Indiana Secretary of State Connie Lawson supports the voter purge method recently halted by a federal judge.

Lawson defended that system to delegates at the Indiana GOP Convention.

A federal judge ruled Indiana’s voter purge system likely violates federal law. The day after that decision, Republican Secretary of State Connie Lawson told state GOP delegates it was designed to make it harder to cheat.

“Some Democrats are attacking me, claiming that the list cleanup process isn’t fair and alleging that we are suppressing voters or removing legitimate voters from the voting rolls,” Lawson says. “That’s categorically false.”

But her opponent in this year’s general election – Democrat Jim Harper – says it is about voter suppression.

“I think that that sends a message that our current leadership isn’t taking Hoosiers’ right to vote seriously,” Harper says.

The state hasn’t said whether it will appeal the judge’s decision.