Foreign Money in Elections: The Swiss Billionaire Behind 26 States | Jason Snead

Guest: Jason Snead Jason Snead is Executive Director of the Honest Elections Project, which develops model election legislation, lobbies for it in state capitols through its charitable and advocacy arms, and defends those laws in court when they are challenged. His team wrote the first state ban on foreign money in ballot measure campaigns, and eleven states have now passed a version of it. He works alongside Tea Party Patriots Action, Heritage Action and Turning Point in a coalition running in-person poll worker trainings in battleground states. This is his return visit to the show. Key topics: The difference between a poll worker and a poll watcher, and why the job that can actually speak up is the one conservatives skip Poll worker shifts that run twelve to fifteen hours with no rotation, and an average American poll worker age of 67 The coalition training schedule: Alpharetta, Georgia on August 28, Reno on September 11, Las Vegas on September 12, and Waukesha and Brown Counties in Wisconsin on October 2 and 3 Why the National Voter Registration Act, thirty years on, makes it harder for states to clean their own voter rolls Jenny Beth Martin on the gap nobody fixed: your old driver's license gets voided when you move, and your old voter registration does not Roughly 20 million voting eligible Americans move every year, and the two federal election cycles, up to four years, most states must wait before removing a stale registration The interstate list maintenance model bill, and why the American Legislative Exchange Council adopted it as model policy Four priorities for the 2027 state legislative sessions Why states need their own upfront proof of citizenship law even if the SAVE America Act, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, passes The Supreme Court ruling that forced Arizona to accept the federal registration form, and the bifurcated ballot Arizona has run ever since Jenny Beth Martin on asking Senator Mike Lee to write what became the SAVE America Act, and carrying it to 27 states in two and a half years Thirty six states require voter identification, and it takes only 38 states to amend the Constitution The hardship exemptions still sitting inside strong photo identification laws in Georgia and Texas, and how Ohio removed all of its exemptions but one Foreign money in elections: the federal ban covers candidates and political action committees and stops at ballot measures Roughly 300 million dollars from a Swiss billionaire to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, and 130 million dollars spent driving ballot measures in 26 states Ohio, redistricting, and three to six congressional seats Every Democrat in the Ohio legislature voting against the foreign money ban, and Marc Elias suing to overturn it in Ohio and Kansas The Easy Wins Program: how a good election law is usually not as good as it could be Voter identification for mail ballots, and why signature matching can reject a real ballot and accept a fraudulent one Timestamps: 00:18 — Jason Snead returns to the show 00:40 — Why the poll worker trainings come first 02:35 — Poll worker versus poll watcher 06:43 — Twelve to fifteen hours on your feet 07:07 — The average American poll worker is 67 11:48 — The training schedule: Georgia, Nevada and Wisconsin 13:48 — The National Voter Registration Act problem 15:47 — They void your driver's license. Nobody voids the registration. 17:56 — The interstate list maintenance model bill 21:07 — Four priorities for the 2027 state sessions 27:29 — Arizona's bifurcated ballot and the Supreme Court ruling 34:42 — What the polling actually says about voter identification 37:08 — Foreign money: the loophole Congress left open 39:03 — Roughly 300 million dollars to one fund, 130 million across 26 states 40:02 — Ohio bans it, and every Democrat votes no 46:10 — Easy Wins: making good laws better 49:16 — Voter identification for mail ballots 52:07 — Where to follow the Honest Elections Project Links mentioned: The show: jennybethshow.com Tea Party Patriots Action: teapartypatriots.org Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121