Voting Now: Turning Rights into Reality

Trust is the foundation for democracy; without it, people don't willingly engage with government policy. Our guest today is Jennifer McGuirk who keeps government agencies accountable. Jennifer is Multnomah County’s Auditor which means that she examines data to determine if there's been, abuse or mismanagement of government programs.Since being sworn into office in 2019 the auditor's office, under Jennifer’s oversight,  has released multiple reports touching on topics including services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and Multnomah County's response to the covid-19 pandemic. In our interview, we discuss what compelled Jennifer to run for office, redistricting, and how auditors office works with the community. If you suspect fraud, waste, and abuse of position contact the Good Government Hotline: 888-289-6839. Calls are not recorded and caller ID is disabled.

Kathleen Saadat has been called the conscience of Portland, Oregon. Here, Saadat talks about organizing Portland’s first gay pride parade, as well as the campaign to beat Measure 9 in 1992, a homophobic amendment to the Oregon Constitution. Kathleen also discussed coalition building and intersectional organizing as well as her work with the Portland Police Bureau and her thoughts on Black Lives Matter.Cliff Jones, a Portland activist calls Kathleen a " ‘connector.’  No matter the issue, he says she strives to 'reach across differences.' ‘I describe her as velvet and steel,’ Jones says. ‘She’s incredibly compassionate and sees the humanity in everyone, even those with whom she vehemently disagrees. At the same time, her mind is a matrix, thinking down and across and over and under, seeing every side of an issue.’"Kathleen has lived a remarkable life: at the age of 77, she released her first album, Love for Sale, which she recorded with the internationally acclaimed band Pink Martini.

Women makeup 51% of the US population and yet account for only 24% of the Senate and 27% of the House of Representatives. How can women start to change that landscape? Jillian Schoene, Emerge Oregon’s departing Executive Director, joins us to discuss how her organization trains and empowers Democratic women to run for public office.Highlights and soundbites from the interviewNo one runs and wins alone.4:26-What I love about our program is…the cohort model because these women get to know each other and then when they do go on to run for office they can contact each other and be supported by each other. Or be reminded by them about how to do X Y or Z because it's impossible to remember it all and no one runs in wins alone.Local politics8:34 “I think there's a lot of attention on the state and the Congressional level but we have women that are just thriving in leadership roles at the school board and parks and district,levels, (and city council)and that is really where policy is implemented really quickly and impacts people's lives immediately. Why it’s important to focus on training women from outside of Portland, OR to run for office11:36 You know from Bend, or Pendleton, OR Klamath Falls…Those are women that we definitely need to be working with…because most likely in their communities the left side of the spectrum is probably not being represented…Probably no one else on that City Council or School Board shares your values and so getting them ready to run and at those decision making tables, it's incredibly important for the long-term health of democracy in our state.Most of the Emerge Oregon candidates are working parents16:33: "Most of our women who run are also working parents and so I campaign is like the third or fourth thing on their plate and so you know when they have a question… I try to respond as quickly as possible because I know the time is ticking"23:30: "Democracy is all of our responsibilities, including recruiting and choosing our elected leaders"

While the 2020 Presidential Election saw an unprecedented voter turnout, the fight to end voter suppression and discrimination rages on. We’re joined by Leigh Chapman, Senior Director of the Voting Rights Program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, to discuss today’s barriers to the ballot box, legislative efforts combating them such as the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act(HR4), and the For People Act Act (HR1). Chapman and our host (Janice Hebert) discuss the pros and cons of a decentralized voting system and why The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is pushing the federal government to make more uniform, national standards when it comes to voting. Chapman also discussed her Beyoncé connection. As Leigh put it, “our democracy works best when more people can participate.”

Attorney Molly Washington discusses the Native American vote with Amanda WhiteEagle and journalist, Anna V. Smith who covers indigenous affairs for High Country News. In 2020 WhiteEagle ran to represent District 92 in the Wisconsin State Assembly, in this interview she discusses the hurdles she faced and the lessons she learned. The three of them discuss the role the Native American vote played in the 2020 election and the significance of President Biden appointing Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.) to act as the first Native American secretary to the interior.

Mary Beatty should be a well-known figure in women's history: she was one of the first Black women (west of the Mississippi) to publicly advocate for woman suffrage. Decades before women won the right to vote, Mary Beatty and 3 other white women attempted to vote. When asked why they voted, each responded: “I am an American citizen, and have the right to vote.” The next year, she participated in the first convention of the Oregon State Woman Suffrage Association. These are just a few of the accomplishments in Mary Beatty’s life. Yet despite her achievements, very little was known about Mary Beatty until last year. We spoke to, Jean Ward, who researched Mary Beatty’s story. Ward is a Professor Emerita of Communication at Lewis & Clark College.Professor Ward spoke to our lead host, Celia Howes about Beatty’s life and how she uncovered Beatty’s story in history. Gathering research was difficult, a process that Ward said made her feel like she was in “the Hansel and Gretel story, following the crumbs as you go into the forest,” but bit by bit the story came together.”

Despite significant obstacles, the US had the highest voter turnout since 1908. How did it happen? Myrna Pérez, director of the Brennan Center's Voting Rights and Elections Program, joined us to discuss what we accomplished in the 2020 election, what we learned, and what comes next.

Is there even such a thing as the Latinx vote? It’s not the monolith some may think. So says Jessica Vega Pederson, Commissioner for Multnomah County, Oregon and the state’s first Latina House Representative. In this episode, Jessica touches on why Latinx voters should be appreciated for their diversity, the importance of Latinx representation at the local and national level, how to dismantle barriers that prevent women and people of color from flourishing, and much more.

Vote-by-mail, elections, and voting in general have been on everyone’s mind these days, which is why we spoke to an expert, Dr. Peter Miller. Miller is a social scientist at The Brennan Center for Justice, which is a non-partisan law and policy institute. We discussed the systems that affect voter turnout and equitable representation in our electorate. We asked if voter security is an issue in a vote-by-mail system.

Albert Lee was born in South Korea to an African-American soldier father and a Korean mother. When he was five years old; he moved to the states. He grew up working-class. His background drove him to public service: In 2020 he ran for Congress; before his bid for election he graduated from law school and was the academic Dean at Portland Oregon’s Community College. “My background is that of folks who are often not heard or seen and not included. And that was part of the call to serve the public.” Lee spoke to Iván Resendiz Gutierrez about concrete obstacles Latinx and BIPOC face when voting. Iván Resendiz Gutierrez is a litigation and appellate attorney in the Portland office of Miller Nash Graham & Dunn LLP.

“Vote Like Your Life Depends on It!” is a short, emotional sermon to vote by the inimitable Dr. Willie Jolley, a best-selling author, media personality and motivational speaker. This is a departure from our typical guests, but we were blown away by Dr. Jolley’s video of the same name.He also hosts a regular show, Willie Jolley Show on SiriusXM, as well as the podcast, Dr. Willie Jolley's Wealthy Ways which is available on all your platforms. He is the author of several international best-selling books. In March 2020 he published his latest book, “Turn Setbacks Into Greenbacks: 7 Steps to go from Financial Disaster to Financial Freedom.” You can find a full list of his books here.Dr. Jolley holds a Doctor of Ministry degree in Faith-Driven Achievement from the California Graduate School of Theology, a master’s degree in Theology from Wesley Theological Seminary and a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from The American University.

One hundred years ago, women won the right to vote—but even as the 19th Amendment passed to grant universal suffrage, many were left out. One century on, and the fight for suffrage is far from over. In this episode, Lori Erickson, Curator of Exhibitions and Special Projects at the Oregon Historical Society, and Eliza Canty-Jones, editor of the Oregon Historical Quarterly, discuss how the movement’s past has been whitewashed, sharing inspiring stories of courage by black women, and details of the Oregon Historical Society exhibit “Nevertheless, They Persisted: Women’s Voting Rights and the 19th Amendment.” We are proud to partner with the Oregon Historical Society for this podcast series Voting Now: Turning Rights Into Reality. “Nevertheless, They Persisted” will remain open to the public until August 15th, 2021. For more information including hours, location, and how you can support the museum, check out: ohs.org.

“There are populations and segments of populations that don’t vote because they are disengaged, they are demobilized, and don’t really understand the important impact one vote can make,” said Dr. Yvette Alex-Assensoh. “But when you look at the South, in general, the South has actually taught the rest of the country the importance of the vote. And, in fact, the Black vote in the South has actually turned the tides in terms of shifting power.”Today on Voting Now: Turning Rights into Reality, our guest host Janice Hebert, a retired assistant US attorney, who has spent 23 years at the Department of Justice focusing on civil rights cases in Louisiana and Oregon, talks with Dr. Yvette Alex-Assensoh about how systemic and structural discrimination has diminished the electorate and has discouraged people from voting—and what we can do about it. Alex-Assensoh is the vice president for Equity & Inclusion at University of Oregon, an award-winning researcher, university professor, equity strategist, and a member of the Oregon and Indiana Bar Associations.

“The best message to get people to vote is the parade effect. Hey, everybody's voting! Your neighborhood is going to have incredible turnout,” said Kevin Looper, one of two guests on this episode along with Dan Lavey. Looper and Lavey are A-list political operatives with often opposing opinions and decades of experience working on candidate and ballot measure campaigns in Oregon. In this episode they had a lot of great stuff to say about voter security, how to get people to vote, mail-in-ballots, and voter suppression.Our guest host for this episode was Karmen Fore, the director of Oregon Solutions. Fore's work has influenced changes at the local, state, and national levels. During her career she's taught, written papers, and spoken on a broad array of issues ranging from leadership, natural resources, social and economic trends, and transportation policy. She has a master’s degree in public affairs, and a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in planning, public policy, and management from the University of Oregon.Do you or someone you know not know if you are registered or how you can vote in your state?If not visit this interactive link from the New York Times. In it, you can find your state, figure out how and when to register to vote, and even how you can vote (by mail, going to the polls).

“The contributions of thousands of black women are being discovered. It’s not just Ida B Wells, it’s not just Mary Church Terrell — it’s women in every city, in every state,” said Elaine Weiss in our interview. Weiss is the author of, “The Women’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote,” an award-winning book that re-frames the 19th amendment. 2020 is the centennial of ratification of the 19th amendment and of that Weiss said, “What the centennial has done is stimulate this broader deeper more diverse research.” Her book presents a panoramic view of the decades long struggle to win the right to vote. She writes about how women of color lost the right to vote, the whitewashing of history, and what modern movements can learn from the suffragists. Weiss reflected on the current political climate saying, “I think that we are in that period of organizing, educating, and agitating what Susan B. Anthony talked about... The protest is important, the education is essential, but there has to be a strategy, what exactly are you going to work towards?

Professor Gilda Daniels is a nationally recognized voting rights and election law expert and a hero among attorneys, see her full bio here. We were lucky enough to speak to her 72 hours after she showcased some of those heroics. On October 13th, Virginia’s online voter registration system broke down.... just hours before the deadline to register. Three days later, on Oct 16th, Daniels, along with two organizations successfully petitioned the Virginia Federal Court to extend the voter registration deadline. This was real-time litigation that helped secure the right to vote. In this episode, she also talks about her new book, “Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America" and Shelby County V Holder, the future of the Voting Rights Act, and the Supreme Court. Daniels, as you might imagine, has some real solutions for helping to fight voter suppression and federal courts, and what you can do if you witness voter intimidation. Call: 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).

Everyday working parents face all kinds of roadblocks when they set out to participate in civic life. Childcare is expensive, making any kind of impactful and sustained civic engagement, including voting, difficult for parents.Our guest for this episode, Rachel Sowray, is an attorney and mom that works on and finds solutions to this problem. She started the non-profit, non-partisan group Politisit (babysit + politics = Politisit) to carry out the mission of addressing and relieving the financial barriers to civic engagement for parents, clearing a pathway for more people to get involved in government. One way they do this is by reimbursing individuals and groups for childcare expenses. And it's working. So far, two of Polititsit’s former clients have run for office and are now elected officials! Rachel spoke to our guest host and attorney Christopher Pallanch about how she started the non-profit and why it’s so important to get more people involved in civics. Although the group is based in Oregon, during the interview she talks about two out of states childcare sites she's found, we're excited to announce that after the interview she located an additional six sites in Dallas and Miami.

Are all states ready for election day? What's the deal after November 3rd? How will Covid 19 affect our elections? Election expert Ben Hovland gives us all the answers.Hovland is the current Chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The EAC is an independent, bipartisan commission that serves as a national clearinghouse of information on election administration and much much more. As part of their effort the EAC has already distributed almost a billion dollars to States to help with election security concerns and respond to the coronavirus pandemic. Find out more about the EAC, innovations in election security, and Hovlands voting ritual. Our guest hosts for this episode are Judge Ann Aiken and Robert Reeves.

Lowering the voting age to16 and restoring voting rights for Oregonians in prison are just a couple getting-the-youth-vote-counted ideas that, Samantha Gladu, executive director of Next Up, proposes in our premiere episode of Voting Now: Turning Rights Into Reality. Next Up is a Portland non-profit that encourages leadership and amplifies the voices of diverse young people to help achieve a more just and equitable Oregon. This episode is chockfull of concrete advice on everything from how Oregonians displaced by fire can vote, to ways people can make some real change that will affect them now by voting down line in the upcoming city and county elections."Voting Now: Turning Rights Into Reality" is a new podcast series from Oregon lawyers and legal professionals who believe change can and will happen by igniting action through solid information. They’ll host nationally renowned activists, policy makers, historians, and scholars to discuss the hidden history of suffrage, the systemic inequities in voting, and the movements that are asking for your participation to help our communities, state and country live up to democratic ideals. They’ll explore who’s still getting left out and how to work toward equal representation. With three weeks to our election, the time to act on voter suppression and take down barriers to exercise democracy is now

This year marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States. As we have seen over the past century and in even in recent months, many battles have been and remain to be fought to guarantee full and equitable access to the ballot. Women showed heroism and courage fighting in the front lines for suffrage a century ago, and Black, Indigenous, and people of color have continued to lead the fight since that time to gain equitable voting rights for all. Their actions serve as an example for what must still be done to secure voting rights.In collaboration with the Oregon Historical Society and in honor of this important anniversary, the Oregon Chapter of the Federal Bar Association is pleased to share with you a series of podcasts focused on the historical and ongoing fight for the universal and meaningful right to vote. Featured speakers include community leaders, voting rights activists, students and legal scholars. We hope this series, which we have entitled “Voting Now: Turning Rights Into Reality,” educates you about the history of discrimination in voting and inspires you to join the list of heroes who have fought and continue to fight for this critical pillar of our democracy.