Its time to wrap up the season with the cspan end of summer sale. Now through tuesday, save 25 on certain items. Every purchase helps support our nonprofit operations. The end of summer sale now through tuesday at cspan shop. Org. Scanned the code on the right to start shopping now. Colorado secretary of state Janet Griswold and pennsylvanias acting secretary of the commonwealth join a conversation on voting rights. It was part of the net roots nation Conference Held recently in pittsburgh. Things, and i think i dont want i am honored to be moderating this panel with secretary of states and candidates of senator of state. As well as the head of the democratic organization. We are going to get to talk a lot today about elections and the increasing importance. I would suggest this has always been an incredibly important role, especially at the local and state level. In 2020 we talked a lot about how the election went. On a lot of the election deniers. We will talk about that and how they are laying the groundwork for 2020 and 2024. I feel honored we have this team here. I am going to go ahead and let them introduce themselves. I will start with secretary griswold. Sec. Griswold thank you. How are you guys doing . Good. I am jena griswold, the secretary of state of colorado. I was the first democrat to win in 60 years when we won in 2018. I was the august secretary of state in the nation which i will continue to be after all of our great candidates win in november. Do not even telling me do not even tell me. I have you beat by one. Sec. Griswold asterisk, i am the youngest elected secretary of state. I serve as chair of the Democratic Association of secretary of state. Good morning, everybody. I am cisco regular running for secretary of state in nevada. I am an attorney. I have been in the is this sports world. I know the responsibility of a regulator, to understand imposing the rule of law, following galatian and making sure everyone is aware so they get a fair shot. I am excited about this opportunity to run. Nevada is a battleground state and we have to continue to protect every individuals right to vote. Geri secretary of state lee chapman. Sec. Chapman i am secretary of state lee chapman. I actually have some welcoming remarks. Can i get those now . Geri we have welcoming remarks from the pennsylvania secretary of state and our wonderful town of pittsburgh. Sec. Chapman can you hear me . It is great to welcome the Netroots Nation to pittsburgh. Anytime in the integrity of our electoral process is under renewed assault. Im also pleased to participate in this pencil this panel. We will be discussing the critical roles secretary of states play ensuring the integrity of elections and defending democracy. This subject is especially timely given we are 79 days away from a highstakes Midterm Election that could very well determine the future health of american democracy. Let me start out by saying i am in a different position than my colleagues who are elected to office. Pennsylvania is one of only seven states in u. S. Territories where the governor appoints the secretary of state. It is one of four states where the appointed secretary of state is also the chief election official. The Pennsylvania Department of state focuses on assisting 67 diverse counties with elected administration and educating the commonwealths 8. 7 of orders 8. 7 million voters. My job is to ensure all eligible pennsylvanians regardless of Political Party have the opportunity to participate in our democracy. When people think of secretaries of state, they usually only think of elections. My department supports Economic Development through corporate filings and transactions, protects Public Health and safety, sanctions professional boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, and mixed martial arts and maintains registration and Financial Information for thousands of charities within the commonwealth. We do a lot. On the election side of the pennsylvania continues to be in the spotlight. 2020 was the first year our state had the option of no excuse male in voting. Since the 2020 election, we have seen more than 5 million votes count through mail in ballots. This can by way of Bipartisan Legislation known as act 77 signed into law by Governor Tom Wolf in 2019. Act 77 to make the most significant changes to pennsylvanias Election Code in over 80 years. Despite that, the 2020 election has been the subject of any unprecedented amount of litigation. There have been more than three dozen lawsuits here in pennsylvania, some of which are being litigated. We have persevered and just recently we experienced some significant legal victories. A few weeks ago, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of act 77 and no excuse male in voting. Just yesterday, the president judged three counties, each refused to cut undated ballots in the primary election to cap them by august 24 to count them by august 24. Unfortunately, we also have seen an increase of threats against county and state officials and i am committed to protecting these frontline workers in our democracy. Now, with only 79 days to go from the Midterm Election, pennsylvania finds itself still in the spotlight again with open races for governor and a seat in the u. S. Senate. These are challenging times for those of us who are committed to the integrity of our electoral process. All of us here in this room can play a part to protect democracy. Help us be the Truth Tellers in this pivotal time. First, we need your help and educating and informing voters about registration and voting lights, polling place hours and other Vital Information that they need to exercise their right to vote. Second, help us communicate about how important it is to count every vote after an election and allow our Election Officials to do their job. When our democracy is at stake, we must get it right. Third, continue help us recruit election day volunteers, specifically poll workers. We need people who are truly committed to free and Fair Elections to serve in these roles. Thank you for being here at the great commonwealth of pennsylvania and the work you do to support democracy. I will now pass over to our moderator, jerry our moderator, geri. Geri thank you so much for that. There are so many things that secretaries of state oversee and somebody other things they oversee. It is great laying the groundwork for the questions we are about to go to. I will go to cisco first and then go to secretary griswold and then back to secretary chapman. Can you talk about the role secretaries of states play . We heard about pennsylvania, but tell us about nevada and what is critical today in what you are facing . Cisco thank you for the question. Can you hear me . The secretary of state role in nevada, most like pennsylvania even though we have an athletic division, the secretary of state sees pretty filings. On the Small Business, that is impactful. I think we are here to talk about elections. For secretary of state is the regulator of elections. 17 counties execute and government the elections. The election is certified by the county commissions, to secretary of States Office into the nevada Supreme Court for certification. The secretary of states role is critical because when you are interpreting those rules and regulations deputy county, you have to be fair, you have to be neutral. It is your responsibility to that new matter the Party Affiliation you are allowing and making sure every voters vote counts0 people have to have trust in that individual. Our current secretary of state is a republican but she has done a great job insuring all nevada and nevadans votes count. She has been open about the decisions she has made, she has investigated claims of fraud in our election system. Our courts have also interpreted those. Continuing that mission to be the neutral regulator you are. As a former regulator, i understand it is pretty significant in nevada because talk about the Economic Impact of our title fights, our first professional sport, antigaming revenue that goes through those activities. It had to be someone who is trustworthy, fair, understood the rule of law and the applications you could have on estate. I am excited about the opportunity. I know what we need to do in nevada and we are going to continue to get there. Geri thank you so much. Secretary Griswold Anna colorado has done so much to expand access to the ballot box in colorado. I would like to hear what is on tap for you. What are some Innovative Solutions you are looking at your and i would love for you talk about what the map looks like for all of the secretary of states secretaries of state . Sec. Griswold we are talking a lot about the regulator and overseeing martial arts. I want to tell you guys, i have a seal team in my office to protect the state seal. I am just joking. We do protect the state seal and eye color the seal team and nobody thinks it is funny. [laughter] i was elected in 2018 and a time where i dont think the nation the importance of these seats. In 2019 worked to pass to largest democracy reform in our country. Since i have been secretary of state, we continue to have the Gold Standard of elections. We have a vote by mail for all. We sent every voter every wrister to vote ballot. We have sameday Voter Registration. We also have the most secure elections in the country. In the last four years, i have increased drop boxes. We passed and frank past enfranchisement. We gained access in every university at travel bans and saw an increase in trouble voting in just two years. We passed and implemented automatic Voter Registration which registered 250,000 people in the middle of the pandemic. We also took on donald trump to stop him from stealing the election from the American People by slowing down the mail. That had rippling effect across the nation. The list of accompaniments and what we have done to increase access continues. Things changed at the end of 2020. We started to see an attack on democracy. We are continuing to open up access. The trick is if you want people to vote, they will. We have the secondhighest turnout in the country. We had to return to protecting our election infrastructure and voters. We can get into that. As for the map and what is ahead of us, how many days . 79 . Oh my gosh, we have less than 90 days to save democracy. There are election denies running in michigan, in nevada come in under zona nevada, in arizona, in minnesota, in new mexico. We have an election suppressor running in georgia again. Can you imagine saying people are standing 11 hours in line, lets make it longer. What we can expect for them is to suppress the vote and lie and be more beholden to maralago than the American People. We have cisco in nevada, Adrian Fontes in arizona, steve hobbs in washington, steve simon in minnesota. I am an okay candidate in colorado. We have to win this race is to make sure the American People can still decide their elected officials. That is what is on the line and that is what das is fighting for. Geri secretary chapman, im coming to you. Pennsylvania is always a state everybody is watching. Talk more about your race but what you think both internally and externally we should know about what is happening in pennsylvania and all the different races and how elections are administered. Sec. Chapman as i mentioned, i am appointed a so i dont have to run for office like my colleagues. I am focused on making sure we have accessible elections in pennsylvania. It is interesting being in the appointee because i am part of the governors cabinet. It is helpful when it comes to making sure we are streamlining. If you thinks i have you three over is to issue guidance to our counties. They know what liberals are to implement elections. I can also issued a electives and streamline the process for voters. They were really proud of we released yesterday is a streamlined vote by mail voter and administration form. You can register to vote and request your mail in ballots. I am not aware of any other state doing that. We released that yesterday. One thing we are really looking at is making sure we are combating misinformation and disinformation which is something that has been prevalent online and other venues. A few months ago there was disinformation that spread on twitter about elections in pennsylvania. It set mail in voting is illegal which we all know is not true. The Supreme Court just ruled it constitutional. We reported that to twitter, i reached out to twitter, they did suspend that account but that is just one example. We have facebook twitter, snapchat, instagram, tiktok. So many different ways this information can spread. We are focused on making sure voters have accurate, reliable information from a trusted source and that we are getting that information to them through text messages, emails, whatever means we can. That is what we are using. I also want to give another example. We recently heard any news there is a Group Targeting individuals in Nursing Homes, trying to get them to report voter fraud from the nursing home administrators. Because i am an appointee, we were able to get other secretaries that touch Nursing HomesLike Department of health, and aging to remind them of the rules are around voter intimidation, how they report anything that will have. And make sure every voters voice can be heard. Geri thank you for that. There is some as delicate messaging that goes on around here, even at little bit of disinformation puts people in a lot of confusion. What i would like from you cisco is election denying. I cannot get my head around that that i would love to know what you are up against. I want to say his name, you can if you want, who is an election denier and what that is to take on someone who has that focus. I would love to hear what youre up against and which and what an election denier says. Cisco secretary griswold said what colorado was able to accomplish. The limited early voting, and limited early mail ballots. They have done topdown Voter Registration. My opponent wants to take away every opportunity for a nevada and a nevadan to vote. Our tuesday from november does not work for working families to get out and vote. That is why we need to ensure, and it is my responsibility if elected, to protect every right of access our voters have. Talk about colorado increasing participation by 20 , we hit 25 . I think that is on the desk is only the beginning. When that denominator is so small, we can get to 25. My opponent sees this and knows that the only way he can win an election is by limiting access to the polls. I am there to fight him every second of the way to take that fundamental right away. You talk about the ballot box, our fundamental rights, our freedoms are guaranteed by that participation. He wants to take that away and im not going to allow him to do that. You talk about the power of education, i am a product of the family that was not well educated but they were hardworking. I am worrying today because of the Public Education i have. In nevada, we cannot be as proud as we should be. We need to do better and the only way it is going to change is if we get our fifthlargest School District in the country in a majority minority. Those parents will change the outcome of our states Going Forward and it is my job to get those parents to the polls to vote. This election denier, he is the chief of election deniers. He has gone throughout the country, aggregated his buddies and said this is what we need to do to take away democracy and the erectors so only a select few can determine where we are going. I see this guy, it motivates me. I want to take him to task on what he said and how he is being irresponsible, dishonest with nevadans. It is my obligation to expose him for that. [applause] geri thank you. I will go to you, secretary griswold. Two things we are seeing that i think are the atrocities, number one is looking at where there is a dropbox in texas for 1. 4 million citizens to vote. The second is the formation of Election Police under florida. Just important. Just abhorrent. Just harkening back to days i thought we would never see again, but i would love to hear your thoughts about that and what you all are doing to push back on these types of terrible initiatives. Sec. Griswold i think you all know there is an ongoing stealing of democracy. 2020, we saw a failed attempt to steal the presidency. We knew they were trying to slow down the mail. He told us in 2020 i am trying to make it impossible for democrats to vote by mail. He thought that was how he could win. We know there are conversations about changing voting equipment. We know Rudy Giuliani trying to get fake electors. We know they mounted an insurrection, some of whom were planning on hanging the Vice President of the United States to stop the certification of the newly elected president. That all failed. Now the focus is on 2022 for 2024. What we are seeing across this country to stripping americans of their freedom to vote. 500 Voter Suppression bills introduced from the beginning of january. This is a coordinated effort to make it harder. Number two, we are seeing the desta