1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: On this episode of News World. I have a new 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 1: book coming out this Tuesday, November second, entitled Beyond Biden, 3 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: Rebuilding the America We Love, and I'll be devoting the 4 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:17,279 Speaker 1: next several episodes of my podcast to cover some of 5 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,959 Speaker 1: the really key issues that we talk about in the book. 6 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: Beyond Biden is an invitation to all Americans who love 7 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: this country and are concerned about the anti American forces 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: who are trying to actively undermine and break the very 9 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:33,879 Speaker 1: fabric of the American system, so that we can understand 10 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:36,920 Speaker 1: the issues which face us. One issue I do cover 11 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:41,640 Speaker 1: and Beyond Biden is reforming to ensure free, fair and 12 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:44,680 Speaker 1: secure elections. And I have to confess a great deal 13 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: of my knowledge in this topic comes from conversations and 14 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 1: reading over many years with our guests. Today, the fact 15 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: is that our guest has been studying the issue of 16 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: election integrity for many years. He is the manager of 17 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: the Election Reform Initiative and senior legal Fellow at the 18 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,440 Speaker 1: Heritage Foundation. And I'm really pleased to welcome my guest 19 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:11,399 Speaker 1: and my good friend, Hans von Spakovsky. His new book, 20 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,240 Speaker 1: Are Broken Elections, How the Left Change the Way You 21 00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:18,840 Speaker 1: Vote is available for pre order now, and I think 22 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: if you want to really understand what happened in twenty 23 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,679 Speaker 1: twenty and what the left thinks they have to do 24 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:28,559 Speaker 1: to stay in power, I think you'll find Hans's book 25 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:42,919 Speaker 1: very very important. Hans, listen, thank you for joining me again. 26 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: The last time you were on the podcast, we discussed 27 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: HR one or the four the People Act, which I 28 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 1: personally call the Corrupt Politicians Act. Can you start by 29 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: giving us an updated where does that bill stand now? 30 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:59,120 Speaker 1: Thanks for having me on the show. Well, that bill, 31 00:01:59,160 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: as you know what's really stopped through a filibuster in 32 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: the Senate. Thank goodness for the filibuster. The Democrats then 33 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,640 Speaker 1: came up was what they called a compromise. This was 34 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: put together by Senator Klobuchard and the support of Senator 35 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: Mansion of West Virginia. It really wasn't a compromise. I 36 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: think Senator mcconnells had a compromise between the far far 37 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: left and the far left. And that's right. It basically 38 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: went from nine hundred page bill down to six hundred pages. 39 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:28,480 Speaker 1: But they in essence took all the worst portions of 40 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:32,519 Speaker 1: HR one and stuck it into this new bill. Fortunately, 41 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:35,639 Speaker 1: a week or so ago. That also got hung up 42 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:40,079 Speaker 1: in the Senate again with a filibuster, so again successfully stopped. 43 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: But new there's a third bill already that Democrats are 44 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: planning to bring up. It's already passed the House. It's HR. Four, 45 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,519 Speaker 1: it's the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement at And it's 46 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:55,359 Speaker 1: also just a terrible bill that would in essence give 47 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,839 Speaker 1: federal bureaucrats inside the Justice Department the ability to vet 48 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: election law rules and changes made by the states all 49 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:09,160 Speaker 1: over the country, which is really extraordinary thinking that these 50 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: bureaucrats would have power to tell state legislators, no, you 51 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:14,799 Speaker 1: can't put in a voter ID law or make other 52 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: changes like that. Didn't the founding fathers, in writing the 53 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: Constitution deliberately center election power with the state legislatures precisely 54 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: to avoid a national centralized dictatorship being able to rig 55 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: the election. Yes, that is absolutely right. They had the 56 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: foresight to understand that if you gave the central government 57 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: the ability to set the rules for electing people to 58 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 1: the central government, well then they could set the rules 59 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: and manipulate them to ensure they stayed in power and 60 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: that any challengers would not be able to win. And 61 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: that's why the states have run our elections since our founding, 62 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: and that's the way it should can tinue to be. 63 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, you know, you're gonna have some states 64 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: like California, New York who don't do a very good 65 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: job of running it, but you've got plenty of other 66 00:04:08,280 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: states who do a good job of running it. And 67 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: at least the bad rules ongoing in places like California 68 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: in New York are not the bad rules everywhere in 69 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: the country. And that's exactly what these federal bills would 70 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:26,280 Speaker 1: do is implement California style election procedures all over the country. 71 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: What do you think is driving the Left in this 72 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:35,039 Speaker 1: desperate effort to change profoundly for the whole country how 73 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,839 Speaker 1: we vote and how we count votes. I think it's 74 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 1: a drive for power. I mean, look, they want to 75 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:43,599 Speaker 1: make it easy to cheat and easy to manipulate election results. 76 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:47,360 Speaker 1: And you know, part of our immigration problem feeds into this, 77 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: because you know, one of the provisions, for example, in 78 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:53,359 Speaker 1: HR one, would have been one to four states to 79 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:58,280 Speaker 1: do automatic voter registration from state agencies and federal agencies, 80 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:03,720 Speaker 1: which would have out question automatically registered people who are 81 00:05:03,760 --> 00:05:07,719 Speaker 1: not US citizens. Into the voter roles, and I think 82 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 1: it's because they want aliens who are in this country, 83 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: whether it's legally or illegal, to be able to register 84 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:16,840 Speaker 1: to vote and to not be detected doing it because 85 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: they think it'll help them get elected and retain power. 86 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: I mean, it's almost as though they're afraid that in 87 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:28,279 Speaker 1: an honest, straight up election limited to American citizens, that 88 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: they just lose. Oh. I think that is part of 89 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:33,600 Speaker 1: the calculus of what they're doing. I mean, the other 90 00:05:34,240 --> 00:05:36,560 Speaker 1: kind of rules they want to put in, it's hard 91 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,919 Speaker 1: to read any motives into them other than bad motives. 92 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 1: You know, when you want to put in a provision 93 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: that would naturally ban all voter ID at the same 94 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: time that you would require all states to put in 95 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,720 Speaker 1: same day voter registration. In other words, the states would 96 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,200 Speaker 1: have to allow somebody to walk into a polling place, 97 00:05:55,279 --> 00:05:58,280 Speaker 1: register and immediately vote, yet at the same time, election 98 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: officials would not be able to ask them for an 99 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:04,280 Speaker 1: ID to authenticate that they really are they say they 100 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:07,680 Speaker 1: are and actually live where they're trying to vote. What 101 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: other purpose can there be behind that other than to 102 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:12,480 Speaker 1: allow people to be able to cheat so they can 103 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:15,159 Speaker 1: win elections. I just don't see any other reason for that. 104 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: The left, including Joe Biden, will scream that this is 105 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,919 Speaker 1: all racism. But isn't it effect that even most African 106 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:27,320 Speaker 1: Americans prefer to have a voter ID and prefer to 107 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 1: know that the ballot is accurate and honest. Oh yes, absolutely, 108 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:34,920 Speaker 1: the polling here shows and the American people are on 109 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:39,400 Speaker 1: the side of the reformers. They do not support what 110 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 1: the opponents to this are saying. And not only do 111 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:47,200 Speaker 1: a majority of Americans of all political persuasions and frankly 112 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: all races and ethnicity support this, but that the poller 113 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,600 Speaker 1: makes it clear. Yeah, they want access, they want every 114 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:56,719 Speaker 1: eligible person to vote, but they also want security. They 115 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:00,800 Speaker 1: want that eligible individuals vote not to be awaited or 116 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:04,359 Speaker 1: diluted through fraud and other problems. And the American people 117 00:07:04,360 --> 00:07:07,040 Speaker 1: are very much in favor of that. You emphasize in 118 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: your book entitled are Broken Elections? Do you really think 119 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: that these election audits are valuable? None of them have 120 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 1: dramatically changed the ultimate outcome. So what is it that 121 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:21,960 Speaker 1: you find valuable about them? Well, look, it's very similar 122 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: to the fact that every public company United States has 123 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: to undergo an annual audit and many of them are 124 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: very good companies. They would do a good job with 125 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: the business. They're in return good dividends their shareholders, but 126 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: they still have to undergo audits to ensure they are 127 00:07:36,360 --> 00:07:40,000 Speaker 1: complying with the law, that they're taking all the steps 128 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: and things that they need to do. The same thing 129 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:44,480 Speaker 1: with election audits. An election audit after an election is 130 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: not intended to overturn the election. It's to ensure that 131 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: all the rules, laws, and regulations applying to an election 132 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: were followed, that everyone who was eligible was able to vote, 133 00:07:56,840 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 1: that the voter list was actually accurate and did not 134 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: allow people who are not eligible to vote, like folks 135 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: who've moved out of state to vote, and that the 136 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 1: voting equipment was all working the way it should. A 137 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,239 Speaker 1: lot of folks have pointed to the Arizona audit and said, well, look, 138 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: there's nothing there because the hand recount matched the machine recount. 139 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: That's true, but there was no surprise there. All that 140 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: meant was that the machines were accurately counting the votes 141 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: that were cast. But that same audit also turned up 142 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: all kinds of serious potential issues and questions that need 143 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: to be looked at, such as one claim that there 144 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: may have been thousands of individuals who are registered more 145 00:08:35,280 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: than one county in the state and cast more than 146 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: one vote. That needs to be investigated to see if 147 00:08:40,360 --> 00:08:43,920 Speaker 1: that's credible. Did that actually happen. If so, that problem 148 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:46,319 Speaker 1: needs to be fixed. And that's what an audit can 149 00:08:46,360 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 1: turn up, problems that need to be remedied so that 150 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: they don't occur in a future election and potentially actually 151 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:57,640 Speaker 1: overturned a future election. You know, I wrote in my 152 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: new book Beyond Biden that if we want our elections 153 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:05,199 Speaker 1: to be secure, we must have equally robust systems to 154 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: ensure that absentee ballots are unaltered, uncoerced, and remained secret. 155 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: What would you do and what do you see being 156 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,679 Speaker 1: done around the country so that absentee ballots might get 157 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: the sense that the Left used COVID as an excuse 158 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:23,920 Speaker 1: to simply flood the system with ballots that were uncontrollable 159 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:26,760 Speaker 1: and in many cases you couldn't track who had voted 160 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:30,559 Speaker 1: or who was casting the ballot. Well, you're absolutely right 161 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,360 Speaker 1: about that, and in fact that's what happened. They used 162 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:36,679 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen as an excuse to try to move us 163 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:38,959 Speaker 1: as far as possible to mail in elections, which is 164 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:41,920 Speaker 1: a very bad idea. Look, there's a whole series of things. 165 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:45,040 Speaker 1: States like Georgia and Texas, for example, which had good 166 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,520 Speaker 1: voter ID laws in place, Well, they were good laws, 167 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 1: but they only applied to in person voting, So they've 168 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: extended their voter ID requirements to absentee ballots. If you're 169 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:57,560 Speaker 1: going to request an absentee ballot, you should have to 170 00:09:57,600 --> 00:09:59,640 Speaker 1: provide it some form of ID, the same way if 171 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: your vote in person. Absentee ballots should only be used 172 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:06,880 Speaker 1: by individuals who can't make it to the polling place 173 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:10,360 Speaker 1: on election day, because we want to discourage their use 174 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 1: as much as possible. Why Well, because they're the only 175 00:10:13,559 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 1: kind of ballots that are voted outside the supervision of 176 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:19,560 Speaker 1: election officials and outside the observation of poll watchers, So 177 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 1: they are vulnerable to being stolen, forged, altered, and voters 178 00:10:24,559 --> 00:10:29,480 Speaker 1: are vulnerable to coercion, intimidation in their homes by election workers, 179 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: campaign staffers, and others. Something can happen in a polling place. 180 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:37,679 Speaker 1: It also means you do things like you put water 181 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:42,679 Speaker 1: marks or QR codes on each ballot so they can't 182 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: be photocopied so an absolute ballot can't be photocopied with 183 00:10:46,559 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 1: a high quality photocopier and used to submit fraudulent ballots. 184 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:54,200 Speaker 1: It was just a whole series of basic steps like that. 185 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:58,040 Speaker 1: But it isn't the California Secretary State actually going in 186 00:10:58,080 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: the opposite direction and authorizing that you can print your 187 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:04,719 Speaker 1: own ballot. Yeah, he is, And they're now going to 188 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:08,360 Speaker 1: mail ballots to all registered voters, which is a real 189 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: problem because their voter roles are in such poor condition 190 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: that you're basically going to have thousands of ballots arriving 191 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:21,120 Speaker 1: at people's homes, apartments, condominiums, and places where those people 192 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:25,079 Speaker 1: no longer live. And it's highly likely that someone is 193 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: going to take advantage of that to actually fill out 194 00:11:28,559 --> 00:11:31,520 Speaker 1: those ballots, forge a voter's name, and send it in. 195 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 1: And if you're not asking for any kind of ide 196 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:37,800 Speaker 1: election officials in California will have no idea that this 197 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 1: was a forged ballot that's come in. It's really risking 198 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: the security the election process when you do that kind 199 00:11:44,320 --> 00:12:04,240 Speaker 1: of thing. It's interesting because there was a bipartisan commissioned 200 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:07,000 Speaker 1: back in two thousand and five. There was co chaired 201 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,920 Speaker 1: by Jimmy Carter and it said that absentee balloting was 202 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:15,680 Speaker 1: the largest source of potential fraud in American elections. And 203 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 1: yet that's exactly what the left wants to maximize. And 204 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:23,200 Speaker 1: he was absolutely right about that. And Jimmy Carter would 205 00:12:23,240 --> 00:12:26,120 Speaker 1: know about this, as you are aware, since he had 206 00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: to go to court when he first ran for office 207 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,280 Speaker 1: of the state legislature because the local political machine had 208 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:35,640 Speaker 1: actually stolen his election and it took a court to 209 00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 1: overturn it and overturn the fraud that had occurred. If 210 00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 1: you look through the Electra fraud database that we now 211 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,720 Speaker 1: maintain at the Heritage Foundation where I work, where we 212 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:49,640 Speaker 1: have proven cases of fraud, may many of those cases 213 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:54,040 Speaker 1: involve absentee ballots because again they're the easiest ballots to steal, 214 00:12:54,840 --> 00:12:58,079 Speaker 1: to alter, to forge, and it's hard for election officials 215 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: to know that. Look, the other big problem, as you know, 216 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:04,480 Speaker 1: is you're trusting your ballot to the US Postal Service, 217 00:13:05,040 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: and they do not guarantee one hundred percent delivery on 218 00:13:08,679 --> 00:13:12,520 Speaker 1: time of election materials. In fact, that IG report just 219 00:13:12,559 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 1: a couple of years ago, you know what their goal was. 220 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:18,360 Speaker 1: Their goal was ninety six percent. In other words, the 221 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:20,840 Speaker 1: goal of the post service was that ninety six percent 222 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 1: of the time they would deliver absentee ballots on time. 223 00:13:25,520 --> 00:13:29,679 Speaker 1: That means that four percent of all people using absentee 224 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 1: ballots are wasting their vote because it's not going to 225 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: arrive in time. And the IG reports showed that they 226 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:39,120 Speaker 1: did not actually reach that goal, and in some jurisdictions 227 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: across the country they're achieving that goal was a lot 228 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:45,319 Speaker 1: lower than ninety six percent, which means a huge number 229 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:48,840 Speaker 1: of folks were being disenfranchise if they voted with an 230 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:51,440 Speaker 1: absentee ballot. This may be wrong, but I thought there 231 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:54,840 Speaker 1: was a case in Pennsylvania in twenty twenty where a 232 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:58,760 Speaker 1: postal worker literally had a truck full of ballots that 233 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:01,880 Speaker 1: just disappeared. I don't know about that one, but I 234 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:04,680 Speaker 1: do know that a postal worker in I think it 235 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:09,400 Speaker 1: was West Virginia was recently convicted of fooling around with 236 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:13,680 Speaker 1: absentee ballots and making changes in them. We've had similar problems, 237 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,840 Speaker 1: I think in Texas, I believe, where a postal official 238 00:14:16,960 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 1: was actually convicted of accepting bribes and a conspiracy engaged 239 00:14:21,960 --> 00:14:25,000 Speaker 1: in with locals who wanted to steal and change those 240 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:28,520 Speaker 1: absentee ballots. That's important because I think there are a 241 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 1: lot of Americans in particularly in the news media, who 242 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 1: would like to pretend that fraud doesn't exist. But in fact, 243 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:40,080 Speaker 1: because this is about power and power ultimately leads to money, 244 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: there are incentives for the professional politicians to try to 245 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: rig the game if they can get away with it. Well, yeah, 246 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:50,760 Speaker 1: anybody who dass that fraud occurs. Just a week or 247 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:53,920 Speaker 1: so ago, a staff or for a city councilman in 248 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: Philadelphia was criminally charged and indicted by the US Attorney 249 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:05,040 Speaker 1: for conspiring to stuffed ballot boxes with fraudulent ballots. She 250 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,600 Speaker 1: was being paid to do so, apparently by a political 251 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:11,400 Speaker 1: consultant there, and this was being done in multiple elections 252 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: on behalf of multiple candidates for state, local, and even 253 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: federal office. You've been a Heritage working on this very seriously. 254 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:23,640 Speaker 1: Don't you have a pretty remarkably large database on fraud. 255 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: We do. We have documented cases from all over the country. 256 00:15:28,280 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 1: Folks can access it on the Heritage dot org website. 257 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: We have a map with the United States. You can 258 00:15:33,040 --> 00:15:36,160 Speaker 1: click on any map and it'll pull up all of 259 00:15:36,200 --> 00:15:39,120 Speaker 1: the proven cases of fraud in that state. And by proven, 260 00:15:39,160 --> 00:15:41,560 Speaker 1: I mean someone was convicted in the court of law 261 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,760 Speaker 1: of engaging in fraud, or a court ordered a new 262 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:50,840 Speaker 1: election because of fraud, or a state agency found fraud, 263 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: like as you'll recall just three years ago in North 264 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:58,720 Speaker 1: Carolina or the ninth Congressional district. That race was overturned 265 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,840 Speaker 1: after the state Board of All Actions conducted investigation and 266 00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: said there was massive absentee ballot fraud in that election, 267 00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:09,640 Speaker 1: and they ordered a new election because of that fraud. 268 00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 1: You know, I have had a long experience with that. 269 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:14,840 Speaker 1: Back in nineteen sixty four, I dropped out of college 270 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:18,400 Speaker 1: and spend a year running a congressional race in North Georgia. 271 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: We had one part of a county that because I 272 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:23,200 Speaker 1: had been born in the North and I was an 273 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:27,400 Speaker 1: army brat and I had a non Georgia accent, my 274 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: own supporters wouldn't take me into part of one of 275 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:33,400 Speaker 1: the counties on the grounds that the people who were 276 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:36,920 Speaker 1: developing white lightning would shoot me as a revenue. When 277 00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 1: you went into those counties, you realized how much fraud 278 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:47,200 Speaker 1: there was, because in many places, the only guaranteed paying 279 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:51,600 Speaker 1: job was a county government job, and so these families 280 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:54,720 Speaker 1: really fought over who was going to win the election, 281 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 1: and Sheriff's, for example, might employ twenty or twenty five people, 282 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:01,600 Speaker 1: so on a small count that became a really big 283 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:06,399 Speaker 1: jobs opportunity. I've never quite recovered from the realization that 284 00:17:06,600 --> 00:17:08,960 Speaker 1: they really did have a sort of caveat on tour, 285 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: let the buyer beware, and their attitude was if you 286 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 1: were dumb enough to be suckered, it wasn't their fault. 287 00:17:14,960 --> 00:17:18,199 Speaker 1: And it was just an amazing experience, which led me 288 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:21,720 Speaker 1: to always think that the work you do is really important, 289 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 1: because we've sort of drifted back into a zone where 290 00:17:27,320 --> 00:17:30,280 Speaker 1: people you would think of as a smart, well educated, 291 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:36,320 Speaker 1: decent people favor building systems that make theft easy. You 292 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: know what amazed me about that is you and I 293 00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:43,200 Speaker 1: both know we see corruption in almost every field, banking, sports, 294 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 1: you name it, and we've seen corruption. And yet suddenly 295 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:49,400 Speaker 1: the media and others claim, well, the one area where 296 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 1: you're never going to see that is in the election process, 297 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 1: which makes absolutely no sense, particularly given the history of 298 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,080 Speaker 1: that in our country. One of the things I didn't understand. 299 00:17:57,119 --> 00:18:00,280 Speaker 1: And you're an attorney and I'm not, and you're election 300 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:03,920 Speaker 1: law exberg and I'm certainly not, but I don't understand 301 00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:08,200 Speaker 1: how Zuckerberg could have spent the scale of money he spent, 302 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:12,119 Speaker 1: which may now be four hundred and twenty million dollars, 303 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:18,359 Speaker 1: clearly focused on increasing turnout in counties and precincts likely 304 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:22,280 Speaker 1: to vote for Biden. How could that be done outside 305 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:26,680 Speaker 1: the election law and not somehow be profoundly wrong. Well, 306 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 1: I think it was wrong. Unfortunately, I don't think it 307 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,919 Speaker 1: was illegal. No one had ever even conceived of the 308 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:37,439 Speaker 1: idea of private funding of state agencies, and so the 309 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:43,040 Speaker 1: idea of having a group give grants to county and 310 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:46,720 Speaker 1: city election offices around the country, unfortunately, and I'm not 311 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: aware of any states that had prohibitions on that now. Fortunately, 312 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,879 Speaker 1: that has changed a number of states as part of 313 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: their election reform efforts. I think Florida's did this. For example, Georgia, 314 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:03,880 Speaker 1: Texas all now banned election offices and agencies in their 315 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:06,480 Speaker 1: states from receiving any private funding. But I tell you, 316 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: I think that was one of the biggest factors in 317 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 1: last year's election because this money, which was funneled through 318 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 1: a supposedly nonpartisan nonprofit, I think, basically moved the get 319 00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:23,880 Speaker 1: out the vote campaign into government election offices all over 320 00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:26,479 Speaker 1: the country, and I think it made a big difference 321 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:30,680 Speaker 1: in the election well. And it's astonishing because the supposedly 322 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:34,959 Speaker 1: neutral organization I think only gotten in twenty eighteen like 323 00:19:35,359 --> 00:19:39,359 Speaker 1: one point four million dollars, and then Zuckerberg comes along 324 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,960 Speaker 1: and gives them at least three hundred and fifty million dollars. 325 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:46,800 Speaker 1: Somebody estimated it was a twenty five thousand percent increase, 326 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,679 Speaker 1: maybe one of the largest increases in a nonprofit in history. 327 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:53,880 Speaker 1: All of it aimed, I think, at turning out votes 328 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:57,600 Speaker 1: for Biden and against Republicans. I don't know that the 329 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:01,600 Speaker 1: election was stolen an election day, but I am convinced 330 00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:04,680 Speaker 1: the election was rigged. And part of that was things 331 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:06,840 Speaker 1: like Zuckerberg. But part of it, I want to get 332 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: your reaction to, was the whole way in which the 333 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:14,600 Speaker 1: oligarchs in Silicon Valley and the big social media companies 334 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:18,280 Speaker 1: mean when Twitter knocks the sitting president United States off 335 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:21,439 Speaker 1: of Twitter, and then they turn and they knock the 336 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:24,480 Speaker 1: oldest newspaper in America, the fourth largest newspaper, the New 337 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,639 Speaker 1: York Post, off of Twitter, two or three weeks before 338 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 1: the election because they don't like the way he's covering 339 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,119 Speaker 1: the corruption of Hunter Biden. It seems to me that 340 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:36,120 Speaker 1: they're a piece we're gonna have to also deal with 341 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 1: in terms of how the election process has been broken. 342 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 1: What is your thinking on all that, Oh, I agree, 343 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 1: it's interesting. You know, we always point to the so 344 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:49,800 Speaker 1: called robber barons in the nineteen hundreds that Teddy Roosevelt 345 00:20:49,920 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 1: ran against because of their great power in the economy, 346 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 1: and you know, they are the reasons we pass laws 347 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:58,520 Speaker 1: like the Sherman Act to break up the big trust. 348 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: But I think the folks who run these big media 349 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 1: companies today, and particularly the social media platforms, have far 350 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:11,120 Speaker 1: more power than they did one hundred years ago because 351 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 1: they are controlling the information flow that is out there. 352 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:18,440 Speaker 1: And when they take sides in an election and they 353 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 1: cut off any criticism voiced by one side, I think 354 00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:26,159 Speaker 1: they are potentially affecting the election in a way that 355 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: we need to seriously look at and decide whether or 356 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:33,400 Speaker 1: not existing laws like the Sherman Act and the anti 357 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:35,679 Speaker 1: trust laws need to be applied to break up some 358 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:38,440 Speaker 1: of these big organizations if they are violating federal law 359 00:21:38,440 --> 00:22:01,960 Speaker 1: on what they're doing. It's interesting because I think conservatives 360 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:06,400 Speaker 1: are sort of caught in this dilemma. On the one hand, 361 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:09,199 Speaker 1: we believe in private property rights, and we believe in 362 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: limited government, and we believe in success. Henry Ford did 363 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:16,119 Speaker 1: really well because he invented the first mass produced an 364 00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:19,199 Speaker 1: expensive car, and the world was better off because of it. 365 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,080 Speaker 1: Sam Walden did really well because he invented a form 366 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:25,200 Speaker 1: of delivering goods to people at a low cost, and 367 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: people were better off, and his family became one of 368 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 1: the wealthiest in the world. But on the other hand, 369 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 1: we also are very suspicious of concentrations of power. And 370 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:41,439 Speaker 1: when you start getting individuals whose personal wealth is larger 371 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,480 Speaker 1: than a country, so some of these guys are actually 372 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:48,120 Speaker 1: wealthier than the GDP, say of Spain, that's a form 373 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,639 Speaker 1: of concentrated power that I think we have to really 374 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:54,880 Speaker 1: figure out what are the rules of the game and 375 00:22:54,920 --> 00:22:58,359 Speaker 1: what's legitimate and not legitimate, so that we don't allow 376 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: a handful of people to own the country. I don't 377 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:03,640 Speaker 1: know what you're thinking has been on this, but it 378 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,560 Speaker 1: really troubles me to look at the level of power, 379 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:11,640 Speaker 1: in particular that Twitter and Facebook and Google have accumulated 380 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 1: into some extent, Apple and Amazon in a way that 381 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,240 Speaker 1: if they want or two, they become very coercive. Well, 382 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,680 Speaker 1: look by thinking on that, as we support open markets, 383 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:24,640 Speaker 1: we also support the open flow of ideas. I mean 384 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:27,920 Speaker 1: to me, they're very similar. And what we've always opposed 385 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: are monopolies, And in fact, monopolies on information are just 386 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:35,760 Speaker 1: as bad as monopolies and other parts of the economy. 387 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:39,400 Speaker 1: And that's why we've got federal laws dedicated to being 388 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:43,560 Speaker 1: sure that monopolies don't occur, that they are broken up. 389 00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:47,200 Speaker 1: And I think what you're talking about here, with a 390 00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:52,040 Speaker 1: very small number of companies overwhelmingly controlling the market of information, 391 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:56,200 Speaker 1: our potential monopolies that need to be seriously looked at 392 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,680 Speaker 1: as potential violations of federal law. I don't think that's 393 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:04,280 Speaker 1: going to happen, unfortunately during the Biden administration, because these 394 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:07,000 Speaker 1: big organizations are all friends of theirs. But I think 395 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,199 Speaker 1: it's something that needs to be seriously looked at because 396 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,199 Speaker 1: the one thing we cannot have in this country is 397 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:16,600 Speaker 1: monopolistic control of the flow of information. That's right. It's 398 00:24:16,680 --> 00:24:19,560 Speaker 1: sobering when you look at how the Chinese communists operate 399 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,320 Speaker 1: and the degree to which they'd seek to use various 400 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:27,560 Speaker 1: technological instruments of social control, and to think that that 401 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:30,760 Speaker 1: might end the endcome here, which would I think be, 402 00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:34,399 Speaker 1: for all practical purposes, the end of America as we've 403 00:24:34,400 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 1: known it. I agree with that. I just have to 404 00:24:36,840 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: ask this because you've had such a serious professional dedication 405 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:45,240 Speaker 1: to election laws and to understanding what's going on, and 406 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,680 Speaker 1: then you've now written a very important book, Are Broken Elections? 407 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:51,560 Speaker 1: How the Left changed the way you vote, which I 408 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: think is one of the central issues of the survival 409 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:57,640 Speaker 1: of the United States as a free country. But I'm 410 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:01,480 Speaker 1: sort of curious, what's your next big project going to be. Well, 411 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:04,800 Speaker 1: the next big project we're already working on the Heritage Foundation, 412 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,400 Speaker 1: and that is, you know, I've talked about the election 413 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:09,840 Speaker 1: fraud database we have. We are now in the midst 414 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:14,960 Speaker 1: of creating an election integrity Index, and what we're doing 415 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:19,399 Speaker 1: is analyzing the laws and regulations in every single state 416 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:23,480 Speaker 1: that we think are important to the security and integrity 417 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:28,960 Speaker 1: election process, and we are measuring each state as to 418 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:31,119 Speaker 1: how good or how bad they are. We have a 419 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:33,520 Speaker 1: whole series of factors we're looking at. One of the 420 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 1: most obvious ones, of course, is does the state have 421 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:38,719 Speaker 1: a voter ID law, does it apply to both in 422 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:41,720 Speaker 1: person absentee bouting, and we're hoping by the end of 423 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 1: the year that we will have this index up so 424 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,159 Speaker 1: that anyone around the country, whether you remember the public, 425 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:51,880 Speaker 1: a state legislator, or others, you'll be able to look 426 00:25:51,960 --> 00:25:54,919 Speaker 1: your state up and see what the grade is of 427 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,840 Speaker 1: your state when it comes to protecting the integrity and 428 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:00,399 Speaker 1: security the election process. And we think this will be 429 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:04,240 Speaker 1: not only a good measurement, but a tool that people 430 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:07,679 Speaker 1: can use in states, for example, that aren't doing very well, 431 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:11,120 Speaker 1: to go to their representatives and say, hey, you need 432 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,640 Speaker 1: to make things better in our state. Look how badly 433 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: we've been rated, and look how badly we're doing things 434 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:18,560 Speaker 1: when it comes to election. The number of people who 435 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:22,119 Speaker 1: are listening to Hans are activists themselves. They want to 436 00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:25,720 Speaker 1: be involved. What advice do you have for a citizen 437 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:29,000 Speaker 1: who wants to try to be part of helping create 438 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:32,960 Speaker 1: honest elections. Get a job in every election working in 439 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: the polls. If you're actually there as an official, you 440 00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:37,840 Speaker 1: can make sure the law is being followed. Can't do 441 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:40,960 Speaker 1: that be a poll watcher for a candidate or party official. 442 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:44,160 Speaker 1: And the other thing is pay attention to and attend 443 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:47,680 Speaker 1: the public meetings of your county election board. It's the 444 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,920 Speaker 1: county election boards that run elections in your county. They 445 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:53,320 Speaker 1: are the ones are supposed to be following state law. 446 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:56,040 Speaker 1: I used to be on a county election board, both 447 00:26:56,040 --> 00:27:00,320 Speaker 1: in Virginia and in Georgia. Unfortunately, the public never show up. 448 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:03,760 Speaker 1: They need to be watched, they need to be questioned. 449 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:05,679 Speaker 1: You need to be sure they're doing what they should. 450 00:27:05,720 --> 00:27:08,560 Speaker 1: And the other big thing is work on your state 451 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:13,199 Speaker 1: legislators to fix the vulnerabilities in the system, to do 452 00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:16,200 Speaker 1: things like passive or id loft you don't already have one, 453 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:21,000 Speaker 1: and to make other changes that will ensure that we 454 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 1: have an election system provides both access and security. We're 455 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:29,080 Speaker 1: talking on the eve of the Virginia governorship where the left, 456 00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:32,240 Speaker 1: I think, is just going crazy at the possibility that 457 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:36,160 Speaker 1: Glen Yonkan may win and that the former governor Terry 458 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,440 Speaker 1: mcculoff may actually lose, which I think six months ago 459 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: the left thought was not possible. They were so confident 460 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:45,080 Speaker 1: that Terry would get re elected. And one of the 461 00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:48,359 Speaker 1: things I worry about most is in Fairfax County, in 462 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: particularly because it's the largest county of the state, but 463 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:54,320 Speaker 1: also in the city of Richmond, and at least two 464 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:57,679 Speaker 1: counties down along the coast, that there's a real danger 465 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,600 Speaker 1: of vote theft. Do you have any sense of concern 466 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,960 Speaker 1: about how these counties operate or any sense of advice 467 00:28:05,480 --> 00:28:08,480 Speaker 1: for what citizens should be doing to make sure that 468 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,919 Speaker 1: we get an honest count in Virginia. I am concerned 469 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,159 Speaker 1: Fairfax County in particular, and I don't know if he 470 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:17,280 Speaker 1: knows with it. A lawsuit been filed against Fairfax County 471 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:22,960 Speaker 1: against its registrar because, just like last year, when election 472 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:26,439 Speaker 1: officials didn't want to follow state law. The lawsuit claims 473 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:31,880 Speaker 1: that the General Registrar has told his staff not to 474 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:35,440 Speaker 1: enforce the requirement in Virginia law that says that when 475 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:39,040 Speaker 1: you request an absentee ballot, one of the ways they 476 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: ensure that it's really the voter is, in addition to 477 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:43,280 Speaker 1: your name and address, you have to put in the 478 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:45,720 Speaker 1: last four digits of your Social Security number. There is 479 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:49,320 Speaker 1: a standard security device or absolute bouts. The General Registrary 480 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:52,760 Speaker 1: just claimed the lawsuit has told folks not to enforce 481 00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 1: that provision, which is an open invitation to fraud occurring 482 00:28:56,920 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: in the absentee balloting process. There's also apparently a petition 483 00:29:00,720 --> 00:29:06,200 Speaker 1: before the governor filed by Democratic officials again in Fairfax County, 484 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:11,440 Speaker 1: asking him to declare a COVID emergency so that the 485 00:29:12,280 --> 00:29:17,320 Speaker 1: legal requirement for witness signatures on absentee ballots will not 486 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:21,560 Speaker 1: be enforced. So again they would be counting absentee ballots 487 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:25,040 Speaker 1: and violation of state law when there's no witness signature 488 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 1: on it, no witness to verify it was really the 489 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:29,680 Speaker 1: voter to fill it out. So I'm very concerned about this. 490 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:32,560 Speaker 1: This is following the same pattern that was followed last year, 491 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:35,680 Speaker 1: and it's in line with the fact that the state 492 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 1: legislature has in recent years been doing things to make 493 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:43,360 Speaker 1: our elections less secure by, for example, getting rid of 494 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:46,880 Speaker 1: the voter ID requirement for the state. You are probably 495 00:29:46,880 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: the leading expert in the country on election fraud and 496 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:54,120 Speaker 1: the work you do at Heritage is astonishing. Your book, 497 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:56,880 Speaker 1: Are Broken Elections, How the Left Changed the Way you 498 00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:59,000 Speaker 1: Vote is going to be on our show page at 499 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:02,160 Speaker 1: Newtsworld dot com so the listeners can pre order it. 500 00:30:02,560 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 1: And I want to thank you for giving us this 501 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:09,880 Speaker 1: very sophisticated briefing on what's happening, and like you, I'll 502 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:13,560 Speaker 1: be watching Tuesday to see exactly what does happen in Fairfax. 503 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: But Hans, thank you so much for joining me. Well, 504 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:19,239 Speaker 1: I appreciate you having me on, and I'm also going 505 00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:21,960 Speaker 1: to be out buying your new book because I'm very 506 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 1: concerned about the country and what's happening, not only with 507 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:26,800 Speaker 1: the Biden administration, but what we're going to do beyond 508 00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 1: the Biden administration. Thank you very much, and keep working 509 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: on this stuff because it's vital to our survival as 510 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 1: a free country. Thank you to my guests Hans van Zbikowski. 511 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 1: You can get a link to buy his new book, 512 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: Our Broken Elections, How the Left Change the Way You 513 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:48,080 Speaker 1: Vote on our show page at newtsworld dot com. Newtsworld 514 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:52,480 Speaker 1: is produced by Geli Street sixty and iHeartMedia. Our executive 515 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:56,840 Speaker 1: producer is Debbie Myers, our producer is Garnsey Sloan, and 516 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:01,120 Speaker 1: our researcher is Rachel Peterson. Yard work for the show 517 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:05,520 Speaker 1: was created by Steve Penley. Special thanks to the team 518 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:09,240 Speaker 1: at Gingridge three sixty. If you've been enjoying Newtsworld, I 519 00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,440 Speaker 1: hope you'll go to Apple Podcast and both rate us 520 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 1: with five stars and give us a review so others 521 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:18,960 Speaker 1: can learn what it's all about. Right now, Listeners of 522 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:23,080 Speaker 1: Newtsworld can sign up for my three free weekly columns 523 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:28,080 Speaker 1: at gingwish three sixty dot com slash newsletter. I'm Newt Gingrich. 524 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:29,680 Speaker 1: This is Newtsworld.