Live from Chicago with the people who run our elections

A troubling proposal to create a federal voter data system, Trump's mail voting executive order and more. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Friday, April 17

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Jacob Knutson, Reporter

Hi, I'm about to head home from Chicago, where I've been covering meetings of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, a key federal voting panel.

This is where the people who run our elections — from federal officials to secretaries of state to local administrators — are making crucial decisions that will help determine how free, fair and accessible the midterms and future contests will be. Being here in person — as one of only a tiny number of reporters — has allowed me to shine a light on key discussions and important developments that would otherwise stay behind closed doors.

It gave me the chance to ask a federal election official about some shocking comments she made last fall, reported exclusively by Democracy Docket, accusing Democrats of wanting the votes of "illegal citizens." In response, she let something slip that she might have regretted.

Decisions about our elections are being made here in Chicago — and we're one of the only news outlets in the room.

We report what others don’t. Support our newsroom in keeping you informed on the threats to voting, elections and democracy.

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Read about her slip-up or watch the recap below >>>

I also revealed a troubling new proposal to create a massive system, inside the federal government, for sharing state voter data — at a time when the Trump administration is already trying to create a nationwide voter database to help purge the rolls. After my story exposed the plan to scrutiny, it was quietly tabled.

Find out what's in the proposal >>>

And I got to talk to Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read, who called Trump's recent order restricting mail voting "totally unserious," and said his state would defeat it in court. I also liked that he dropped a Princess Bride reference, calling Trump's monster voter suppression bill, the SAVE America Act, "mostly dead."

Secretary Read had more to say here >>>

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P.S. I also wanted to share that everyone I spoke with here either actively reads Democracy Docket or knows all about us. OK, it's a crowd of election nerds. But it was still great to hear.

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