The Fight to Secure U.S. Elections; Latest on Impeachment

Published: Oct. 28, 2019, 7:05 p.m.

The guest host for today's show is Brad Bannon. Brad runs Bannon Communications Research, a polling, message development and media firm which helps labor unions, progressive issue groups and Democratic candidates win public affairs and political campaigns. His new show, 'Deadline D.C. with Brad Bannon,' airs every Monday from 3-4pm ET.

Brad is first joined by Aquene Freechild, Co-Director of Public Citizen's Democracy Is For People Campaign. \xa0She also leads Public Citizen\u2019s advocacy work on election security and holding voting system vendors accountable for ensuring machines are safe from hackers. She co-founded the Secure Our Vote coalition, which works on the state and local level to encourage election officials to secure the vote and allow for recovery should a computer error or hack occur.

The two discuss the latest on the efforts to secure American elections ahead of the federal, state, and local contests taking place in 2020.\xa0 This includes two election security bills that have passed the House of Representatives, and have then been blocked by Senate Republicans, as well as threatened with a veto by President Trump.\xa0

The two bills are the \u201cSecuring America\u2019s Federal Elections Act\u201d (SAFE Act) and the "Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy Act" (SHIELD Act).\xa0 The SAFE Act would, among other things, require voting systems to use backup paper ballots, mandate tech safeguards, and provide resources to states to improve their election-security measures.\xa0 The SHIELD Act would require that candidates and political committees notify the FBI and other authorities if a foreign power offers campaign help. It also tightens restrictions on campaign spending by foreign nationals and requires more transparency in political ads on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.\xa0 It would also explicitly prohibit campaigns from exchanging campaign-related information with foreign governments and their agents. The latter provision was aimed at reports that officials in Trump\u2019s 2016 campaign shared polling data with a person associated with Russian intelligence.

Public Citizen is calling on Americans to take action on Nov 13th, a week before the Congressional funding deadline. Folks can find an action near them, or host one, at www.SecureOurVote.us. \xa0Their Twitter handle is @SecureourVotes.

During the second half of the show, Brad leads a political round-table with two guests who discuss the impeachment inquiry in the House of Representatives, including the rapidly growing support to have President Trump impeached and removed from office.

The two round-table guests are Anisha Singh and Mark Grimaldi.\xa0 Anisha is Director of Judicial Nominations at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund.\xa0 She is an Attorney turned Organizer and Democratic Strategist who brings with her more than a decade of experience in public interest and social justice work, with a strong grassroots organizing and legal background.\xa0 Her Twitter handle is @Anisha_S113.
Mark Grimaldi, or 'Marky Mark' as Leslie Marshall calls him, is the Executive Producer of this show and a Progressive Activist.\xa0 His Twitter handle is @MarkJGrimaldi.

Brad writes a column every Monday on the 2020 Presidential race for 'The Hill.'\xa0 He's on the National Journal's panel of political insiders and is a national political analyst for WGN TV and Radio in Chicago.
You can read Brad's writing at www.MuckRack.com/Brad-Bannon. His Twitter handle is @BradBannon.

Image Credit: Samantha Maldonado/AP