STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Let's talk with David Becker about this. He is executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonpartisan nonprofit that works with election officials around the country. Welcome to the program, sir.
DAVID BECKER: Morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: OK. Miles told us there he's hearing from Republicans on the local level who are quietly planning to run a proper and legal election despite all the pressure. What are you hearing?
BECKER: I'm hearing exactly the same thing. I work with election officials all over the country. I've been doing it for nearly 30 years now. I just came back from Texas and Colorado, where I spoke with election officials there, a very bipartisan group - if anything, perhaps more Republican than Democrat. And this past week, the secretaries of state from around the country and the state election directors from around the country were meeting here in D.C. And all of them are preparing to run the same secure, accessible, convenient voting process that we've experienced even in the middle of a global pandemic. It's a real testament to how well they've worked, even though they're all expressing some concern about the ongoing efforts by the executive branch - the federal executive branch, the president - to seize power from the states and localities on elections, which, as Miles pointed out, is clearly unconstitutional.
INSKEEP: Well, let's talk about that. I'll just note that I went and looked at the relevant section - Article 1, Section 4, I believe. The Constitution says states run elections. The president is saying that the states are, quote, agents of the federal government, as if they are a real estate agent or a staff attorney - somebody the president can order around. Is that accurate?
BECKER: Yeah, what the president said is clearly not accurate. The founders were very concerned throughout the Constitution about the prospect of an executive trying to seize more power through the power of the executive branch. And so much of the Constitution attempts to restrain that power. And they do that specifically with elections in a way they don't do it with almost any other area, in saying that elections are the responsibility of the state legislatures. Congress can also pass laws, but the executive plays literally zero role in setting election policy in the United States. Unless, of course, he can persuade Congress or the state legislatures, there's no role for the federal government to take power here.
And in fact, that decentralization of our election system, which the founders created, was incredibly wise. It's one of the great security features of our system. It makes it very difficult to tamper with American elections, if not impossible, because instead of a single election run by a single entity on a single day, we have around 10,000 little elections all over the country, run by our neighbors and community members who know our communities best.
INSKEEP: And I'm glad you note that the Congress is allowed to pass laws. That is also in Article 1, Section 4. Congress can pass regulations. Democrats have tried in recent years to regulate federal elections on a federal basis in the past few years, but not very successfully. I want to ask big-picture here now. One of the goals on your organization's website, as you work with election officials - one of your goals on the website is, quote, "to restore trust in the American election system." How's that going?
BECKER: Well, it's been challenging, to say the least. I mean, the reality is, for anyone who's listening, our elections are more trustworthy than they've ever been. They are easier to vote in. It is easier to register to vote now than ever before. It is easier to vote than ever before. More people have access to early voting and mail voting than ever before in American history. And it's more secure than ever before. We have more paper ballots, which are an important aspect of security, where, you know, those paper ballots can be recounted and audited. So 98% of all Americans vote on recountable, auditable, confirmable paper ballots. So we're more trustworthy than ever before, but the president still spreads disinformation about our elections. Many of his allies do as well. And so it is a sad reality that a significant percentage, though a minority, doubt that our elections are secure when they're more trustworthy than ever before.
INSKEEP: Glad to hear about paper ballots. David Becker, thanks so much.
BECKER: Thank you, Steve.
INSKEEP: He's executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, and you're hearing him on MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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