Cleta Mitchell interviews Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin

A self-described “political nerd” at a young age, native Louisianan Kyle Ardoin recognized public service was a role for people of integrity who respect the rule of law. As Louisiana’s Secretary of State, Secretary Ardoin has been ahead of the curve on critical issues that impact election integrity for all the state’s voters.

In 2020, and despite several lawsuits filed by leftwing groups, Ardoin led the state to adopt a bipartisan emergency election plan to accommodate Covid fears by temporarily (not permanently!) expanding existing absentee voting statues rather than opening up the Pandora’s Box of mass mailing of absentee ballots – what the leftist organizations were demanding in court. The litigation was not successful – but the emergency plan proposed by Secretary Ardoin was. The approach developed by Secretary Ardoin resulted in the state’s massive voter turnout in the 2020 General Election, with the majority of votes cast in person.

Secretary Ardoin has been particularly attentive to concerns raised by citizens in Louisiana on a range of issues regarding voting and elections and is unafraid to take on entrenched interests on behalf of the people.

Secretary Ardoin has also been a national leader in raising concerns about ERIC (Electronic Registration Information Center) and the failure of the organization to protect the confidentiality of the State’s data, which ultimately resulted in his suspending Louisiana’s further participation in ERIC. The Secretary outlines significant red flags he has discovered regarding ERIC, especially the security of its data and ERIC’s refusal to share information about the organization’s operations with him and other member states, whose taxpayers pay for their state’s participation in ERIC.

Secretary Ardoin discusses with Cleta many of the issues facing Secretaries of State - and voters - in this coming election season, including the nationwide paper shortage that can impact voting, his new registration system for “MSP’s” (Managed Service Providers) who provide IT services for local government agencies, and voting machine vulnerabilities. Secretary Ardoin is a national leader among state election officials and has been fearless in raising questions and seeking solutions to help restore the confidence of Louisiana citizens in their state’s elections.