Democratic candidate focuses on involvement of youth

Democratic candidate Joe Pearson has long been in public service and hopes to become secretary of state after this fall's election. Encouraging younger voters and getting them to use their full potential is Pearson's focus, he said.\n"We've gotta focus on our young people and our people in college, and we've gotta talk with them, not to them," he said. "As secretary of state, I would come and say, 'What do we have to do? What are we not doing?'"\nPearson emphasized the need for this generation to increase its enthusiasm for civic responsibility and the democratic process.\n"We have the best democracy in the world," he said. "And for that democracy to work, you have to have participation (from) all citizens. And we have not engaged our young people into that process."\nAnother issue Pearson addressed is his opposition to the recent stricter voting laws.\nA law implemented this year in the primary elections requires all voters to have a photo ID at the polls, Pearson said.\n"We have some of the most strict voting laws in the nation," he said.\nPearson said he believes the law requiring a photo ID to vote at the polls has "unintended consequences" for those who might not be able to obtain such an ID.\nSenior citizens, veterans and low-income voters, who might not have access to an automobile, would be less likely to have a driver's license and photo ID, he said.\n"We disenfranchised some of our voters, and we've got to remedy that," Pearson said. "No eligible voter should be turned away, and we ought to make voting easier, not more difficult." \nPearson believes the secretary of state needs to be "very nonpartisan." \n"You have to have both people at the table so that each group has someone that's their advocate," he said. "This is not about politics; it's about people's rights to vote."\nPearson has served on the Blackford County School Board for 16 years. He also worked for the Indiana School Boards Association and National School Boards Association for the Midwest. \nBeginning in 1995, Pearson served as assistant commissioner of agriculture for Indiana under Governors Evan Bayh, Frank O'Bannon and Joe Kernan.