Reporter Hayleigh Colombo at hcolombo@indystar.com. Register for our free weekly politics, Checks & Balances, from Indystar Political and Government Reporters.

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