Ep. 20: How Arizona and Nevada are preparing for 2024 elections

Bonus episode! With Election Day fast approaching, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of the We the Veterans & Military Families, Ben Keiser, speaks with Arizona Secretaries of State Adrian Fontes and Francisco V. Aguilar to discuss the systems and processes in place to ensure safe, accurate, and transparent elections in their states.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Hey everyone, Ben Kaiser here. Today I had the opportunity to sit down with not one but two Secretaries of State, former Marine Adrian Fontes of Arizona, Cisco Aguilar of Nevada. We're just a couple weeks out from the election, and Arizona and Nevada are both pretty close to the center of gravity. So let's check in with them, hear how they're preparing for the next few weeks, and how things are going so far. So, gentlemen, welcome to Vetted Conversations Podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

Thanks, Ben, for having us. Excited to be here.

SPEAKER_03 0:35

Yes, and thank you for making the time. I know it is election crunch time right now for both of you. Um, and you both have been such great friends and partners to vet the vote. So we'll we'll definitely be talking a lot about elections, but let's first set the scene here a little bit. So you both have a lot in common. You're both from Arizona, both practice law, both secretaries of state of neighboring states, and you do have a friendship beyond sort of your professional role. So, first question: how do you make that work when one of you went to ASU and the other went to UBay?

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Well, there's another commonality that that transcends all of this. Um, we are cousins. I don't know if you knew that.

SPEAKER_03 1:19

I I was I was aware. Is it by marriage or is it yes?

SPEAKER_01 1:23

Well, it it doesn't matter when you're from Southern Arizona. We're all kind of related one way or another. But uh Cisco's mom's cousin is related, is married to my dad's cousin.

SPEAKER_03 1:35

Okay, there it is.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

So I think we're second cousins twice removed, but uh the way we handle the ASU U of A rivalry is we we don't talk about it.

SPEAKER_02 1:46

Well, I have to say, I actually ventured over to ASU law and Adrian came and we were on a panel, and so you know it took a lot of effort, but I figured it was worth the discussion of democracy, and actually they have a very beautiful law school.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

So well, and I've been on the campus in in Tucson several times, uh, and uh actually up in the Wildcat Club inside of the camp uh stadium, uh, which I will say is a beautiful facility, and we can move on with the rest of the conversation.

SPEAKER_03 2:15

Okay, fair enough. But just to sticking on the point of uh the relationship, are there is there a cabal of Fantes and Aguilars conspiring to elect more of your relatives to be secretaries of state?

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Oh, I hope so.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

I certainly identify one in you know around the country to see where else we can you know start to engage in the democracy family tradition.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

And here's why the more of us get elected, the more of all Americans get to vote, and the more of all people of all parties can can understand that their elections are going to be safe and secure. Uh, because if there's anything I think both of us like is a fair fight and a better representation of the American voice.

SPEAKER_03 2:59

Well said. Well, I'm sold. Let's let's get some more in okay. Um, so a little bit by way of a little bit of background here. So, Secretary Fontez, you are a fellow former Marine, Semper Fi. Right. Um tell us, if you would, a little bit about what you did in the Marine Corps or just how the Marine Corps sort of prepared or inspired you to move into public service.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Well, I um my primary MOS was uh back in the old days, I don't know if it still exists, it was called a unit diary clerk. I was an 0131. Um and basically when you're with a Harrier squadron, I was with the now decommissioned uh Marine Attack Squadron 513 uh in uh Mag 13 of the third wing. I was stationed in Yuma, Arizona. That's right. I enlisted in the Marine Corps to see the world, and they sent me from Nogales to Yuma, which is about a two-hour drive. Um, you know, we did a lot of other stuff. I was uh Marksmanship instructor, classified materials controller, and I actually was our squadron's election officer, even though I was just a corporal. Uh, just making sure, you know, that that little piece of mail got back and forth, whether it was the uh voter registration cards or ballots or things of this nature. Um, the Marine Corps teaches you to a learn and appreciate the complexity of systems uh and your role in those systems. It makes you a very mission-oriented person. Um, you can kind of deal with a whole lot of BS because you are trained to deal with a whole lot of BS while maintaining your focus uh on the fundamentals. And so I think just generally speaking, that um and a lot of the sort of general leadership and responsibility uh space that you have to operate in um was really good. And I needed it because when I was a kid, when I was younger, you know, before I got in the Marine Corps, I was a hot mess. Uh so um we kind of it worked out real well for me.

SPEAKER_03 4:59

Yeah, many of us have similar histories there, most certainly. Um okay, so now that you are in public service, though, what what would you say about what would you say to transitioning service members or veterans, family members, um, you know, about a future in public service?

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Well, this is what you this is what you signed up for, right? I think people who um serve uh in America's military uh are uniquely connected to the rest of the nation. We have uh been willing to say, yeah, I'll write this country a blank check, payable with my life, uh, because I care so much about it. And and the circumstances are different for every single one of us uh who uh either enlisted or came in as an officer or whatnot, but what we leave with is that same unifying spirit, right? That same uh fealty and loyalty to the Constitution and the service of our fellow Americans. This is just a different kind of service. Um, and and look, public service needs people with the kinds of experience that veterans have. Uh, elections administration needs people with the kinds of experience that we have. Uh, we understand process, we understand rules, we understand uniformity. We understand that there are systems out there that are bigger than us. There's a certain humility that goes along with that as well, but it's a humility in the service of the greater, greater mission. Uh, and so I think veterans are very well suited uh to work in in public service, regardless of the area, uh, but particularly I'd say in the in election administration.

SPEAKER_03 6:36

Couldn't could not agree more. And as it happens, we are preparing to launch a new program called Vet Public Service. So we'll have to we'll have to talk with you more about that, absolutely. Um, Secretary Aguilar, so you've got a background in sports. We've actually done a lot with you around some sports stuff. I think we got introduced through Scott Pioli, maybe, who's you know, NFL analyst um and good friend of Vet the Vote. Um, can you can you tell us you know about what you brought from that world into your life in public service and how you know sports can be leveraged to uh you know uh in the public interest?

SPEAKER_02 7:14

Right. I think the upcoming November General is the Super Bowl of all Super Bowls, right? It's the candidates are the teams, the fans are the voters, and we as secretaries and election workers are the regulators, right? We're the referees. It's our responsibility to call balls and strikes, it's our responsibility to ensure that the regulations are being followed, interpreted in a nonpartisan way. It's in the best interest of all Nevadans and all participants to make sure we are doing our jobs as regulators. And my regulator experience really comes from when I was chair of the Nevada Athletic Commission. Regulating boxing in UFC is not an easy thing. In both elections and in sport, you have a passion, and that passion can be strong, especially in sport when you have betting and somebody is you know expecting a fair result to ensure that their bet is fair. But again, you know, when I was chair, I implemented the random drug testing program within boxing and UFC, and that created a lot of upheaval and it created a lot of concerns, but it was something we had to do to increase the legitimacy of the sport and the trust of the fans. And what we do as elections administrator is being transparent and building that trust so Pete Coop can be confident in the process.

SPEAKER_03 8:28

Right on, right on. Okay, so um, Secretary Fonte, you were previously the uh recorder, I believe is the title of Maricopa County. Uh but Secretary Aguilar, this is your first election as an official, is that right?

SPEAKER_02 8:44

Yes, besides the two primary elections, the presidential primary and the Nevada primary, this is my first presidential.

SPEAKER_03 8:50

Right, right. Okay, so so you you do you feel like you're sort of in a groove now? Or you know, early voting starts this coming weekend in Nevada, is that the 19th.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

Yes, Saturday. So you know, and it's look, it's hard coming into this position, learning all the nuances of an election, but again, understanding my role as a regulator and having that experience from the Nevada Athletic Commission to be a regulator really helps. But when you talk about the actual minutiae of the election, it's people like Adrian, it's people like Jocelyn Benson, it's people like Brad Rathensburger, it's Al Schmidt in Pennsylvania. And Adrian being so close has been extremely helpful because he has that deep experience, he has that deep knowledge. And so listening to him speak about these issues is extremely educating for me and super helpful.

SPEAKER_03 9:38

Um, you know, you you you bring up a good issue that I had wanted to dive into, you know, maybe a little bit later, but um you you all have a relationship and your neighbors, um, how how has it been for you to be able to kind of lean on one another to you know share best practices, talk about things, and should more secretaries of state, you know, be doing stuff like that?

SPEAKER_01 10:02

I think the relationship is solid. Um, but look, we've got a good relationship generally with um most of the secretaries across the United States of America through the National Association of Secretaries of State. Uh we have uh regular convenings and we share best practices. Many folks in our staff uh get together. There's also an association of state election uh directors, uh, NASAD is what it's called. Many of those folks work in our offices and in a variety of different states where elections come out of the Secretary of State's office. And so there are these networks that exist. And you know, when you've got a personal relationship like mine and Cisco's, it comes in handy. If there's somebody at a certain agency um somewhere that one of us might know, then you know the other one might say, hey, what's going on over here? And we'll kind of check in. Uh, we had a circumstance here in Arizona um where Cisco actually had a relationship that I didn't have with someone here and uh talked through some of those things. Maybe we didn't get the resolution that we all wanted, but at the end of the day, uh these relationships matter, they're important, uh, and we can help one another do our jobs better. And that doesn't ever happen in a vacuum. Very, very few of us operate on our own well. Uh, some of us, you know, and it this this doesn't just apply to secretaries, it applies to all folks uh in these pretty big offices. If you're not paying attention to your network and the resources in those networks, uh then you're not doing it right.

SPEAKER_03 11:35

So so how have those relationships, and especially like NAS, how have they helped you prepare for the unique challenges of this cycle of elections? What are some of those unique challenges?

SPEAKER_02 11:48

I think in general, without even speaking about NAS, and I think just in general, the battleground secretary's job is very different from a secretary in a red or blue state. You know, battleground secretaries have an even greater responsibility to ensure that we are protecting that access to the ballot box, but doing it in a nonpartisan way and understanding the role and responsibility of being a true regulator. And sometimes when you're doing your job, you're upsetting the Apple card so much that you everybody is mad at you. But that's just the process of the job. And I think at the end of the road or at the end of the election, people will look back and say, you know, our secretaries did a really good job because they held strong, they were transparent, but they were clear in the decisions they were making to ensure the overall integrity of the system was protected.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

And and that that's certainly true. And I will just kind of piggyback a little bit on what Cisco said. Look, um, we've got in our tighter network, right? So you there's the whole bigger network, but right, you've got uh Cisco and myself and Jocelyn Benson. We we have a pretty tight relationship, but we also talk to Al Schmidt, a Republican in Pennsylvania. He's an appointed Secretary of State, he's not elected. Uh Brad Raffensberger and I have conversations occasionally. He's a very Republican Secretary of State in Georgia, and we don't see eye to eye on a lot of stuff, but when it comes to a lot of the extra things that you have to deal with, right? You've got your basic fundamental run the election according to the statutes and the laws at the federal and state level. There's that. But then there's these other things I think that really have to be dealt with. Uh, for example, how do you deal with uh threats to yourself, your family, or election workers in your state? How do you deal uh you know with some of the PR nightmares and the endless, endless stream of litigation that continues to pour out uh, you know, from certain corners of politics? These conversations are important and the co-support that we lend one another uh is is is very valuable. And I think it's it's important as well because at the end of the day, we all want the same thing, regardless of parties um or party loyalties. We we have our opinion and we have our duty. Our duty is to our voters and to the law. Our opinions are going to be different uh as to candidates and and outcomes, and uh, you know, we're each gonna cast our own ballot, but um we're we're dedicated to our jobs, and I think that's the important thing about these relationships. We respect uh the professionalism uh of one another, and uh we will we will exploit those relationships to the benefit of our voters.

SPEAKER_03 14:28

That's the first time I had heard of it called uh Battleground Secretary, and I I I think it's pretty apt. I wonder if um, you know, there there ought to almost be a subgroup for you all to get together more regularly and there's not an official, but we're all part of different organizations.

SPEAKER_02 14:47

And you know, I participated in a program with Brad and Al at Harvard, and that opportunity brings us together, you know, a few times a year. And so having that opportunity to have direct conversation with the three of us is pretty valuable, especially when you're talking about how do we educate a voter about an issue or a concern. And it's what has worked in their state versus Georgia and now in Nevada is being able to take all of those pieces and say, this is what I understand to be the clearest way to communicate directly to a voter about an issue that they're concerned about. And that's super helpful.

SPEAKER_03 15:20

And that is sort of the beauty and the challenge of our system that we do have, you know, 50 plus unique ways of doing it, um, but that we can sort of share best practices and figure out what works in that in that way.

SPEAKER_02 15:34

Um because as Adrian said, yes, there are differences in policies and approach into the actual discussion of the election, but the very basis of the foundation of the operations is similar across states. For sure, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:47

Yeah, and that that even that even applies to sort of the different structure of each of our states, right? Nevada and Arizona, a lot of our western states are more bottom-up where a lot of the activity uh happens at the county level. Our county clerks, uh county boards of supervisors or commissioners, uh they have some very pointed duties established in statute. They're much more involved in the day-to-day administration and operation of our elections. Um, that includes, you know, Colorado, New Mexico, et cetera. But then you get further back east, like uh in Georgia, uh Brad Raffensberger, the Secretary of State there, he's like in charge of a lot of it. And they're they're really a top-down uh structure. So while there are similarities, there are differences, it's it's in it's just sort of generally speaking, I think we we try to do what is best for our voters, um, but that's there's no sense in trying to do that in a vacuum. That that is absolutely, you know, isolating yourself is is uh is a path to ignoring the experiences that other people have had, and you're apt to make mistakes that they might be able to help you avoid.

SPEAKER_03 16:55

So there's there's one challenge that that we have been hearing, you know, certainly this cycle that people that are on people's minds is that in one state or locality, uh voters, um citizens are confident in their own elections, but they feel like they don't have a basis to have confidence in other states, other jurisdictions. Um, even leaders of individual states can often only say, Well, I know my state's good, but I don't know about them over there.

SPEAKER_02 17:23

So as a Well, that's not even a state-to-state issue. You know, I just spent the last two days in our rural communities. They all trust their local clerk and they know their systems work for their community. What they don't trust are some of the bigger urban counties like Clark County, where 85% of the population is. When they talk about elections, they're like, oh, our community's okay. It's that group in Clark County. And it's so it's kind of those issues versus urban versus rural. Those are real. And it's my job as secretary who represents the entire state is to try to bridge that gap and try to educate as much as possible that no, Clark is doing just as good of a job as everybody else. Yes, they have you know a significant amount of voters, 1.4 million, but it doesn't matter because we're one state, we're one community, and we're all doing the same thing to drive our state forward.

SPEAKER_01 18:15

Yeah, and to open that up a little bit, I think nationally, if you've you know paid attention to what the systems look like, they can have, generally speaking, sort of different structure, different statutory structure, this county versus that county, that state versus this state. But I think it's a bad idea for folks to be saying, well, we're good, but I don't know about them. Because what it implies is there might be something wrong over there. Uh instead, based on my experience in election administration for you know the time that I've been in it and going to different places and seeing their systems and talking to their folks about what it how it works, we all basically do the same things uh in sort of three big buckets, right? Our first bucket is voter registration. Everybody in the country does some kind of voter registration, they check their roles, there's a lot of maintenance that goes on. They're pretty darn secure. Uh, and so that's bucket number one. How do you get to the point where you are a registered voter and the maintenance of those? And the second one is sort of this uh the distribution and collection of your ballots, right? Whether it's by mail, whether it's on election day, whether it's in-person early voting. Um that whole system uh can have several systems within the same state. And it might be different county to county, but there's those spaces where you've got processes and procedures, best practices, uh, and a lot of checks and balances in there in bucket number two, that's important, but we've all look at those things uh and we all have a keen eye to make sure we do it well. And then that third bucket, uh, which is sort of tabulation uh through audit and then certification, the last piece of the puzzle. Um, if you look At systems and in that sort of a way of subdividing things, we're all really, really good, right? And the problem that we have is every once in a while you'll see a cork in one system, but there'll be a catch on the other part of the system. You'll see something, maybe that people are like, oh, well, this didn't happen right over here, so the whole thing's a mess. Well, no, there are checks and balances all the way through. This thing works together. And so understanding the complexities of our system, uh, but being able to say, okay, they're all similar in these ways, you're hard pressed to find someone uh who knows all of the systems in the country, because there's a lot of them. Um, but you can really believe that the way that the statutes are set up and the way that folks actually run elections in the country is relatively standard if you look at it uh from a higher view. Um and look, they're all good people that are doing this, right? I there's very few people out there that are in election administration uh that are doing it for the wrong reasons. Uh, and and they get they get they get sniffed out pretty quickly.

SPEAKER_03 21:03

So, what are what are some ways then that we can kind of maybe get closer to that critical mass of you know both sort of leaders in communities and average citizens that are able to confidently say, yeah, I know that the battleground states generally are all doing as good as my state because I have some sort of first hand knowledge.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

No, I think paying attention is the number one thing, right? A lot of folks um, you know, and just to take a quick step back, I like in all of it what we're doing is to the slow-rolling civics lesson, right? Seven, eight years ago, nobody knew what a county recorder did or was. Nobody knew what a Secretary of State did, nobody cared. Now we care. Now it's part of the conversation. Now people are interested in public service in a different way for different reasons because we're figuring it out. But we've got to take that as responsible citizens, particularly veterans, who can understand the complexities of systems and sort of how pieces fit together, uh, and go out there and pay attention. Listen uh to what is being said when folks uh face up against these challenges, against these conspiracy theories, against these lies. We'll tell you what the truth is. We'll tell you how our systems run. And if you're paying attention to that part, you're gonna understand it better and you'll be able to help your friends, neighbors, families, and communities uh be better served and better educated as well.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

It's also to the responsibility of the voter when they hear something to say, what is the source of that information? Digest it and say, okay, I need to verify for myself the source of this information. I need to educate myself, and I'm gonna go find that information in a position of a person who has trust. And just making sure that we're questioning or asking again, it's getting back to that original sense of not just believing everything we hear, but verifying the information that we do hear with the experts or somebody that is in the space that can be a trusted source.

SPEAKER_03 22:57

So speaking, speaking of some of those uh misunderstandings, what what what do people tend to get wrong, or what do you wish people knew about elections in Arizona or or Nevada, respectively?

SPEAKER_02 23:10

I just think the number of safeguards that are in the system to ensure that we have the utmost integrity, right? As Adrian said earlier, our elections in Arizona and Nevada are designed for decentralization. All the tabulation that occurs across our states is done at that local level by people in those communities who have an interest in the success of those communities. And so just understanding the entire process of how a ballot gets to your mailbox, how it is returned to the clerk's office, how the vote is processed when you vote in person, and understanding that there are complete safeguards in place. There are division of duties, there is division between the state and the local counties to ensure that we are building the process in there to be as safe as possible. You know, Nevada runs some of the most safest, secure, and accessible elections in the country. And just because you're accessible doesn't mean you're it's at the cost of the safety and security of the system. It's even probably more secure, the fact that we are being as transparent as we are and engaging as many voters as we are in different processes.

SPEAKER_01 24:15

I think one of the biggest things we got to get past, and one of the things that most people get wrong, um, is something that is akin to what we talked about at the beginning of the show, right? I have an irrational loyalty to the Sun Devils at Arizona State University. It's an emotional tie because my mom was a Sun Devil, my dad was a Sun Devil, and by God, I'm a Sun Devil, right? The Cisco's a wildcat. He went to the University of Arizona. His love and loyalty to that school and those sports programs is equally irrational, right? And we're going to compete. It's you versus you of me. And it's a very fierce rivalry, I'll tell you. But when we take that sports loyalty and we pull it into the space of public policy and politics, boy, we're missing the boat. Because what we're talking about is establishing policies that impact the day-to-day lives of all Americans at all levels, the local level, the state level, and the federal level. We need to be not pretending like politics is sports, because it's not. You know, the winning a football game here and there may have an impact on uh, you know, one or two athletes' professional careers. It might have an impact on, you know, some scholarship funding and things of this nature. But, you know, who we elect could have a direct impact on millions of people, tens of millions of people and their lives and their livelihoods. It could have huge economic ramifications, huge military and foreign relations implications. You know, these are really serious issues, and I think we kind of sportsify our politics in an inappropriate way. You shouldn't be loyal to your Democratic Party or loyal to your Republican Party just because. That shouldn't be an emotional tie. It should be an intellectual tie because your values push you one direction or another as to the issues. And a data, a data-informed uh sort of approach to uh politics, I think is much, much, much better uh than an emotional uh loyalty, um, which is generally irrational.

SPEAKER_03 26:32

Yeah, well said. That's a it's a great analogy.

SPEAKER_02 26:34

There's a at the same time, I think if you look at the officials who are officiating those gains, right? They're well-trained individuals who are there to do a job for the benefit of the sport. Our elections officials are those officials. They are well trained, they understand their duty and responsibility, and they're gonna do the job that we need them to do, and we need to respect them for that job. We have to be decent to each other and understand what it is they're doing. To be you know aggressive, to be intimidating just because you don't like the job they're doing is not a fair approach. We have to bring that decency back to the conversation of elections administration.

SPEAKER_03 27:16

And we know that a lot of those refs, if you will, uh the folks making the elections tick in both Arizona and Nevada and across the country are staffed by a lot of veterans and military family members, which is clearly something that's very important to us over here. Um, do you have do you all kind of have a decent handle on how many veterans or military family members might be serving in Arizona and Nevada elections this year?

SPEAKER_01 27:45

Uh I've got uh I've got 14 veterans and I think three military family members in my office. Wow, we um you know, we we we we like to get more, um, but you know, that's we I don't have an enormous staff here at the Secretary of State's office. It's you know the counties are the ones with the with the much larger staff uh influx and outflow. But uh you know, this is this is important work, and for some folks it it just it doesn't fit what they want to do. But um, so for example, all of my comms staff uh are are veterans or or military family members. So uh when we're messaging and we're paying close attention to those relationships, um, it's a big deal for us. So uh yeah, that's sort of the space that we're operating in.

SPEAKER_02 28:34

I don't know the exact number, but I do know a few of the clerks are veterans or have served in the military. My chief deputy, Mark Veloshan, is a retired Marine. He served in the Marines for 20 years. Yeah, and his experience as a Marine has helped him really do a phenomenal job as the deputy for elections in the Secretary of State's office. He understands his duty, he understands the fundamental right to vote. The fact that he and his family sacrificed for that fundamental right gives him the credibility to walk into a room and say, let's have an honest conversation about our elections. Here, let me tell you what is happening and why it works this way, and the way he speaks and the way he presents and his history give him that credibility among audiences that necessarily wouldn't listen to an elections official. I've seen him work that magic and I've seen him change the perspective that a group of voters may have about the elections process. And it's amazing. He does such a phenomenal job.

SPEAKER_03 29:36

So, speaking of that fundamental right, um, and I think you know this is maybe a question we can start to wind it up on because I know you gentlemen are both very busy, but uh, I gotta ask you about Yukawa because uh we know how important this is in the military community, and we've been hearing about some challenges brewing or some movements for enhanced scrutiny around uh this meth method of voting that our uh service members in uniform rely on. Uh, any of this happening in your states, or do you have any um opinions on what is happening?

SPEAKER_02 30:10

So in Nevada we have what's called the E system, which is our digital voting system that makes our elections accessible to military members living overseas, their spouses living overseas. We have really invested in that process and that system, both from a security point, but also ensuring that our active military members have that fundamental right to vote. We protect it, we defend it constantly. The issue we're seeing when it comes to military voters, and I'm glad it's being addressed finally, is list maintenance. Is we have a group of individuals in Nevada who've tried to come through and argue that they are cleaning the voter rolls, but it's disproportionately impacting military families. And that is a heartbreaking thing. We have three outstanding cases against us over that issue, and we stood strong and said, you are dead wrong. You are impacting the exact voter we're trying to protect. And on Friday, this group and this individual have asked to dismiss all three cases because they finally recognized the disproportionate impact on military families and their wives, members, and spouses.

SPEAKER_01 31:19

Yeah, we have um, I mean, I take it personally when somebody attacks uh military and overseas voters. I mean, these are the folks who are literally um assigned outside of the United States of America, outside of their communities here in Arizona. And so protecting their vote when they are protecting our freedoms, when they are protecting our interests abroad, uh is something that I take very, very seriously. And so uh not unlike uh Secretary Aguilar here, um I'm I I'm I'm I'm fiercely, fiercely uh uh jealously guarding those rights and making sure that those folks have access. Uh but it that includes a good relationship with voters abroad uh from the different political parties, uh, folks who are serving in foreign service uh and in some other roles, governmental roles as well. Um, you know, we've got to protect all of those voters. We don't have the exact same system that Nevada has, but uh we do have systems that work well for those folks. Uh and our, like everybody else's, our ballots have to go out at least 45 days prior to uh the election. So all of those uh have gone out already. Uh, we've seen some decent returns uh so far from those voters, and I'm glad. I'm glad those folks' uh voices are being heard.

SPEAKER_03 32:37

Well, gentlemen, thank you both for spending all this time with us today. We really appreciate it. Um any last words for the listeners?

SPEAKER_02 32:45

I just want to say thank you to Ben and your team's leadership and helping us recruit poll workers. We know poll workers are the unsung heroes of our democracy, and without your team and vet the vote, we wouldn't have the poll workers that we have across the state to participate in the process and make a polling location comfortable, not only for military members, for general citizens. So thank you for your work. We appreciate it. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 33:07

Yeah, ditto on that. Thanks for your work. And thanks for folks who are paying attention out there. Look, this democracy runs on us people, right? And we've got to be the informed citizens uh who make the informed decisions who perpetuate the republic. That's the idea behind this. The elections are the golden thread that hold the entire fabric of our society together. And when we've got forces who are actively trying to pull that thread out, actively trying to get uh this fabric to disintegrate, we've got to fight like hell to keep it together. So thank you, uh Ben and your crew, and thanks for everybody who's been watching.

SPEAKER_03 33:41

Indeed, and thank you, gentlemen, for your service and for all of your team's efforts and best of luck with this election. Cheers. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 33:49

Thanks so much.

SPEAKER_00 33:50

Thank you so much for listening. If you found this podcast episode interesting or useful, please share it with the people you know. This podcast is a production of We the Veterans and Military Families, 501c3 not-for-profit, nonpartisan, veteran and military spouse-led organization, focused on promoting positive and patriotic civic engagement to strengthen Americans' freedom and liberty. Find out more about us at we the veterans.us and follow us on social media.