Point of View October 23, 2024 – Hour 1 : Parents Television and Media Council, Honest Elections Project

[00:00:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Across America, Live, this is Point of View, Anna Dexter.

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you very much for joining us today ladies and gentlemen for Point of View. There's just not enough to talk about. I don't know what we're going to say during this show today. Just kidding. Early voting has started in many states. Does your state have early voting? Have you voted? We're going to let you weigh in on that a little bit later in the program.

[00:00:39] [SPEAKER_00]: Some voting has been going on for a while here in Texas where I sit. Early voting started this week. I went to the polls yesterday and the lines were around the building. I didn't have time to vote seeing that, but I'll be doing it soon.

[00:00:54] [SPEAKER_00]: How's it going to go? What about non-citizen voting? What about the fact that the U.S. government is actually suing the state of Virginia for cleaning up its voter rolls?

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_00]: We'll talk about that with Jason Sneed. He is executive director of the Honest Elections Project.

[00:01:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Then later in the program, Michelle Havrilla from Do No Harm will join us.

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_00]: And the question we'll ask her is how much is gender affirming care happening in the U.S.?

[00:01:23] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a new database out. We will discuss that.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_00]: But I'm very excited about my first guest today.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_00]: And you know, no matter who is president, one of our biggest problems in America is the corruption of our children and grandchildren by the entertainment industry's preoccupation with sex violence and obscenity.

[00:01:44] [SPEAKER_00]: There's another problem in media directed at children.

[00:01:47] [SPEAKER_00]: And we're going to talk about it with Melissa Henson.

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_00]: She is vice president of programs with the Parents Television and Media Council.

[00:01:57] [SPEAKER_00]: She's been a guest many times on Point of View.

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_00]: She directs the organization's educational programs, its research and advocacy for a safe media environment for children and families.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_00]: It's a big, big job.

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_00]: Melissa, thank you so much for joining me.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_00]: My pleasure.

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And thank you for having me on.

[00:02:14] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, it's good to have you.

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_00]: And one of the things that I've been noticing with all the sexual content and pushing the envelope that way, there's another issue, another kind of agenda being pushed on children.

[00:02:30] [SPEAKER_00]: And it has to do with the occult and satanic programming.

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_00]: A lot of the times done with animation, isn't it?

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_01]: That's absolutely true.

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And I do want to draw some distinctions here.

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, I know going back a couple of decades, there were a lot of parents that had concerns about the Harry Potter books, for example, and when those became movies.

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Or even going back even earlier than that, ABC used to have a program called Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

[00:03:00] [SPEAKER_01]: And we would occasionally hear from parents who were concerned about that.

[00:03:05] [SPEAKER_01]: This is what we're talking about today is of an entirely different character, of an entirely different nature.

[00:03:11] [SPEAKER_01]: So with both Sabrina the Teenage Witch and with Harry Potter, what you saw there was, you know, it was like something that you were born with.

[00:03:20] [SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't something that you could just read up on and then elect to do.

[00:03:24] [SPEAKER_01]: It was like a gene, you know.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_01]: It was something that was inherent.

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_01]: And so I think that made it, in some ways, less dangerous because you were either muddled by...

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Explain that, a gene.

[00:03:36] [SPEAKER_00]: A gene.

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, not exactly.

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_01]: But to say that, you know, like in the Harry Potter world, for example, you're either born into this...

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_01]: You're either born a witch or a wizard or you're not.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_01]: You're either a muggle or you're...

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_01]: But there's nothing that you could do if you were born a regular person that would make you become a witch or a wizard.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think in that way, it made it a little bit different.

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And likewise with Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

[00:04:06] [SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't that she started reading books on the occult and decided to practice witchcraft.

[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_01]: It was just something she was born with.

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_01]: And it was just a way to be able to incorporate, you know, cutesy special effects and fun storylines.

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_01]: But it was basically innocuous.

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_00]: But I remember even back then, Melissa, I think that you and other colleagues at Parents Television Council, which was what your organization was called then, we were concerned about the influences of Satan even in that kind of programming.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: It was mild, though, compared to what we're seeing now, isn't it?

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Very mild compared with what we're seeing now.

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Because what we are seeing now, and this is, as you pointed out at the beginning, something that we're increasingly seeing in animated programs that are specifically targeted to children.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_01]: So, and a lot of it is coming from Disney, in fact.

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_01]: So, again, this is not like, you know...

[00:05:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Wow.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, the...

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_01]: We can't depend on Disney.

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Grandmotherly...

[00:05:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_01]: This is not like the grandmotherly, you know, in Cinderella who's able to wave a magic wand and all of a sudden Cinderella's wearing a beautiful dress.

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER_01]: What we are seeing here is storylines involving Satan or Satan's children, Satan's offspring.

[00:05:28] [SPEAKER_01]: And it started with an animated series called Little Demon, which was about a 13-year-old girl named Chrissy who discovers that she was the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a Wiccan, and Satan.

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_01]: And Satan wants her to come to hell and take over running his little empire.

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_01]: And so, you know, on his custodial visits with his daughter, she's there in hell with him and being exposed to all sorts of horrific scenes and just really grisly and gruesome scenes.

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_01]: This is an animated program that contains animated full-frontal nudity, prolific F words.

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, it's very explicit and it's highly inappropriate.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_01]: But because it's about a 13-year-old and because it's animated, it would be naturally attractive to kids.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's who the...

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Whether or not they admit it, that's who the intended audience is.

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_00]: So this is Little Demon and then there's another one you described called Has-Been Hotel, which is demonic also, correct?

[00:06:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Right, right.

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Has-Been Hotel is not owned by Disney.

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_01]: This is something that started out actually on YouTube where it gained a huge following of young viewers.

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And it was acquired by Amazon Prime and is now available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_01]: But it's a similar premise.

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_01]: And here again, what we see is the normalization of Satan.

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, Satan is depicted in this series and Satan's daughter, more particularly, is presented as this winsome character who is concerned for the welfare and well-being of all the denizens of hell.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a complete inversion of good and evil.

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_01]: So what she's trying to do is protect all these innocents in hell from being massacred by the angels of heaven who come down periodically to clean out hell because it's becoming too populated.

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_01]: So she's trying to find a path to redemption to get these souls out of hell before the next cleansing from heaven.

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Of course, Jesus Christ already gave us a path to redemption.

[00:07:46] [SPEAKER_01]: That's not mentioned anywhere in this.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Instead, we have to look to Chrissy or to the daughter of Satan and Lilith in this case is the one who's giving the path to redemption for all these citizens of hell.

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Wow.

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Wow.

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_00]: This is just so far away from, I think, what most parents and grandparents listening to this program would recommend for their kids.

[00:08:11] [SPEAKER_00]: Yet, you know, we've talked about this before, Melissa, and that is sometimes parents are the last ones to know what their kids are consuming because it's so easy to do it on their devices.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_00]: But we won't make that the topic of our program.

[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_00]: What we will discuss, though, is the content.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: And it is quite disturbing.

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_00]: Ladies and gentlemen, you're listening to Point of View.

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_00]: Melissa Henson is my guest.

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_00]: And as I said, she's with the Parents Television and Media Council.

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_00]: We'll open the phones, 800-351-1212.

[00:08:40] [SPEAKER_00]: If you'd like to ask her a question, we'll be right back after these messages.

[00:08:58] [SPEAKER_05]: This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson.

[00:09:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Some of the challenges the U.S. will face in the future will exist no matter who was elected in November.

[00:09:07] [SPEAKER_02]: But it is also true sometimes one candidate or policy can make a bad problem worse.

[00:09:12] [SPEAKER_02]: The continued funding of Social Security is a good example.

[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_02]: The Congressional Budget Office declared that to fund Social Security, the payroll tax rate will have to be raised 35%.

[00:09:22] [SPEAKER_02]: The CBO estimates that revenue for Social Security will remain stable for the rest of the century,

[00:09:28] [SPEAKER_02]: but Congress will have to raise the payroll tax rate from 12.4% to 16.7%, which is a 35% increase.

[00:09:36] [SPEAKER_02]: However, the revenue for Social Security might not be enough if Donald Trump is able to get legislation through Congress

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_02]: that would eliminate the income tax on Social Security benefits.

[00:09:46] [SPEAKER_02]: The CBO estimates that the payroll tax revenue would decline over time,

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_02]: but assumes that it would be offset by an increase in income tax revenue from beneficiaries.

[00:09:55] [SPEAKER_02]: On the other hand, Kamala Harris would like to increase benefits for Social Security.

[00:10:00] [SPEAKER_02]: Since the CBO assumes that the revenue would be relatively stable for the rest of the century,

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_02]: any increase in benefits would make Social Security insolvent,

[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_02]: unless Congress decides to increase the Social Security payroll tax by more than 35%.

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_02]: The other variable is Congress.

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_02]: It is questionable whether newly elected members of Congress would be willing to increase the payroll tax rate.

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Their opponents in the next election would accuse them of raising taxes on the American people.

[00:10:27] [SPEAKER_02]: As you can see, who you elect to the presidency and who you elect to Congress

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_02]: will determine the financial future of Social Security.

[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Unfortunately, they will probably decide to do nothing and kick the can down the road.

[00:10:39] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view.

[00:10:46] [SPEAKER_05]: For a free booklet on a biblical view of Israel, go to viewpoints.info.com.

[00:10:54] [SPEAKER_05]: Viewpoints.info.com.

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_04]: You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:11:04] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Pena Dexter, your host today on Point of View,

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_00]: and Melissa Henson from the Parents Television and Media Council is my guest.

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_00]: We shouldn't be surprised about the demonic television programming that's being targeted at our children

[00:11:20] [SPEAKER_00]: because the demonic is becoming sort of rising in the culture at this point,

[00:11:27] [SPEAKER_00]: and I'm reading from one of the daily commentaries that Rod Dreher sends out.

[00:11:34] [SPEAKER_00]: I tend to enjoy those and think he has kind of a sort of a good take a lot of times

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_00]: and a realistic take on the culture.

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_00]: He says you may not be interested in the demonic, but the demonic is very interested in you,

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_00]: and you can't have only happy, light-filled enchantment.

[00:11:51] [SPEAKER_00]: The wicked, dark side is also present, and Christians need to have, he says, a survival strategy.

[00:11:59] [SPEAKER_00]: He's got a new book that just came out this week that will help Christians to do that,

[00:12:04] [SPEAKER_00]: but Melissa, that's why I think we need to be aware as parents not only of the graphic sexual content

[00:12:13] [SPEAKER_00]: that kind of breaks down our kids' barriers in that department, but also now the demonic.

[00:12:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And so do these cartoons, these animated demonic programs like Little Demons,

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_00]: do they have any kind of a label on them that tells parents that they're not appropriate for little kids?

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, in the case of both Little Demon and Has-Ban Hotel, those are both rated TVMA,

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_01]: which is an indication for mature audiences only.

[00:12:44] [SPEAKER_01]: But the unfortunate reality is that, you know, with so many kids carrying around their own mobile devices,

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_01]: their own Internet-connected devices, they're streaming content very often outside of their parents' purview,

[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and it may be, you know, that kids are downloading apps on their phones without their parents even knowing that they have the apps

[00:13:05] [SPEAKER_01]: to be able to stream these programs.

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_01]: So there are a lot of ways for kids to get around whatever parental controls folks may have in place within their homes.

[00:13:16] [SPEAKER_01]: And as I said, especially in the case of Has-Ban Hotel, I mean, that series originated on YouTube.

[00:13:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think, you know, there are a lot of folks out there who are aware of the dangers coming from broadcast television

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_01]: or from cable television.

[00:13:31] [SPEAKER_01]: They know to lock down HBO and they know to lock down their Netflix account.

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_01]: They don't know to lock down YouTube because they're less familiar with it.

[00:13:39] [SPEAKER_01]: They're not on it as much as their kids are, and they don't know what kind of content is available.

[00:13:44] [SPEAKER_01]: And so I think this is a real wake-up call and a warning to parents to make sure that you're monitoring

[00:13:51] [SPEAKER_01]: not just what your kids are streaming over the more mainstream streaming services like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video,

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_01]: but also make sure that you're aware of what they're doing on YouTube because there's a lot of problematic content out there.

[00:14:05] [SPEAKER_01]: And even if you have your child set up with YouTube kids, even if you think you have it locked down,

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_01]: there are plenty of articles and exposes out there that have shown how easy it is for content creators

[00:14:18] [SPEAKER_01]: to get around the blocks and parental controls so that they can put this kind of content in front of children.

[00:14:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Melissa, I'm so glad that you're speaking on our program today, just warning parents.

[00:14:31] [SPEAKER_00]: You guys have a pretty useful website that helps people to stay abreast of these things,

[00:14:38] [SPEAKER_00]: and caring parents ought to take advantage of it on a regular basis.

[00:14:43] [SPEAKER_00]: We've linked to it on Point of View, but can you tell people how to look for your information?

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Sure, absolutely.

[00:14:50] [SPEAKER_01]: You can find us at parentstv.org, but that's P-A-R-E-N-T-S-T-V dot O-R-G.

[00:14:58] [SPEAKER_01]: And you can also, you know, if you're on Facebook or if you're on Twitter, you can follow us for updates,

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_01]: ways to get involved, ways to take action.

[00:15:07] [SPEAKER_01]: And you can also sign up to receive free e-alerts.

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_01]: You get a weekly e-mail from us, and a lot of times we will include information that parents can use,

[00:15:18] [SPEAKER_01]: tools and tips about how to set up parental controls, research studies,

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_01]: all kinds of hopefully helpful information that will help guide parents so that they can make smart media choices for their family.

[00:15:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Parents Television and Media Council.

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_00]: And again, tell me the website.

[00:15:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Parentstv.org.

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, that's easy.

[00:15:43] [SPEAKER_00]: Parentstv.org.

[00:15:44] [SPEAKER_00]: Ladies and gentlemen, we've also posted at pointofview.net that link,

[00:15:49] [SPEAKER_00]: and also an article from Parents Television and Media Council called TV is Going to Hell,

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_00]: which we just talked about.

[00:15:56] [SPEAKER_00]: It kind of discusses these programs.

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_00]: There's another program that I wanted to ask you about, Melissa,

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_00]: and that is it's another Disney program called Poor Things.

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I guess it's a movie.

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yeah.

[00:16:08] [SPEAKER_01]: That was an Oscar contender last year.

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh.

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_01]: In fact, I think it actually won the Academy Award for Best Actress.

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And that was a Disney Searchlight production, which is pretty horrifying when you think about the content.

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_01]: So Poor Things is a bit like Frankenstein, you know,

[00:16:30] [SPEAKER_01]: in that it begins with a young woman who commits suicide by jumping into a river.

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_01]: She's pregnant.

[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Her body's pulled out of the river.

[00:16:38] [SPEAKER_01]: The woman is dead, but the fetus inside of her is still alive.

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_01]: And so this sort of mad scientist doctor takes the brain out of the fetus and puts it inside the body of the dead woman.

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_01]: So here you have what appears to be a fully grown woman, a fully mature, fully developed woman,

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_01]: but she has the mind of an infant.

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_01]: And a lot of the movie is her sexual awakening, her sexual discovery.

[00:17:06] [SPEAKER_01]: But bear in mind that she is supposed to be intellectually an infant.

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_01]: And so it raises all sorts of horrific specters, including, you know, she turns to a life of prostitution.

[00:17:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And there was a scene that was originally intended for the movie, but was, I guess they were forced to remove it by the censors,

[00:17:26] [SPEAKER_01]: which a man goes to avail himself of the services of this prostitute.

[00:17:31] [SPEAKER_01]: He brings along his two young boys so that his young children can learn about sex and what sex is all about.

[00:17:39] [SPEAKER_01]: And because they used actual children in the filming of that scene,

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_01]: it was the UK Board of Review forced them to remove it before it was able to be released.

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, thank God for small favors.

[00:17:55] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, I do want to ask you about, because I see your piece that you wrote back last summer.

[00:18:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Will Congress take Internet safety seriously?

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_00]: And I know that's another part of your mission at the Parents Television and Media Council is getting Congress to act.

[00:18:11] [SPEAKER_00]: What's the status of that?

[00:18:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:18:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, right now, Congress is in recess as everybody's in their home districts campaigning for reelection.

[00:18:21] [SPEAKER_01]: So they won't reconvene until sometime after the election.

[00:18:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I think after Veterans Day is when they'll come back.

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_01]: And then we have just a short six weeks or so before the end of this legislative session.

[00:18:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Where we stand with the Kids Online Safety Act is it was passed overwhelmingly in the Senate.

[00:18:40] [SPEAKER_01]: I think there were only two or three nay votes and like 93 affirmative votes.

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_01]: So it passed overwhelmingly in the Senate.

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_01]: But it's meeting a lot of resistance in the House of Representatives.

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's really unfortunate because the tech industry is pouring millions and millions of dollars into lobbying against it.

[00:19:00] [SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot of fear mongering going on from these tech lobbyists.

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, they're saying, oh, this will have a chilling effect on free speech.

[00:19:09] [SPEAKER_01]: And this will stop unpopular political opinions or this will stop freedom of expression.

[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_01]: And none of that is true.

[00:19:19] [SPEAKER_01]: This is just fear mongering from the tech industry.

[00:19:21] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think it's really important that folks reach out to their representatives before the election and say, you know, my kids are my priority.

[00:19:28] [SPEAKER_01]: My grandkids are my priority.

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm going to be looking at, you know, who's going to do the most to keep our kids safe online when I cast my vote on November 4th.

[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_01]: So I really hope that folks will put some pressure on these representatives to, you know, shut down big tech and get some movement to protect kids online.

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_00]: You know, you don't hear much about this from candidates on the campaign trail.

[00:19:55] [SPEAKER_00]: But now's the time when your member of Congress is holding a town hall to ask about the Kids Online Safety Act.

[00:20:03] [SPEAKER_00]: And this is not a partisan issue.

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_00]: This is this is a parental issue.

[00:20:10] [SPEAKER_00]: Parents care about their kids and they need to.

[00:20:13] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, this is one area where, you know, considering all the technology we have and the things we can do, we certainly could protect kids in a much better way online.

[00:20:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:20:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And especially, you know, you know, we keep hearing this line from these tech industries that, oh, we, you know, trust us.

[00:20:33] [SPEAKER_01]: We will take care of the problem.

[00:20:35] [SPEAKER_01]: We can be trusted to self-regulate.

[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_01]: And yet you see all these stories.

[00:20:39] [SPEAKER_01]: In fact, just recently, this investigation into TikTok found that TikTok knows exactly how many videos it takes for a kid to become addicted to the platform.

[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_01]: About 260 videos.

[00:20:52] [SPEAKER_01]: They know that they know that, like, for example, girls as young as 15 were stripping on TikTok Live to receive cash payments or in-app payments from adult viewers.

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_01]: They know this was going on and did nothing to mitigate it.

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER_01]: My goodness.

[00:21:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I need to jump in.

[00:21:12] [SPEAKER_00]: We need to do another program on this, on just what's going on online with regard to kids.

[00:21:18] [SPEAKER_00]: You're so great on that.

[00:21:19] [SPEAKER_00]: You've done tons of research.

[00:21:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Melissa, thank you for the work you do at Parents Television and Media Council.

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_00]: And thanks for joining me today.

[00:21:26] [SPEAKER_01]: My pleasure.

[00:21:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks for having me.

[00:21:28] [SPEAKER_00]: And we'll be right back.

[00:21:30] [SPEAKER_05]: It almost seems like we live in a different world from many people in positions of authority.

[00:21:36] [SPEAKER_05]: They say men can be women and women men.

[00:21:39] [SPEAKER_05]: People are prosecuted differently or not at all, depending on their politics.

[00:21:44] [SPEAKER_05]: Criminals are more valued and rewarded than law-abiding citizens.

[00:21:49] [SPEAKER_05]: It's so overwhelming, so demoralizing.

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_05]: You feel like giving up.

[00:21:54] [SPEAKER_05]: But we can't.

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_05]: We shouldn't.

[00:21:56] [SPEAKER_05]: We must not.

[00:21:58] [SPEAKER_05]: As Winston Churchill said to Britain in the darkest days of World War II,

[00:22:02] [SPEAKER_05]: Never give in.

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_05]: Never give in.

[00:22:05] [SPEAKER_05]: Never, never, never.

[00:22:06] [SPEAKER_05]: Never yield to force.

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_05]: Never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_05]: And that's what we say to you today.

[00:22:15] [SPEAKER_05]: This is not a time to give in, but to step up and join Point of View in providing clarity in the chaos.

[00:22:22] [SPEAKER_05]: We can't do it alone, but together, with God's help, we will overcome the darkness.

[00:22:29] [SPEAKER_05]: Invest in biblical clarity today at pointofview.net or call 1-800-347-5151.

[00:22:38] [SPEAKER_05]: Pointofview.net and 800-347-5151.

[00:22:47] [SPEAKER_05]: Point of View will continue after this.

[00:22:51] [SPEAKER_05]: You are listening to Point of View.

[00:23:01] [SPEAKER_05]: The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station.

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_05]: And now, here again is Penna Dexter.

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to Point of View.

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_00]: We are getting very close to the election.

[00:23:17] [SPEAKER_00]: In a lot of states, people are already voting.

[00:23:20] [SPEAKER_00]: And it's just amazing that we don't have a response from the Justice Department on the status of illegal voting or the integrity of the voter rolls.

[00:23:33] [SPEAKER_00]: We posted a piece from Fox News up at pointofview.net.

[00:23:38] [SPEAKER_00]: It says,

[00:23:56] [SPEAKER_00]: With me to discuss the integrity of the voter rolls is Jason Sneed.

[00:24:02] [SPEAKER_00]: He is executive director of the Honest Elections Project.

[00:24:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Before that, he was with Heritage Foundation for 10 years.

[00:24:10] [SPEAKER_00]: And I remember when they published their election fraud database, he actually managed the development of that.

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And that has been a useful tool.

[00:24:19] [SPEAKER_00]: Jason, thank you so much for joining me today.

[00:24:23] [SPEAKER_03]: It's great to be on the program.

[00:24:24] [SPEAKER_03]: Thank you for having me.

[00:24:25] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, it's good to have you.

[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_00]: And we have posted several articles on election fraud or the possibility of it, ways to mitigate it.

[00:24:33] [SPEAKER_00]: And the first one is this Fox piece that I mentioned.

[00:24:36] [SPEAKER_00]: And this describes a situation that is ongoing and has not been resolved, has it?

[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, that's right.

[00:24:44] [SPEAKER_03]: In fact, we still have outstanding questions about exactly what, if anything,

[00:24:49] [SPEAKER_03]: the Biden Justice Department is doing to actually investigate or prosecute noncitizen voting when it's happening in the United States.

[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_03]: Now, the left, of course, says this never happens.

[00:25:00] [SPEAKER_03]: But we have seen clear documented evidence in just even the last few days of states that have identified noncitizens on their rolls.

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_03]: In many cases, noncitizens who have cast ballots in our elections.

[00:25:11] [SPEAKER_03]: This is very clearly happening.

[00:25:13] [SPEAKER_03]: And right now, the Justice Department seems to be more interested in stopping states like Virginia and Alabama from removing noncitizens from the rolls

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_03]: than in spending any time or effort actually targeting noncitizens that are illegally voting in our elections.

[00:25:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Republican lawmakers tried to pass something called the SAVE Act, S-A-V-E,

[00:25:34] [SPEAKER_00]: which was supposed to require states to obtain proof of citizenship.

[00:25:38] [SPEAKER_00]: It seems like a no – for voting, it seems like a no-brainer to require someone registering to vote to be a U.S. citizen.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, that's right.

[00:25:49] [SPEAKER_03]: And, in fact, it should be.

[00:25:50] [SPEAKER_03]: This is actually an incredibly popular position.

[00:25:53] [SPEAKER_03]: If you look at polling data, about 90 percent of the public does not think that noncitizen voting should be allowed.

[00:25:59] [SPEAKER_03]: So they actually think that you should have to show that you're a citizen, just like we have to show an ID to show that we are who we say we are when we are casting a ballot,

[00:26:08] [SPEAKER_03]: that you should have to prove that you're a citizen of this country before you're allowed to register.

[00:26:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Unfortunately, federal law actually prohibits states from requiring proof of citizenship at the front end of this process

[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_03]: and largely limits states that are registering people for federal elections to a simple checkbox.

[00:26:26] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, yes, I am a citizen.

[00:26:27] [SPEAKER_03]: It's an honor system.

[00:26:28] [SPEAKER_03]: And as we have seen time and time again, it is more than possible for noncitizens to get pulled into the voter registration process,

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_03]: to wind up on our voter rolls, and even to get ballots.

[00:26:40] [SPEAKER_03]: It would be considerably better for everyone involved, citizens and noncitizens alike,

[00:26:45] [SPEAKER_03]: if you were simply required to show proof of citizenship when you're registering and voting

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_03]: so that we make sure that only qualified, eligible Americans are getting on our voter rolls.

[00:26:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, you mentioned a little bit earlier the state of Virginia, and it's an amazing story that we are looking at that state

[00:27:04] [SPEAKER_00]: who is doing what they've done every year.

[00:27:07] [SPEAKER_00]: They continually are trying to keep their voter rolls free of non-eligible people, people that cannot vote,

[00:27:15] [SPEAKER_00]: and basically noncitizens is a huge part of that.

[00:27:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And yet this time, right before the election, they're actually being sued by the federal government,

[00:27:26] [SPEAKER_00]: by the Justice Department for doing just that, aren't they?

[00:27:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, that's right.

[00:27:31] [SPEAKER_03]: In fact, there's a state law in Virginia that requires the state to clean up its voter rolls of noncitizens.

[00:27:38] [SPEAKER_03]: This is a law that was actually signed into law by a prior Democratic governor,

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_03]: and it simply says that if you know there are noncitizens on the rolls, you have to remove them before an election.

[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a very common-sense thing.

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_03]: And so in this case, Virginia has actually got noncitizens who in some way, shape, or form have actually told the state

[00:27:58] [SPEAKER_03]: they are not citizens, whether that's specifically indicating this or refusing jury service

[00:28:03] [SPEAKER_03]: because, you know, they get the form and they write back that they're not a citizen.

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_03]: In some way, these individuals have actually told the state of Virginia that they are not citizens.

[00:28:13] [SPEAKER_03]: And now when the state of Virginia is trying to remove them from the voter rolls so they cannot get a ballot,

[00:28:18] [SPEAKER_03]: the Justice Department is filing a lawsuit against the state telling them that, in fact, they can't.

[00:28:24] [SPEAKER_03]: That lawsuit is, in my view, based on an incredible misreading of federal voting laws

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_03]: and the fact that it is being filed just days before an election when they have had years to file this lawsuit,

[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_03]: if indeed this violates federal law, I think speaks to the fact that this is one last-ditch attempt

[00:28:42] [SPEAKER_03]: to actually keep noncitizens on the rolls.

[00:28:45] [SPEAKER_03]: And here's the really cynical piece of this.

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_03]: That actually exposes these noncitizens to felony charges.

[00:28:51] [SPEAKER_03]: If they get a ballot thinking they're allowed to vote because, hey, I was not removed,

[00:28:56] [SPEAKER_03]: if someone at the DMV perhaps told me I could register, if they get a ballot believing that it's okay

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_03]: and then they vote that ballot, then they could wind up being deported

[00:29:06] [SPEAKER_03]: and convicted of having committed a federal crime.

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_03]: And if you're a green card holder who spent a lot of time trying to become a citizen,

[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_03]: that's a game-ender for you.

[00:29:15] [SPEAKER_03]: And right now the Justice Department is leaving those people out to dry

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_03]: in order to basically virtue signal that they are fighting to keep noncitizens on our voter rolls.

[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_00]: So Jason Sneed is with me from the Honest Elections Project.

[00:29:29] [SPEAKER_00]: And, Jason, what about this answer, this response that comes from the federal government saying that

[00:29:36] [SPEAKER_00]: if it's within 90 days of an election you can't clean up your voter rolls?

[00:29:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, so there's a federal law that says that you cannot engage in systematic list maintenance

[00:29:49] [SPEAKER_03]: within 90 days of an election.

[00:29:50] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a blackout period that is designed as one of the great many compromises of the National Voter Registration Act

[00:29:58] [SPEAKER_03]: where the left wanted to basically make it impossible to clean up voter rolls

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_03]: and focus exclusively on voter registration.

[00:30:06] [SPEAKER_03]: And the right wanted to actually make it possible for us to secure elections and get clean voter rolls.

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_03]: So Congress did what Congress does.

[00:30:14] [SPEAKER_03]: They made a compromise and created this blackout period.

[00:30:18] [SPEAKER_03]: So within 90 days of a federal election, you cannot engage in systematic practices.

[00:30:23] [SPEAKER_03]: But what Virginia is doing is an individualized system.

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Again, they're not going through and checking all registrations and doing anything at a system level.

[00:30:33] [SPEAKER_03]: They're waiting for information to come to them from individuals that indicate that they are not a qualified

[00:30:39] [SPEAKER_03]: and eligible citizen of the United States.

[00:30:42] [SPEAKER_03]: And that is a vastly different type of system, and it is not affected by that federal law.

[00:30:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[00:30:49] [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you very much for explaining that because I have posted a piece by Carrie Sheffield.

[00:30:55] [SPEAKER_00]: It was, I thought, a good explanation of this.

[00:30:58] [SPEAKER_00]: But people need to understand that this is not Virginia doing anything out of the ordinary.

[00:31:03] [SPEAKER_00]: As a matter of fact, Democrat governors have done the same thing over the years, haven't they?

[00:31:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh, that's 100 percent right.

[00:31:10] [SPEAKER_03]: And in fact, the law in Virginia was signed into effect by a former Democratic governor.

[00:31:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Not that long ago, there was a bipartisan consensus amongst our elected leaders that you ought to be a citizen to vote in this country.

[00:31:25] [SPEAKER_03]: But what we've seen is an astounding shift, not amongst the public, 90 percent of whom agree with the basic sentiment

[00:31:32] [SPEAKER_03]: that you should have to be a citizen to vote in American elections, but amongst our elected leaders.

[00:31:36] [SPEAKER_03]: And if you are these days an elected Democrat, you are very opposed to any effort to clamp down on noncitizen voting.

[00:31:44] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's why you've seen in Congress Democrats almost to a member vote against the SAVE Act that we discussed earlier

[00:31:51] [SPEAKER_03]: to require proof of citizenship to vote.

[00:31:53] [SPEAKER_03]: In Texas, a constitutional amendment that was proposed to ban noncitizen voting wound up failing to make the ballot

[00:32:01] [SPEAKER_03]: in the legislature when every Democrat in the House simply voted present.

[00:32:05] [SPEAKER_03]: They didn't want to take a position on something as basic as noncitizen voting.

[00:32:09] [SPEAKER_03]: And time and time again, when states consider laws or constitutional amendments to prohibit noncitizen voting,

[00:32:16] [SPEAKER_03]: the left says, hey, it's not happening.

[00:32:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Don't do anything to stop it.

[00:32:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, in my view, if you actually legitimately believe that something should not be happening,

[00:32:25] [SPEAKER_03]: then you should be okay with banning it and putting laws into place that protect the system from that thing.

[00:32:31] [SPEAKER_03]: And if you're opposing a ban on noncitizen voting, I think that these days that's as good as arguing

[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_03]: that noncitizens should be allowed to vote.

[00:32:39] [SPEAKER_03]: And it's worth noting that progressives have made that exact pitch

[00:32:43] [SPEAKER_03]: and actually got laws passed in New York City and Washington, D.C.,

[00:32:47] [SPEAKER_03]: handing the ballots to noncitizens and even illegal aliens.

[00:32:51] [SPEAKER_00]: Ladies and gentlemen, in case you want to inform yourself about this issue,

[00:32:55] [SPEAKER_00]: it's kind of important right now.

[00:32:57] [SPEAKER_00]: I have posted three articles.

[00:32:59] [SPEAKER_00]: One is from the Daily Signal, Biden-Harris DOG attack on Yunkin,

[00:33:03] [SPEAKER_00]: who's the governor of Virginia, voters threatens democracy and ballot sanctity.

[00:33:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's a good one to read because he makes some very good statements defending his actions.

[00:33:12] [SPEAKER_00]: And I think it just shows a principal governor trying to do his job

[00:33:16] [SPEAKER_00]: in an important state for the election.

[00:33:19] [SPEAKER_00]: So go there and get that.

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a couple more.

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_00]: There's one on the Georgia election.

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_00]: A record number of early votes have been cast there.

[00:33:28] [SPEAKER_00]: We will talk about that after the break.

[00:33:30] [SPEAKER_00]: My guest is Jason Sneed.

[00:33:32] [SPEAKER_00]: He's got an important job right now.

[00:33:34] [SPEAKER_00]: He's executive director of the Honest Elections Project.

[00:33:37] [SPEAKER_00]: We will discuss the current election with him after this.

[00:33:41] [SPEAKER_04]: You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth.

[00:34:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to Point of View.

[00:34:02] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm Hannah Dexter.

[00:34:03] [SPEAKER_00]: My guest is Jason Sneed, executive director of the Honest Elections Project.

[00:34:07] [SPEAKER_00]: And one of the more interesting things you said in the last segment, Jason,

[00:34:12] [SPEAKER_00]: has to do with people voting illegally and not even realizing that they're voting illegally.

[00:34:17] [SPEAKER_00]: That's a little bit disturbing.

[00:34:20] [SPEAKER_00]: Is it as widespread as we worry that it might be?

[00:34:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I think that any illegal vote that's cast, whether it's by somebody who is deliberately committing fraud

[00:34:33] [SPEAKER_03]: or simply is caught up in the system, is one vote too many.

[00:34:37] [SPEAKER_03]: And we have to remember that, you know, as easy as it is and as tempting as it may be

[00:34:42] [SPEAKER_03]: to focus on the influential national races like races for president that are often decided by millions of votes,

[00:34:48] [SPEAKER_03]: in every single election there are hugely consequential races at the state level

[00:34:53] [SPEAKER_03]: and the local level that are decided by as few as one vote, right?

[00:34:57] [SPEAKER_03]: There are tied races.

[00:35:00] [SPEAKER_03]: In Virginia, for instance, just a few years ago, partisan control of one house of the legislature

[00:35:06] [SPEAKER_03]: was decided by drawing names out of a bowl when the decisive race ended in a tie.

[00:35:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Even a single illegal vote has profound ramifications in a situation like that.

[00:35:19] [SPEAKER_03]: And even at the presidential level in 2000, just 537 votes in Florida decided the outcome of that particular election.

[00:35:28] [SPEAKER_03]: So it's not a question of how widespread this form of illegal voting is.

[00:35:34] [SPEAKER_03]: We should have a system that does its level best to prevent all forms of illegal voting,

[00:35:39] [SPEAKER_03]: including illegal voting by non-citizens.

[00:35:42] [SPEAKER_00]: It's when you really think about it, it's a matter of your right also as an American citizen to have a voice in the election of the people that govern you.

[00:35:53] [SPEAKER_00]: And you lose that.

[00:35:54] [SPEAKER_00]: It's either diluted or completely abolished by an illegal alien voting or someone who's a non-citizen,

[00:36:02] [SPEAKER_00]: someone not eligible to vote, dilutes the vote of those who do have the rightful vote in this country.

[00:36:11] [SPEAKER_00]: And so, you know, we all ought to be concerned about it, Jason.

[00:36:14] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm glad that you are on this.

[00:36:15] [SPEAKER_00]: You are the perfect person to be doing this.

[00:36:18] [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm glad that you've joined us today.

[00:36:22] [SPEAKER_00]: What do you see around the country right now?

[00:36:24] [SPEAKER_00]: As early voting has started, you know, we all kind of worry about voter fraud.

[00:36:29] [SPEAKER_00]: Did states shore up their laws to a sufficient degree, do you think, this time?

[00:36:36] [SPEAKER_00]: I know that last time there were so many suspicions, but should we be a little bit more confident this cycle?

[00:36:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I think that we should definitely take great confidence out of the hundreds of laws that have been passed in conservative states

[00:36:54] [SPEAKER_03]: and red states over the last three years that have improved their election system

[00:36:59] [SPEAKER_03]: and have actually delivered systems to voters that make it both easy to vote and hard to cheat.

[00:37:05] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's a very important balancing act.

[00:37:08] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, the left says that voting should essentially be effortless, right?

[00:37:12] [SPEAKER_03]: You should not have to register.

[00:37:13] [SPEAKER_03]: That should be done automatically for you.

[00:37:15] [SPEAKER_03]: You should not have to go to a poll.

[00:37:17] [SPEAKER_03]: We should just automatically send you a mail ballot.

[00:37:20] [SPEAKER_03]: And these days they go even so far as to say you basically shouldn't even have to fill that ballot out.

[00:37:24] [SPEAKER_03]: We should just have paid vote harvesters going door to door, helping you fill out your vote

[00:37:29] [SPEAKER_03]: and then, you know, taking it away from you and turning it in for you.

[00:37:32] [SPEAKER_03]: So they basically have a position that, you know, voting should be effortless.

[00:37:36] [SPEAKER_03]: And anything, any rule, any safeguard that makes voting the slightest bit more difficult than effortless is voter suppression.

[00:37:44] [SPEAKER_03]: What we've seen in red states are a series of laws that have tested that basic theory.

[00:37:49] [SPEAKER_03]: You've seen Georgia, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, other states pass laws that have brought additional voter identification protections,

[00:37:58] [SPEAKER_03]: that have made it easier to clean up voter rolls, that have brought protections against non-citizen voting,

[00:38:03] [SPEAKER_03]: that have protected vulnerable mail ballots.

[00:38:05] [SPEAKER_03]: And people are responding by voting in droves.

[00:38:08] [SPEAKER_03]: And Georgia is the perfect case study here.

[00:38:10] [SPEAKER_03]: So it didn't suppress the vote.

[00:38:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Exactly, exactly.

[00:38:13] [SPEAKER_03]: When Georgia passed a law called SB202, which was its big voter integrity law back in 2021,

[00:38:22] [SPEAKER_03]: every Democrat in the country from the president on down said that this was Jim Crow 2.0 voter suppression

[00:38:28] [SPEAKER_03]: designed to prevent people from voting.

[00:38:31] [SPEAKER_03]: In 2022, they had record early voting turnout.

[00:38:35] [SPEAKER_03]: And there was a survey that was conducted after that election.

[00:38:38] [SPEAKER_03]: And it said something I've never seen before.

[00:38:41] [SPEAKER_03]: It said zero respondents found it difficult to vote in Georgia.

[00:38:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Zero respondents in the supposed center of Jim Crow voter suppression.

[00:38:50] [SPEAKER_03]: And now here we are.

[00:38:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, more than a million people have already voted in Georgia.

[00:38:56] [SPEAKER_03]: And they actually set a first-day early voting record.

[00:38:59] [SPEAKER_03]: So I think what that tells us is when you pass laws that improve the integrity of our elections,

[00:39:05] [SPEAKER_03]: that gives voters confidence their votes will count, they will respond by turning out and voting.

[00:39:11] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's exactly what we're seeing in conservative states all across the country.

[00:39:15] [SPEAKER_00]: There's a piece from CNN up at pointofview.net about Georgia, a record number of early votes cast.

[00:39:22] [SPEAKER_00]: And, Jason, back in 2020, when there was a post-election runoff in Georgia,

[00:39:32] [SPEAKER_00]: I was, of course, we had already gone through the whole presidential election.

[00:39:38] [SPEAKER_00]: I was concerned about the Senate, so I thought, I'm in Texas.

[00:39:41] [SPEAKER_00]: I can't, there's nothing that I can do here to influence that.

[00:39:45] [SPEAKER_00]: So I got a list from the RNC, and I called voters in Georgia.

[00:39:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And people were so nervous and distrustful of the election process.

[00:39:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Many people said to me, I'm not going to vote because I don't think my vote will be counted.

[00:39:59] [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think the elections are fair.

[00:40:01] [SPEAKER_00]: And I was just shocked to hear this.

[00:40:04] [SPEAKER_00]: But now I'm not.

[00:40:05] [SPEAKER_00]: I've learned a lot.

[00:40:06] [SPEAKER_00]: I've become more seasoned.

[00:40:08] [SPEAKER_00]: And the two senators that I was hoping would win, neither of them did.

[00:40:15] [SPEAKER_00]: But that just goes to show that passing these laws is a good thing.

[00:40:19] [SPEAKER_00]: And I saw it here in Texas also.

[00:40:21] [SPEAKER_00]: I went to early vote yesterday.

[00:40:23] [SPEAKER_00]: I only had a certain amount of time.

[00:40:25] [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it was normally used to just running in, running out and, you know, early voting.

[00:40:29] [SPEAKER_00]: But the line was around the library where this happened.

[00:40:34] [SPEAKER_00]: It was snaking around, and it looked like it was going to take at least an hour to vote.

[00:40:38] [SPEAKER_00]: So I didn't vote yesterday.

[00:40:39] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to do it soon.

[00:40:40] [SPEAKER_00]: But it's just, you know, another state that shored up election laws that were already fairly good.

[00:40:47] [SPEAKER_00]: It just goes to show that if people feel good about the fairness of the election, they'll vote, won't they?

[00:40:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, that's right.

[00:40:56] [SPEAKER_03]: In fact, we've known for a long time that one of the big motivators for participation in our elections is actually if voters have confidence that the system is going to have the protections it needs,

[00:41:09] [SPEAKER_03]: that their vote will count, and that their vote matters.

[00:41:11] [SPEAKER_03]: And so the singular focus on the left of just making voting easy and easier and effortless doesn't actually drive people to participate,

[00:41:23] [SPEAKER_03]: especially when their push to get rid of the laws that they brand voter suppression are actually very common sense,

[00:41:31] [SPEAKER_03]: very popular things like voter ID, you know, bans on paid vote harvesting and so forth that bring that sense of security to the system.

[00:41:40] [SPEAKER_03]: So as you take away those confidence-boosting measures, people are actually less likely to participate in the process.

[00:41:46] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's why you've seen in states that have passed laws that the left is attacked with voter suppression, turnout typically goes up.

[00:41:54] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, voter identification laws get passed and turnout typically goes up.

[00:41:57] [SPEAKER_03]: This is a historical pattern.

[00:41:59] [SPEAKER_03]: It's all about giving voters confidence that their vote will be counted, that their vote matters,

[00:42:04] [SPEAKER_03]: and that our democratic system matters enough to protect it.

[00:42:07] [SPEAKER_03]: And then that's when people will actually participate in our elections.

[00:42:11] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's why I think it's so important that states don't view 2024 as the end of the road for election integrity,

[00:42:19] [SPEAKER_03]: because the left is always going to be focused on changing the process of elections for political outcomes.

[00:42:26] [SPEAKER_03]: In fact, just this week, I guess you're always going to have a job.

[00:42:30] [SPEAKER_03]: I guess that's true.

[00:42:33] [SPEAKER_03]: That's the unfortunate piece of this.

[00:42:35] [SPEAKER_03]: I would much rather work myself out of a job.

[00:42:37] [SPEAKER_03]: But, you know, I mean, just this week, House Democrats on the campaign trail said

[00:42:41] [SPEAKER_03]: if they win control of Congress and the White House in a couple of weeks,

[00:42:46] [SPEAKER_03]: their top priority in Congress is passing a federal election takeover that would get voter identification laws

[00:42:52] [SPEAKER_03]: and all the other election safeguards that states have in place all across the country.

[00:42:57] [SPEAKER_03]: This is a never-ending fight.

[00:42:58] [SPEAKER_00]: We don't want to see that happen, but thank you so much for what you do, Jason.

[00:43:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for joining me today.

[00:43:03] [SPEAKER_00]: You've given us a lot of great information.

[00:43:05] [SPEAKER_00]: And we'll have to have you back because it's going to be an ongoing issue.

[00:43:10] [SPEAKER_05]: In 19th century London, two towering historical figures did battle,

[00:43:15] [SPEAKER_05]: not with guns and bombs, but words and ideas.

[00:43:19] [SPEAKER_05]: London was home to Karl Marx, the father of communism,

[00:43:23] [SPEAKER_05]: and legendary Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon.

[00:43:27] [SPEAKER_05]: London was in many ways the center of the world economically, militarily, and intellectually.

[00:43:33] [SPEAKER_05]: Marx sought to destroy religion, the family, and everything the Bible supports.

[00:43:39] [SPEAKER_05]: Spurgeon stood against him, warning of socialism's dangers.

[00:43:43] [SPEAKER_05]: Spurgeon understood Christianity is not just religious truth.

[00:43:48] [SPEAKER_05]: It is truth for all of life.

[00:43:50] [SPEAKER_05]: Where do you find men with that kind of wisdom to stand against darkness today?

[00:43:55] [SPEAKER_05]: Get the light you need on today's most pressing issues delivered to your inbox

[00:44:00] [SPEAKER_05]: when you sign up for the Viewpoints commentary at pointofview.net slash signup.

[00:44:07] [SPEAKER_05]: Every weekday, in less than two minutes,

[00:44:10] [SPEAKER_05]: you'll learn how to be a person of light to stand against darkness in our time.

[00:44:15] [SPEAKER_05]: It's free, so visit pointofview.net slash signup right now.

[00:44:20] [SPEAKER_05]: pointofview.net slash signup.

[00:44:25] [SPEAKER_05]: Point of View will continue after this.