SCHOOL POLITICS? SOS Morales touts Club America voter registration effort, but critics are wary

By Marilyn Odendahl
The Indiana Citizen
March 11, 2026

Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales announced on Tuesday a partnership with Club America, an arm of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, to register Hoosier high school students to vote, but a voter-advocacy group said the collaboration could inject partisanship into what should be a nonpolitical process.

As part of the new initiative, the secretary of state’s office will work with Club America to host voter registration drives at high schools across Indiana and provide students with “accurate, up-to-date election information,” according to a press release. Also, the collaboration will recruit students for the Hoosier Hall Pass program, which trains 16- and 17-year-olds to serve as poll workers on Election Day.

“I’m excited to partner with Club America on this initiative allowing us to meet young voters where they are and empower them with the tools and resources they need to engage in the civic process,” Morales said in a press release. “By engaging students early and providing hands-on opportunities to participate and serve, we are building the next generation of informed voters and leaders.”

Club America was launched by Turning Point USA in July of 2025 to reach an even younger audience. Turning Point, founded by conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot in September, while speaking to students at Utah Valley University, is an influential voice within the Republican Party. In its 2024 Year in Hate & Extremism report, the Southern Poverty Law Center described TPUSA as a “well-funded, hard-right organizations with links to … hard-right extremists and a tremendous amount of influence in conservative politics.”  The report also described Turning Point as “being at the forefront of the movement to promote Christian nationalism.”

The Club America website says it has more than 1,200 chapters nationwide serving 14,000 student and it promotes its chapters in high schools as places where students can learn leadership and communication skills while standing “for the tried-and-true American values of freedom, free markets, and limited government.” Also, the website encourages the formation of new school chapters and seeks contributions to inspire “a new wave of conservatism and love of country.

Its voter registration page includes downloads with pages titled, “The Left’s view…” and videos that echo Republican support  voter ID laws and the Electoral College.

Morales’ announcement of the collaboration does not mention the group’s partisan political views.

However, Linda Hanson, president of the League of Women Voters of Indiana, fears Club America could push its beliefs on teenagers, who are already very impressionable, and taint the voter registration process. Registering voters, she said, should be a nonpartisan activity and not promote a particular party, viewpoint or candidate.

“If you put enough social pressure on teenagers and it’s from a particular perspective, that is dangerous, I believe,” Hanson said. “If you’re talking about registering voters, getting people interested in the political process and being engaged, at least from the outset, (then) getting them registered has to be a nonpartisan issue.”

Lindsey Eaton, spokesperson for Morales, told The Indiana Citizen the goal of the collaboration was to continue the momentum that has been increasing the state’s voter registration. She pointed to the 2025 Indiana Civic Health Index which showed the state’s voter registration jumped to 73.7% of eligible Hoosiers in 2024, the highest percentage increase in 14 years, but voter turnout that same year was 60.7%, similar to the 2020 presidential election but still below national voting levels.

The secretary of state’s outreach staff will be collaborating with local chapters of Club America on the voter registration drives and recruitment for the Hoosiers Hall Pass program, Eaton said. The materials will be the same as what has been provided at other voter registration events the office has facilitated at such venues as schools, colleges, fairs and sporting events.

“There is no expectation of funding or staffing for this initiative provided by Turning Point USA 501(c)(3) outside of their normal chapter functions,” Eaton said.

Championing conservative political views

Morales made his announcement a few days before Gov. Mike Braun and Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith are scheduled to join officials from Turning Point USA at the governor’s residence on Thursday for a “major announcement.”  The expectation is that Braun and Beckwith will launch a push to get a Club America chapter in every Indiana high school, an effort Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk, hinted about during a February Fox News interview.

Other Republican-led states, including Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Oklahoma and Montana, have undertaken similar efforts to put Club America chapters in their schools.

Some state leaders have threatened to punish schools that do not allow the organization to establish chapters. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said schools that block TPUSA would face “meaningful disciplinary action,” while former Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters said schools could lose their accreditation. Tennessee’s Senate Majority Leader state Sen. Jack Johnson said anyone who attempted to stop a Club America chapter from forming would “face serious consequences, including possible legal action.”

The rhetoric surrounding Club America echoes very partisan themes.

Walters in Oklahoma said the chapters would help battle against other political views.

“Our kids must get involved and active,” Walters said in a press release. “We will fight back against the liberal propaganda, pushed by the radical left, and the teachers unions. Our fight starts now.”

Speaking at the Tennessee State Capitol in December 2025, Josh Thifault, senior director at Turning Point USA, who is scheduled to be at the announcement with Braun and Beckwith, championed Club America as thwarting parents who do not hold conservative political and religious views.

“I want to create a future where the leftist parents are scared that their kids are going to be a teenager, because that is when their Club America chapter is going to tell them about Jesus,” Thifault said, according to the New York Times. “That’s when their Club America chapter is going to tell them about the founding of the country.”

Morales’ announcement steered away from the political and said the collaboration was focused on increasing voter registration and encouraging students to serve their communities by being a poll worker.

Nick Cocca, Club America enterprise director, struck a similar nonpartisan tone.

“We believe the next generation of leaders are sitting in America’s classrooms,” Cocca said in the press release from the secretary of state. “Through our Club America chapters and partnership with Secretary Morales, we’re making it easier for Indiana students to register to vote, service their communities, and use their voice.”

Hanson of the League of Women Voters is still concerned that students who have a different perspective than Club America could have their First Amendment rights squashed, because of the firestorm some have faced for articulating  a converse view from that held by Turning Point USA.  Students, she said, should be given nonpartisan information about voter registration and the candidates, so they can make up their own minds about how to cast their ballots.

“Everyone wants to court voters, but I think that young people need to know something about the system,” Hanson said, adding students should not learn about democracy from only one political perspective. “We need to do a better job in civic education.”

Dwight Adams, an editor and writer based in Indianapolis, edited this article. He is a former content editor, copy editor and digital producer at The Indianapolis Star and IndyStar.com, and worked as a planner for other newspapers, including the Louisville Courier Journal.

The Indiana Citizen is a nonpartisan, nonprofit platform dedicated to increasing the number of informed and engaged Hoosier citizens. We are operated by the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) public charity. For questions about the story, contact Marilyn Odendahl at marilyn.odendahl@indianacitizen.org