10/04/2010 - Charlie White should withdraw from race (Post-Tribune)

Post-Tribune | Opinion

Republican secretary of state candidate Charlie White won the endorsement of Gov. Mitch Daniels, who's the architect of Indiana's controversial voter ID law, considered one of the most restrictive voting laws in the country.

Now White's candidacy is in big trouble. His voting scandal could very well crimp the GOP's planned juggernaut on Nov. 2 and could tarnish Daniels, who's said to be weighing a 2012 presidential run.

With an eye on Lake County, Daniels championed the voter ID law, which requires every voter to show a state-issued identification at the polling place, even though there hasn't been a documented case of voter fraud at the polls in Indiana. White, however, could be the first.

White, whose website boasts that a "strong understanding and practice of the law has also been a crucial part of Charlie's life," admitted recently that he served on the Fishers Town Council for seven months after moving out of the district he represented. Worse yet, White voted in the May primary at his old polling spot in the district where he no longer resided, instead of the district where he lived in his new condominium. White told reporters he was too busy with his campaign and a new marriage to catch his residency mistakes.

The revelations led Democratic Party Chairman Don Parker to suggest White committed voter fraud, a Class D felony. White's Democratic opponent, Vop Osili, has called for the Hamilton County prosecutor to convene a grand jury and appoint a special prosecutor to investigate White.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Todd Rokita, another Republican with Washington aspirations, is investigating vote fraud allegations against White. The case seems pretty clear-cut. We encourage Rokita not to stray from his partisan affections and instead do the right thing.

Voters, however, can make the right choice. White should step down or get voted down Nov. 2. He shouldn't be the chief overseer of Indiana voting laws.