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'Blow the whistle': Indiana's top election official spends $35k on security guide mailings • Indiana Capital Chronicle

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'Blow the whistle': Indiana's top election official spends k on security guide mailings • Indiana Capital Chronicle


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Hundreds of election administrators, lawmakers, law enforcement officers and others across Indiana — and beyond— slit open heavy white cardboard boxes this spring to uncover glossy election security guides from the state’s top election official, Secretary of State (SOS) Diego Morales.

“Blow the whistle on election interference,” the thick, spiral-bound books read. They’re accompanied by whistles strung on lanyards.

The 180-page document, per SOS spokeswoman Lindsey Eaton, is “a new addition to the library of election guides produced and distributed by the state for election administrators.”

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Assembling and shipping 600 guides cost a whopping $35,070. That’s $58.45 each.

Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales shakes hands with Tipton County election workers in a photo posted on May 7, 2024 — Primary Election Day. (From SOS’ X account)

Each booklet cost about $45 to print, and each lanyard with whistle and card was about $1.45, according to Eaton. Packing and shipping cost approximately $12 per guide. SOS paid for the initiative with a 2023 State Homeland Security Grant.

“Secretary Morales firmly believes there’s no price tag when it comes to the safety of our election workers,” Eaton said in written responses to a Capital Chronicle inquiry. She highlighted Morales’ three months of visits to all of the state’s 92 counties and said he’d heard “safety concerns” from the election officials he met on the way.

Poll threats and harassment

Ahead of the 2022 midterm election, rural and urban election officials alike told the Capital Chronicle they’d heard negative comments but not threats and harassment.

But abuse appears to be on the rise.

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In a national survey of more than 900 election officials released this month, 38% of the officials reported having experienced abuse, harassment or threats because of their election work. That was up from 30% in 2023, according to the left-leaning Brennan Center for Justice, which conducts the surveys.

Of the 16% who specifically said they’d been threatened — defined as expressions communicating an intention to harm or injure that imply imminent risk to a person’s well-being and safety — more than half said the threats were made in person. They also came in over the phone, email, social media, snail mail and more, according to the survey.

Seven in 10 respondents said they felt threats against election officials have increased since 2020, the same share as in 2023.

A Marion County poll inspector works on an electronic poll-book during training on Thursday, April 19, 2024. (Leslie Bonilla Muñiz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

Indiana office-holders are paying attention.

State lawmakers approved legislation in March making it a Level 6 felony to threaten an election worker as well as to obstruct, interfere with, or injure an election worker. As for SOS?

“Leading up to the November General Election, (Morales) continues to place a major emphasis on keeping poll workers and election administrators safe,” Eaton wrote. “The election security guides and materials were designed to encourage threat awareness and informed election security and safety collaboration and response between election administrators and allied resources including state and federal emergency response agencies, local law enforcement, and local emergency response agencies.”

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That’s why local law enforcement agencies, county emergency management offices, state and federal emergency management offices, were among the recipients.

In addition to county clerks and election administration offices, the office also sent guides to state lawmakers, Indiana’s congressional delegation, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, members of the National Association of Secretary of States Election Committee and the Voting System Technical Oversight Program (VSTOP) at Ball State University. VSTOP tests all the election equipment used in Indiana.

What’s inside

The guide is a “compilation of materials from authoritative sources,” including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, four state agencies, a county election board and the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections. Law enforcement and election officials created the latter in 2022 to address violence against election workers and voters.

Just below its list of sources and acknowledgements, however, the guide warns readers the information inside may not be correct.

“This publication is a collection of materials from cited sources. It is presented for education and illustrative purposes and is not intended to be relied on as a legal resource, definitive guidance or administrative directive,” it says. “The State of Indiana does not warrant, and assumes no liability that the information contained herein is complete, up to date, correct, or applicable in any particular situation or circumstance.”

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“Election administrators, election workers, and persons responsible for safe, secure, and reliable elections are advised to consult with their own legal, security, and public safety advisers about specific situations and actions,” it continues.

The document, which has 18 sections, takes on polling place security plans, election infrastructure security, election worker attacks, suspicious election mail, doxing, swatting, artificial intelligence, photo identification and more.

“The focus of the program is on election worker and voter safety, election security, and state election administration as a component of ‘National Critical Infrastructure,’” Eaton said. “The guide and materials are part of the Secretary of State’s multi-dimensional 2024 program for election safety and security which also includes production of audio-visual training materials, regional training and collaboration seminars, and production and hosting of web accessible election security information.”

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It’s not public, however. Eaton said it “has not yet” been published online. High printing costs mean there aren’t physical copies available for everyday residents “at this time,” she added.

SOS photocopied the first four pages of the guide, embedded below, in response to the Capital Chronicle’s inquiry.

2024 Blow the Whistle on Election Interference introduction 5-8-24

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50+ Indiana counties under travel advisories after snow storm. See map

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50+ Indiana counties under travel advisories after snow storm. See map


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At least 50 Indiana counties are under a travel advisory, and 20 counties were issued a travel watch for Dec. 14, following an overnight snow storm.

The Indiana Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) travel advisory map has each county shaded in red for a travel warning, orange for a travel watch, yellow for a travel advisory and gray for a county without an elevated status report on it’s current travel conditions.

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Here’s how you can check your county to see where it lands on the map.

Travel advisory

According to DHS, a travel advisory is the lowest level of a related advisory.

“Routine travel or activities may be restricted in areas because of a hazardous situation, and individuals should use caution or avoid those areas,” the department says on its website.

Watch advisory

According to DHS, a watch advisory is issued when conditions are threatening to a county’s safety.

“Only essential travel, such as to and from work or in emergency situations, is recommended, and emergency action plans should be implemented by businesses, schools, government agencies and other organizations,” the department’s website states.

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Warning advisory

According to DHS, a warning advisory is the highest level of a related advisory, where people may be told not to travel at all.

“Travel may be restricted to emergency management workers only,” the department’s website states.

Here’s the winter weather info you need

🚨 Indiana Weather Alerts: Warnings, Watches and Advisories.

⚡ Indiana power outage map: How to check your status.

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💻 Internet outages: How to track them.

🚫 What you should and shouldn’t do when the power is out.

🐶 Your neighbor left their pet outside. Who you should call.

Indianapolis weather radar

Jade Jackson is a public safety reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON



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What Darian DeVries, Tucker DeVries Said After Indiana Basketball’s Loss at Kentucky

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What Darian DeVries, Tucker DeVries Said After Indiana Basketball’s Loss at Kentucky


LEXINGTON, Ky. — Indiana basketball coach Darian DeVries and senior forward Tucker DeVries met with reporters after the Hoosiers’ 72-60 loss to Kentucky on Saturday night at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

Here’s what the DeVries duo said during their near-seven-minute press conference.


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Q: I guess, Darian, it’s sort of another night where it feels like it just kind of gets difficult to really break down an opponent off the dribble, kind of get that inside-out sort of paint touch to three looks you want, just like what, I guess, are you guys, what’s not happening there, what’s just kind of sort of failing at the source offensively when that’s not working? 

DD: Yeah, I thought the first half, you know, we got some pretty good action, pretty good movement, I thought the second half, Kentucky certainly turned up the pressure and was able to get into us and we didn’t respond well enough and we turned the ball over too much and live ball turnovers against them are really hard because now they’re out in transition playing in space, so the turnovers and the offensive rebounding, I mean, that flipped the game around that second half. 

Q: On Kentucky’s long run, what was the problem there?

Yeah, I thought the turnovers, it was a combination of things, I thought, you know, we left our feet a few times, I thought we just, you know, got on our heels a little bit and didn’t play as disciplined as we needed to, you know, as that, you know, the crowd got cranked up and things, that’s the time where you got to really dig in a little bit more, your screen’s got to be better, you got to play off of two feet more, and then the offensive rebounds, you know, they just went and got them and, you know, we didn’t do a good enough job of creating space and getting bodies and going and securing the ball. 

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Q: What do you think you need to improve on, the team needs to improve on against ball pressure at the point of attack? 

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DD: Yeah, the number one thing when you get at ball pressure is everything from an execution standpoint and a movement standpoint, it’s just got to be done with more force, you can’t continue just to get pushed out and everybody stands, so you have to find ways to give yourself up with a back hook, give yourself up with a screen, set up those screens with more force, you know, and get some movement to, you know, even as, you know, they had gotten ahead and we started to break it off a little bit, once we got movement again, we were able to get those clean looks or better looks, so it’s something we got to get better at, there’s no question.

Q: Tucker, your individual line tonight was really great, I mean, your effort was fantastic, 15 points, 7 rebounds, a lot of the three point shots tonight didn’t go down like they normally do for the Hoosiers, what do you think that is, was it just not seeing the basket as well, was it the defense, was it not in the offense where you were getting clean looks? 

TUCKER DEVRIES: To be honest, making and missing shots, I thought tonight, honestly, wasn’t a problem, I know, certainly, I did not shoot it great, as a team we didn’t shoot that great either from three, but, you know, even with that being said, I think there were certainly areas that we needed to be a lot better at, as a group, and if we were able to, you know, especially in the second half, execute in those areas, I think that would have made up for some of those, you know, shooting habits and miscues, but, you know, making them missing shots sometimes is basketball, but I thought in the other areas, if we could just, you know, execute there a little bit.

Q: On that, if shots maybe weren’t the problem, what kind of was, do you think?

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TUCKER: I mean, he hit on it pretty good, the turnovers and obviously the offensive rebounds they had, especially in the second half. I mean, I take full responsibility for both of those areas. Obviously, four turnovers is far too many. As a group, I think when they pick up the pressure, I think we just need to really focus on our execution a little bit more on every possession. But good thing is we get a good week here before we play again to really dial in on some of those areas that we’ve maybe lacked in the beginning.

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Q: When Lamar picked up his fourth foul and missed nearly nine minutes, what went wrong offensively?

DD: Yeah, I don’t remember the exact sequences there, but, you know, not having Lamar out there is certainly a big part of our offense, and, you know, his foul trouble tonight certainly limited him with only the 21 minutes because he was, again, he’s, you know, a big focal piece of what we try to run our offense through, so, you know, I believe during that little stretch that he wasn’t out there, that’s when the turnovers started to happen and 

we weren’t able to get into, you know, maybe some of our actions the way we needed to. 

Q: Darian, you mentioned Kentucky’s offensive rebound and kind of flipping that game. Was that just their physicality, their effort out beating you guys or something else that you saw going on? 

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DD: Yeah, I thought their effort, their physicality in the second half was, you know, really good. I mean, they certainly cranked it up a notch in that second half and we needed to respond to it, but, you know, I thought their aggressiveness defensively, their aggressiveness in the offensive glass, you know, was ultimately the factor. 

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Q: Darian, you mentioned Lamar, but how much did the foul trouble for not just him, but other guys, affect you tonight?

DD:  I mean, foul trouble is foul trouble. You have it every night, so you’ve got to figure out a way to deal with it and, you know, we just didn’t do a good enough job with that.

Q: Just to follow up on that, with this team, and you’ve talked about sort of where you are with the two bigs and things like that, like does foul trouble become sort of a compounding problem when it disrupts rotations? It felt tonight like maybe guys were just not either on the floor long enough to find the rhythm or maybe had to be on the floor too long because other guys were in foul trouble. 

DD: Again, our guys, you know, their numbers are called, they’re ready to go. You know, certainly, you know, a guy like Lamar, you want him out there, but when he’s not out there, I feel very confident that the guys that are coming in are going to do their part and do their job and, you know, we certainly have a lot of faith in them, so, you know, unfortunately it just didn’t work out the way we wanted it to tonight.

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Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley team up to broadcast Indiana vs Kentucky

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Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley team up to broadcast Indiana vs Kentucky


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Basketball icons Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley headline the broadcasting crew for Indiana vs. Kentucky on Saturday, Dec. 13.

Vitale, a longtime ESPN analyst, and Barkley, a Basketball Hall of Famer-turned analyst, are teaming up to call two games this season, with the first coming between a pair of blue bloods in a nonconference matchup. Dave O’Brien will handle play-by-play duties.

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Vitale and Barkley will broadcast together for the second time this season during TNT and CBS Sports’ First Four coverage of the men’s NCAA Tournament in March.

Watch Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley call Indiana vs. Kentucky live with Fubo (free trial)

The humorous duo will be appointment viewing for many college basketball fans, as both are known for their larger-their-life personalities. The team-up became possible after TNT lost its broadcasting rights for NBA games, moving TNT’s “Inside the NBA” to ESPN.

Vitale is returning to regular broadcasting in 2025 after battling multiple forms of cancer since 2021. He has called over 1,000 games for ESPN since joining the network in 1979.

Barkley, an 11-time NBA All-Star, averaged 22.1 points and 11.7 rebounds across his 16-year career. He was drafted No. 5 overall out of Auburn in the 1984 NBA Draft.

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How to watch Indiana vs Kentucky today with Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley

Indiana-Kentucky will air live on ESPN, with streaming options available on the ESPN app or Fubo, which offers a free trial.

Indiana vs Kentucky time today

  • Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
  • Date: Saturday, Dec. 13
  • Location: Rupp Arena (Lexington, Kentucky)

Indiana vs. Kentucky is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff on Saturday, Dec. 13, from Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.



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