Poll workers wanted. At every poll worker training the Honest Elections Project has run this year, Jason Snead asks the room who has served as a poll worker or poll watcher before, and not many hands go up. Snead, Executive Director of the Honest Elections Project, joins Jenny Beth Martin to explain what the job actually involves, why the training is built for people who have never done it, and why the coalition that includes Tea Party Patriots Action is taking it to Wisconsin on October 2 in Brookfield and October 3 in Green Bay, dinner served. The trainings have already run in Texas, Ohio, Georgia and Nevada, with state legislators, Ohio's secretary of state and Representative Rich McCormick among the speakers. Snead walks through the hours, which in some states run from 5 AM until the job is done, and the one thing he tells every recruit: your job is not to catch fraud. Your job is to follow the law, and simply being present makes cutting corners less likely. Jenny Beth Martin adds her own example, the poll worker who knows the voter at the table and forgets to ask for identification. Nearly every state requires bipartisan teams to handle ballots, and in the big blue counties conservatives are not stepping up to fill those seats. Snead calls them blueberries in the tomato soup. Jenny Beth Martin opens the show with the ten ways to help this fall at iwillsaveamerica.com. Learn more at teapartypatriots.org and jennybethshow.com.
Guest: Jason Snead is Executive Director of the Honest Elections Project, which develops model election legislation, works it through state capitols and defends the resulting laws in court. He is a returning guest on The Jenny Beth Show. By his count this is the third election cycle in which the coalition he works with, including Tea Party Patriots Action, Heritage Action and Turning Point Action, has toured the country training conservatives to serve as poll workers and poll watchers. The tour has reached Texas, Ohio, Georgia and Nevada this year and arrives in Wisconsin on October 2 and 3.
Key topics:
• Jenny Beth Martin's call to action: ten ways to help this fall at iwillsaveamerica.com
• Every state sets its own voter registration deadline; Georgia closes a month before voting begins, Wisconsin allows same-day registration
• Handwritten postcards to voters, the easiest way to start getting out the vote
• Phone calls, texts, doors, volunteering for a local campaign, donating to candidates and recruiting friends
• Close races this fall may be decided by a few hundred votes or fewer
• The poll worker training tour: Texas, Ohio, Georgia and Nevada done, Wisconsin next
• Who has spoken at the events: Texas state Senator Bryan Hughes, Ohio's secretary of state, Georgia lawmakers and Representative Rich McCormick
• Ask who has worked a poll before and few hands go up: the trainings are built for first-timers
• You do not need experience to be a poll worker; you need a desire to see the law followed
• The hours: some states run shifts, others start at 5 AM and go until the job is done
• Your job is not to catch fraud; following the law and being present makes fraud less likely
• The Sally Smith example: the poll worker who knows the voter and forgets to ask for identification
• Nearly every state requires bipartisan teams to handle ballots, and blue counties are short on conservatives
• Blueberries in the tomato soup: why the tour targets blue areas surrounded by red
• Election integrity is now part of the conservative platform, not a one-and-done issue
• Consent of the governed, and consent of the losers: why every voter has to trust the count
• Wisconsin: October 2 in Brookfield, October 3 in Green Bay, dinner served, legislators invited
• The coalition partners, from Heritage Action to the American Constitutional Rights Union
• What Wisconsin stands to lose if its election safeguards are unwound
Timestamps:
00:00 — Cold open: Jason Snead is back, Wisconsin is next
00:34 — Your call to action: ten ways to help at iwillsaveamerica.com
01:06 — Voter registration deadlines: Georgia vs. Wisconsin
01:49 — Handwritten postcards, phone calls, texts and doors
03:10 — Volunteer for a local campaign, donate, recruit friends
04:28 — Close races may come down to a few hundred votes
04:59 — Jason Snead of the Honest Elections Project
05:44 — Texas, Ohio, Georgia, Nevada, and Wisconsin next
06:34 — Third cycle of trainings: the coalition, the meal, the panels, the state leaders
08:27 — Ask who has worked a poll before and few hands go up
09:31 — You do not need experience to be a poll worker
10:52 — The hours: 5 AM until the job is done
11:17 — Your job is not to catch fraud; being present makes it less likely
12:12 — The Sally Smith example: do not forget the voter ID
13:43 — Bipartisan teams and the blueberries in the tomato soup
15:12 — Trusting the outcome no matter who wins; consent of the losers
17:04 — Wisconsin: October 2 in Brookfield, October 3 in Green Bay
18:13 — Where to sign up, and the coalition partners
19:17 — Wisconsin is the state to watch: what it stands to lose
20:39 — How to follow the Honest Elections Project
21:34 — Closing: like, subscribe, jennybethshow.com
Links mentioned:
iwillsaveamerica.com
jennybethshow.com
teapartypatriots.org