What is the Election Assistance Commission? What does it do? Why is it so critical?

Yeah, the Election Assistance Commission was set up after the 2000 Florida election when there was a realization that the country really needed to upgrade its voting systems and its voting processes.

So the EAC, over its two decades of service, has doled out about three and a half million dollars in grants to replace punch card machines, lever machines, to upgrade security, both physical and cyber.

It sets the guidelines by which we test these, the election technology.

It, um, it puts out reports, it collects data.

So it's really the voice of election officials, state and local election officials, in Washington for when these debates over election administration happen.

It works with Congress, it works with all the administrations, um, and it really provides a bipartisan look at what can modernize voting for all Americans.

At what point do you think it could start to matter? What's the timeline look like here?

actual risk of fraud, or is it just maybe not a great way to run elections that you could strengthen it a little bit to increase trust?

Yeah, it's a great question.

And it is the question, right? I mean, any kind of public policy as tradeoffs.

And so, no, I don't think their process is any more susceptible to fraud.

I mean, full stop, really.

I mean, if you're looking at one of the main reasons why it's taking so long, it's because of how rigorous their signature matching regime is.

That's actually a fraud detection service.

So how can we shift it back to, we should have an evidence-based discussion, and yes, be very robust with audits and with all the transparency measures and checks that you mentioned, I guess maybe that's asking for pie in the sky, but is there a way to kind of shift the public dialogue back to, we're about evidence and good processes?

Why is it much harder to do, sir? Explain.

Yeah.

I think the-- it, it breaks down a few different ways, right? There are only a few different, um, documents that actually prove citizenship, and I think that's really what the public doesn't realize.

You know, the, the easiest way to prove your citizenship would be your passport, um, under this bill.

It's unexpired.

It has to have your current name.

But if you have a passport, you're in a pretty good place.

So if that's the case, why do you believe that the public, that the Republicans have taken this position? Is it-- are they of the mindset that illegals have voted in elections, and that's something that they are determined to eradic- to eradicate, or is that just propaganda?