The Indiana Recount Commission moved its meeting to determine whether Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White was a legal candidate for the office from Thursday to today, apparently to make sure the three-member commission had ample time to deliberate and vote. Many observers think the decision will come down to Thomas E. Wheeler II, the commission’s chairman.
Under this reasoning, Democratic commission member Bernard Pylitt will vote against White, a Republican. The longest-serving member, Gordon Durnil, is a former longtime state Republican Party chairman and seems unlikely to vote against White and give the secretary of state’s office to the Democratic runner-up, Vop Osili.
Not that Wheeler, an Indianapolis attorney, is nonpartisan: He has been a delegate to GOP conventions and is general counsel for the Mike Pence for governor campaign. He has previously been associated with the campaigns of Mitch Daniels, Tony Bennett and Matt Kelty, among others.
But some observers thought Wheeler’s line of questions in last week’s hearing was tough, and he ruled against White on a key motion – whether the attorney presenting the case against White asked questions designed to help solicit answers that would be helpful to prosecutors in a criminal case against White.
One of the few legal qualifications to run for secretary of state is to be a registered voter, and that requires living in the precinct where a voter is registered. Democrats produced evidence showing that White listed his address on some documents as being different from the one where he was registered.
Two sets of books
Many Hoosiers still likely have not grasped the implications of a new law that allows certain criminal records to be sealed.
Here are two:
•The Indiana General Assembly has given job prospects permission to lie on applications.
•Courts will now have the equivalent of two sets of books regarding criminal convictions – one the public can see and one the criminal justice system can see.
And the worst part: These implications received little attention in the legislature’s debate on the issue.
The law allows people convicted of misdemeanors and the least-severe felonies, Class D, to petition for the convictions – and arrests – to be sealed from public view after eight years from the end of their sentence if they have a clean record since the conviction.
The law gives those affected permission to lie, stating: “The person may legally state on an application for employment or any other document that the person has not been arrested for or convicted of the felony or misdemeanor.”
This law means sheriff’s departments must alter jail records to indicate the convicted criminal was never there. Police must seal arrest records. County clerks will have to have separate court files for those convictions that will be hidden from the public. Information on the courts’ websites will have to be removed.
