Menu
Lawson: Modernization an ongoing challenge
In her nearly five years in the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office, modernization has been at the forefront of her duties, Connie Lawson told the Kiwanis Club of Greencastle Thursday.
The call of duty has ranged from updating servers and operating systems within the office to serving businesses across the state through InBiz, a one-stop source for hundreds of thousands of businesses across the state for registering and managing their companies and ensuring they comply with state laws and regulations.
Among the various duties of the Secretary of State’s office is overseeing the commissions for notaries public around the state. This process could also be modernized if one local state legislator has his way, Lawson said.
District 37 Sen. Rodric Bray is sponsoring a bill to modernize the notary public system in Indiana. It is Bray’s hope, one shared by Lawson and her office, that the bill will move Indiana to e-notorization and remote notorization, bringing it in line with other states that have modernized their processes.
Of course, this is just one small part of the duties of Lawson’s office. The duties are split between the Auto Dealer Services Division, Securities Division, Business Services Division and the Election Division.
During a lunchtime meeting at the Inn at DePauw, Lawson gave a brief description of each division, summarizing the ways in which they are trying to serve Hoosiers more efficiently.
Of course, no division draws more public attention than the Election Division. Ongoing efforts in this area concern election security and trasparency.
“Other than long lines on Election Day, I think voters here in Indiana felt confident that they were safe and secure,” Lawson said.
Referencing the hack of the Democratic National Committee, Lawson emphasized that the campaign system is completely different from the voter registration and election reporting systems that the state oversees.
She also talked about the steps taken to ensure that voter counts are not compromised.
“The voting machines are not connected to each other, nor are they connected to the internet,” Lawson said.
“It would be almost impossible for somebody to change the outcome of our results.”
Asked if increased early voting — up to 33 percent statewide and 28 percent locally — might compromise final outcomes, Lawson again expressed optimism.
“There is no vote in the state of Indiana that’s counted before Election Day,” she said.
After 16 years of serving portions of Putnam County as the District 24 state senator, Lawson said she enjoys her travels throughout the state, but loves being back in her “second home.”
Lawson and husband Jack reside in Danville.
“Because of all these travels it’s really important to me to be close to home,” Lawson said.