Election offices say they need more funding | The Excerpt
On Monday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Paste BN Congress, Campaigns and Democracy Reporter Sudiksha Kochi talks about the push for more funding at election offices nationwide. A Hamas official says no progress has been made at the latest Gaza ceasefire talks. Paste BN Network Florida State Capitol Reporter John Kennedy talks about what ballot measures on abortion access and recreational marijuana might mean for Democrats in Donald Trump's home state. The South Carolina Gamecocks are national champions. Here's everything you need to know for the solar eclipse.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Monday, April 8th, 2024. This is The Excerpt. Today a look at the funding issues at election offices nationwide, plus the latest from Gaza ceasefire talks, and college basketball crowns its champions.
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Election offices say they need more funding and advocates are calling on Congress to help. I spoke with USA Today Congress Campaigns and Democracy reporter Sudiksha Kochi for more. Sudiksha, thanks for making the time.
Sudiksha Kochi:
Thank you so much for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
So could you just start by telling us about this Massachusetts town clerk and her story?
Sudiksha Kochi:
So Grace, the town clerk in Massachusetts, spent October 17th, 2020, which was the first day of early voting in her state in the 2020 election, in the emergency room. But before heading to the hospital, she checked to make sure her precinct was set up since she was the only town clerk that her area had. And after the emergency room visit, she emptied out the ballot drop boxes for the night. Grace's story is just one example of the many hardships that election officials have to face due to situations such as staffing shortages and other problems that happened due to lack of funding.
Taylor Wilson:
Yeah. I want to hear more about that, Sudiksha. How exactly does her story echo really similar ones that election offices around the country? And you touched on it, what are some of these challenges that we're hearing about
Sudiksha Kochi:
This year in particular, election officials are expected to face increased threats of disinformation, lack of election security, and other issues simply because this election is expected to be more widely criticized than in previous because of the misinformation surrounding the 2020 election. So data shows that three out of four election officials say threats have increased in recent years, and one in six election workers say that they have been threatened according to a 2022 survey. And an average of two local election officials per day have left their jobs since the 2020 election. But election security is not the only thing haunting election workers. Another situation is antiquated technology. One of the chief deputy clerks I spoke to in Michigan said that 22 out of the 27 cities and flagships in his county don't have full-time, dedicated IT support, and no jurisdiction there has cybersecurity managers. The other problem is that with a very, very tight budget, election officials are just not able to spend enough money to be able to upgrade their voting machines, election equipment, technology, or any sort of other election infrastructure that they need.
Taylor Wilson:
And Sudiksha, we know cost and funding is a big part of this conversation. How expensive is it actually to run an election?
Sudiksha Kochi:
So the usual estimate that local jurisdictions and states spend to administer a presidential election, excluding campaigns and non-governmental spending associated with get out the vote efforts, can come to about two billion to three billion nationwide, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. That cost can actually come out to be thousands to millions of dollars per election office.
Taylor Wilson:
So what do election workers really want as a solution here? Is this a question of more funding? And how much does Congress allocate for local elections as it stands?
Sudiksha Kochi:
Dozens of election workers told us that they want Congress to do more to support them ahead of the 2024 election. So one important thing to note is that elections are mainly funded at the state and local level. However, Congress can appropriate money to states via the 2002 Help America Vote Act, which was signed by former President George W. Bush. Basically, the act established a program that aims to improve voting systems, election infrastructure, and election administration in states through more funding. The states have the authority to trickle down the money to local election offices as they see fit. Now in the past, Congress would appropriate actually a lot of money through Help America Vote Act grants.
For instance, between 2003 and 2017, Congress appropriated over three billion in funds for the grant program. Following the 2016 election, Congress appropriated 380 million in election security grants to states in 2018, and that figure actually increased to 825 million in 2020 during the pandemic. But we've actually seen funding go downhill since then. For instance, in 2022 and 2023, Congress appropriated only 75 million in Help America Vote Act election security grants. And this year they actually only appropriated 55 million after several rounds of negotiations. And the effects actually will likely show up at the polls on election day is what experts are warning, including fewer poll workers to get resources to polling places, longer voting lines, and less voter turnout, simply because election officials don't have the resources to hire more workers or to do any sort of voter outreach efforts.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Sudiksha Kochi covers Congress, campaigns, and democracy for USA Today. Thank you, Sudiksha.
Sudiksha Kochi:
Thank you, Taylor.
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Taylor Wilson:
A Hamas official told Reuters earlier today that no progress was made at the latest Gaza ceasefire talks in Egypt. The talks were also attended by Israel, the U.S., and Qatar. The unnamed official said, "There is no change in the position of the occupation and therefore there is nothing new in the Cairo talks." Those comments come after the Israeli military said yesterday it had withdrawn most ground troops from Gaza after completing an offensive in the southern city of Khan Younis. It was not clear what impact, if any, the withdrawal would have on the long threatened incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah. But White House national security spokesman, John Kirby, told ABC News the withdrawal was, "About rest and refit for these troops and not necessarily that we can tell indicative of some coming new operation."
Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said the planned assault on Rafah is needed to eliminate Hamas. President Joe Biden and most of the world have urged Israel to scrap the plan. When it comes to cease fire talks, Hamas wants an end to Israel's offensive and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, while Israel wants a deal to free hostages from the territory in exchange for some Palestinians in its jails without a commitment to end the war.
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Ballot measures on abortion access and recreational marijuana may bring more women and younger voters to the polls in Florida. That's raising hope for Democrats in Donald Trump's home state. I spoke with USA Today network state capital reporter in Florida, John Kennedy, to learn more. John, thanks for hopping on The Excerpt today.
John Kennedy:
Good to be here. Thank you.
Taylor Wilson:
So John, the State Supreme Court on Monday made some decisions around proposed constitutional amendments for the November ballot. Let's start with abortion. What's that issue on this ballot measure?
John Kennedy:
What's on the ballot is basically a measure that would bring abortion access in Florida back to the standard that it had been before Roe versus Wade two years ago. That would basically allow access to abortion up to about 24 weeks of pregnancy. Right now, the state's standard is 15 weeks, but that same Supreme Court that okayed this ballot measure for the November ballot also approved the 15-week law that the state legislature enacted a couple of years ago, and last year they reduced that to six weeks. So that six week standard is going to go into effect on May 1st.
Taylor Wilson:
John, can you help us understand really how big of an issue abortion is in Florida at the moment? We know this is a hot-button topic around the country. What might this mean for bringing people out to vote in the Sunshine State?
John Kennedy:
Yeah, it's seen as something that's probably going to bring more women voters, younger voters, and those are two that polling shows that lean toward President Biden in the presidential contest. President Trump is considered likely to win this state, which has been trending red in recent years. This measure, however, having abortion rights on the ballot, is seen as one that might bring out voting cohorts that are more aligned with Democrats. The Biden administration has declared that Florida is in play. Now, that may be a little bit of an overstatement, but it is at least going to become a distraction for President Trump and his campaign. He's going to have to put some time, money, and resources into Florida.
Taylor Wilson:
And what about on marijuana? What is this ballot measure and how significant could it be for getting out ... I would say in particular the young vote in the state.
John Kennedy:
Yeah. Yeah. That's another one that is considered probably a younger voter driver, that's going to allow recreational marijuana in Florida so far, for several years now, Florida has only had medical marijuana. Probably younger voters will be coming out more. It's also a mixed bag because I think there's probably a lot of MAGA Republicans that may be supporters of recreational marijuana too. They're going to come out and vote for it as well. So either way, there's going to be a lot of people go to the polls this November.
Taylor Wilson:
And John, as you mentioned, the Biden campaign is saying they see Florida as in play. What role are these measures having in terms of that conversation? How much focus is the Biden camp putting on Florida at this point?
John Kennedy:
Well, right now it's pretty much just talk in it as far as that goes. The Biden campaign has put out an online video talking about his support for abortion rights that's going to be airing in online social media platforms. I'm still skeptical that the Biden campaign is going to put a lot of money into this state. I think they do see an opportunity here that coincidentally there's going to be voters going to the polls that may be more likely to vote for them. That could be a plus. There will be efforts, but so far we're not really seeing much of a manifestation of it.
Taylor Wilson:
All right, interesting stuff. John Kennedy covers the state capitol for the USA Today network in Florida. Thank you, John.
John Kennedy:
Thank you.
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Taylor Wilson:
South Carolina are champions of women's college basketball. The Gamecocks beat Iowa, and yes, Caitlin Clark, 87 to 75 yesterday in the national championship game. It's Carolina's third championship since 2017. Meanwhile, on the men's side, the national champion will be crowned tonight. Arguably the two best teams all season, UConn and Purdue, will battle it out. You can tune in just after 9:00 PM Eastern time on TBS and follow along with USA Today Sports.
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It's time to get ready for the eclipse. This afternoon, weather permitting, a total eclipse of the sun will be seen above the U.S. from southern Texas to Northern Maine, and it'll be the last total solar eclipse visible from anywhere in the lower 48 states until 2044. Within the path of totality, federal forecasters say the best chances for clear skies will be in Northern New England. While folks in parts of Texas, Kansas, and Missouri may have worse viewing conditions with cloudy skies. You can check out a map to find out what the eclipse will look like in your neck of the woods, along with some tips and tricks with a link in today's show notes.
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Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from Paste BN.