How States Hold Fair Elections

HOW STATES HOLD FAIR ELECTIONS: STEVE HOBBS AND MICHAEL ADAMS

Until recently most of us outside state government didn’t know much about the role of Secretary of State, the state’s top election official. We simply didn’t think about it. But since the 2020 presidential race, election laws and procedures have been in the spotlight – and election officials have come under attack.

In this episode of Let’s Find Common Ground we meet Democrat Steve Hobbs, Secretary of State for Washington, and Republican Michael Adams, Secretary of State for Kentucky.

Kentucky is a vote in-person state, while Washington has voting by mail and at the dropbox. But no matter how people vote, suspicion of the electoral process is rife. In recent years both men have encountered election deniers and faced threats to themselves and their staff.

“These abuses, even if they’re not full-fledged threats of violence – it adds up,” says Michael Adams, “and it begins to really lay some strain on our election process.”

Hear what each of our guests is doing to protect democracy in his state, why being part of the Electronic Registration Information System (ERIC) is so important, and why volunteers are a vital part of free and fair elections. All on this episode of Let’s Find Common Ground.