For the better part of two years, Indiana Secretary of State Diego Morales has built his political brand on election integrity, non-citizen voting, and what he calls federal overreach on voter rolls. He has handed over Indiana’s voter file to federal immigration authorities. Morales, along with Attorney General Todd Rokita, sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to force citizenship verification of more than half a million voters. He has lectured Washington about who is and isn’t eligible to participate in Indiana elections.

However, records obtained by IndyPolitics show that during the same period, Morales was paying $160,000 a year to a Deputy Chief of Staff in the office that serves as Indiana’s chief elections authority — and who carries an Indiana driver’s license restriction the state applies to non-U.S. citizens. The same individual, nearly two decades ago, signed an Indiana voter registration form affirming that she was a U.S. citizen.

“Non-citizen” is a category that includes lawful permanent residents, visa holders, and others who are legally present in the United States but are not citizens.

The Indiana Republican State Convention is just over a month away. Morales is on the ballot, seeking renomination against challengers Jamie Reitenour and Knox County Clerk David Shelton.

Her name is Elina Kupce. She resigned on April 29 after roughly two and a half years on the state payroll. Communications Director Lindsey Eaton confirmed the departure in a May 14 email to IndyPolitics, stating that Kupce “resigned citing personal reasons.” Separately, a source familiar with the office’s communications said the office had told outside parties she “took another job.” The office made no public announcement of the departure.

The day after Eaton’s email, on Friday, May 15, IndyPolitics visited the Secretary of State’s office and asked to speak with Kupce, Eaton, and General Counsel Jerold Bonnet. Two receptionists said none of the three were available. Neither mentioned that Kupce was no longer employed by the office. IndyPolitics informed the receptionists of the subject of its inquiry and requested a return call. As of publication, no one from the office had responded to the inquiry made during the visit.

A senior hire with no government experience

Kupce was first hired by the State of Indiana on October 30, 2023, according to records released this month by the Indiana State Personnel Department under the Access to Public Records Act. She was moved into the Deputy Chief of Staff role on May 12, 2024. The annualized salary disclosed by the personnel department was $160,000.36.

The position was not publicly posted. Asked directly, the personnel department confirmed: “This position was not posted.”

The work history released by the state lists no prior government service of any kind. Kupce’s disclosed background consists of marketing roles with the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever between 2011 and 2014, a sales lead manager position at the retailer Aldo from 2017 to 2019, fundraising work with the Miami Dolphins Foundation and the Super Bowl 54 Host Committee in 2019 and 2020, and an “Event Activation Vice President” role at a company called Image First Events.

The resume also lists Kupce as “Co Owner and Vice President” of “Solvega’s Elite Cleaning Service” with a start date of January 2000 — when Kupce, who was born July 19, 1987, would have been 12 years old. Two graduate programs at Purdue and IUPUI are listed as “in progress,” with no completion date for either.

Asked what relevant prior experience Kupce brought to the role and what prior government service she had, the personnel department referred IndyPolitics to its earlier answer listing the work history above.

Kupce’s own LinkedIn profile describes her as “Chief of Staff to Secretary of State.” The personnel department’s response listed her title as Deputy Chief of Staff. The Secretary of State’s office has not responded to questions about the discrepancy.

The license restriction

Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles records show Kupce’s current Indiana driver’s license carries restriction code “9 — TEMPORARY.” That is the restriction the Indiana BMV applies to driver’s licenses issued to non-U.S. citizens, with the license’s expiration tied to the expiration of the holder’s underlying immigration document.

The “TEMPORARY” restriction does not indicate that the holder is in the country unlawfully. It is applied to any non-citizen license holder, including lawful permanent residents and individuals on work, student, or other visas, because the license’s validity is tied to the holder’s immigration document.

Her license, most recently renewed on April 30, 2026 — one day after she resigned from state employment — is valid through April 29, 2027. The first Indiana identification document issued to Kupce, in July 2007, was a state identification card rather than a driver’s license. Her first Indiana driver’s license was not issued until February 2014, with the BMV record listing the reason as “NEW ISSUE DL, OUT-OF-STATE,” meaning she surrendered a license from another jurisdiction to obtain it.

A 2007 voter registration affirming citizenship

Separate records from the Indiana Statewide Voter Registration System show that an Elina Kupce, with the same date of birth, was registered to vote in Tippecanoe County from June 2008 to August 2013. The residence address listed was 271 S River Rd Apt 44 in West Lafayette — Purdue student housing.

The signed registration application, dated September 27, 2007, includes a check mark in the box affirming the applicant is a U.S. citizen. The SVRS shows no voting history. The registration was placed on inactive status in June 2010 after a sample ballot postcard was returned undeliverable, and was automatically cancelled in August 2013 — Indiana’s standard list-maintenance process for voters who fail to respond to mailings or cast a ballot across two consecutive federal general elections.

Indy Politics has not independently established Kupce’s citizenship status in 2007, when the registration was signed, or at any point thereafter. The signed registration form, the cancellation history, and the absence of voting history are the records available.

Indiana law and federal law restrict voter registration and voting to U.S. citizens. A non-citizen who registers to vote and affirms U.S. citizenship on the registration form may face immigration consequences regardless of the underlying lawful or unlawful nature of their immigration status. Both Indiana and federal statutes of limitations on any criminal charges arising from a 2007 registration have long since run.

IndyPolitics is not aware of any prior contact between law enforcement and Kupce regarding the registration. The registration was cancelled in 2013 through automated list maintenance, not through any citizenship review.

The non-answer from the state

In its APRA response, the Indiana State Personnel Department was asked whether Kupce had completed Form I-9 employment eligibility verification and whether her work authorization had been verified through E-Verify, as required for Indiana state agencies. The department responded that the information was disclosable under APRA and that the department “verifies employment eligibility for all state employees hired” — but did not affirmatively state that Kupce’s I-9 was on file or that her authorization had been verified.

Eaton’s May 14 email from the Secretary of State’s office used nearly identical language, stating that “in full compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local requirements, the Indiana State Personnel Department verifies employment eligibility for all state employees hired.” Neither response affirmatively states that Kupce’s specific I-9 form is on file or that her work authorization was individually verified.

Asked whether Kupce is currently lawfully present in the United States and authorized to work, the personnel department wrote that it “does not maintain records related to the whereabouts of previous State employees,” and again noted that the records were not exempt from disclosure — without producing them.

Eaton’s email stated that the Secretary of State’s office “has received no communication from state or federal agencies in reference to Ms. Kupce.”

Nothing indicates unlawful presence

Nothing in the records reviewed by IndyPolitics indicates that Kupce is in the United States unlawfully. The BMV restriction on her license, the documentation history maintained by the state, and her recent license renewal are all consistent with lawful non-citizen status. The question raised by the records is a different one: whether the Secretary of State’s office, which has spent the past year challenging federal authorities over the citizenship status of voters, applied the same scrutiny to its own senior hire.

The politics

Morales’s office has spent much of the past year arguing that the federal government has been too lax about verifying the citizenship of voters. In July 2024, Morales asked federal agencies not to engage in voter registration efforts in Indiana without state permission. He and Attorney General Todd Rokita sued DHS over what they described as a failure to verify the citizenship status of more than 550,000 voters — a lawsuit that settled in November 2025 in Indiana’s favor. “This landmark settlement provides Indiana with long-overdue tools to protect the integrity of our elections,” Morales said in a joint release with Rokita’s office at the time. “Hoosiers deserve absolute confidence that every lawful vote counts and that our voter rolls are accurate and secure.” Morales, who frequently references his own background as a naturalized citizen, added in the same release: “As a naturalized citizen, I deeply understand the privilege and responsibility that comes with the right to vote.” The release claimed preliminary results from the new verification process had identified at least 165 non-citizens registered to vote in Indiana and at least 21 who had cast ballots in recent elections. Morales’s reelection campaign, launched in May 2025, lists “election integrity” as its first priority.

Those statements were being made by the office while Elina Kupce was serving as its Deputy Chief of Staff at $160,000 a year, in a position that was never publicly posted, filled by someone with no prior government experience whose Indiana driver’s license carries a restriction the state applies to non-citizens. Morales faces delegates at the Indiana Republican State Convention in Fort Wayne on June 20, where he is seeking renomination against challengers Jamie Reitenour, a conservative activist who ran for governor in 2024, and Knox County Clerk David Shelton.

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This story will be updated.