appeals judge for the fifth circuit. a vote to advance than nomination takes place at 5:30 p.m. eastern. later in the week debate and votes are expected on the police reform legislation introduced by south carolina publican senator tim scott. follow the senate live on c-span2. the house returns for legislative work thursday at 9:00 a.m. eastern as they take up their police reform bill with debates and votes happening as proxy voting is still in effect due to the coronavirus. also on the agenda, washington dc statehood and an attempt to override president trump veto of a revolution dealing with student loan forgiveness. follow the house live on c-span.

>> are first of two guests this morning is kimberly, university of baltimore law professor, cbs news legal analyst and now author of the recently released book, what you need to know about voting and why. professor, this is something of a user's manual for voting in america. why did you think americans needed that in 2020? >> well, only a third of americans surveyed over the past ten years can name all three branches of government, judicial, legislative and executive branches. i wrote last year a book on the constitution and by the time i finish that book i realized that for myself and professionally the importance of voting as the means by which we the people actually self govern and i think it gets assumed in this country that enough people will vote to have a future that is consistent with what the people actually wants but the numbers are really low and there is a lot of confusion around it and i decided that the next step in my reflect to expand civil live rosie outside the law school classroom and as you indicated it's finally because it turned out november is important for lots of reasons, not just in terms of who gets certain jobs in this country from a political

standpoint but also what is the future of the kind of government we will have in america. i think that is on the ballot in november. >> even with the interest in the 2016 election 56% of the voting age population cast a vote in 2016 meeting 44% did not vote so what you say to the people who say their vote doesn't matter? >> well, if the vote did not matter if the russians would not be trying so hard and other countries now, china, iran to interfere in our electoral process but that speaks itself to all the trauma we've seen in the past few years around russian interference which is ongoin' and just demonstrates the foreign powers can get support it's important in the second thing is to look back in history president bush won the presidency by 537 votes in a single state of florida and that's a really slim margin and most of us will probably name 537 people if we set down with pen and paper and the third piece is really about privilege and honor and respecting the gifts that is american

democracy. there are so many places in the world where people even if there is a pretense of democracy elections really arete rigged ad really are fake and there is no rule of law. you get justice you have money and if you have access and the right political position. in america to date that is not the case but we really do, as much as people have legitimate claims about our government we do have something approaching liberty and independence. the way to protect that andx. preserve that is at the ballot box. i really encourage people to treat voting like brushing your teeth or having a cup of coffee or paying your taxes or getting your kids their flu shots. it is that vital to anything that matters in your life and in huge numbers if those numbers weren't 56% but were 60, 70, 80, 90% i really think americans could take back democracy and drown out some of the other special interests, corporate dollars, dark money that are now, i think, distorting our

electoral process. so, there is just really it's like taking your vitamin in the morning and voting is important. >> for our viewers if you have a question about voting, whether it is the mechanics of voting, controversial issues like voter suppression and voter fraud now would be a good time to call in and asked those questions. kimberly wehle is our guest, the book, what you need to know about voting and why. republicans, (202)748-8001, democrats (202)748-8000, independence, (202)748-8002, text message (202)748-8003,, professor wehle, one passage from your book, few people realize that the constitution contains no expressed rights to vote. some view it as a privilege to be earned even for citizens while others feel it is at the heart and soul of american democracy that should be both protected and enhanced more profoundly than any other right

in america. this pitched battle around whether there is a right to vote or whether only the right people should be able to vote lurks below the surface of the american consciousness and conversation but it is real. on the right to vote,. >> guest: i was surprised by the number of things. the supreme court has recognized . right to constitutional right to vote and said it is a pivotal on all other rights. we t talked a lot in this county baout good at judging and bad judging and, you know, that is if there is something expressed in the constitution or statutes or judges are making things up but i think the right to vote just shows that there is a lot of ambiguity in the constitution but of course, there's a right to vote because otherwise we would not have a representative democracy but it'ss not spelled out expressly in the original constitution. there are six different amendments that mention it so originally the only people in america that can vote at the time that the constitution were ratified was white, male landowners were wealthy white

males were the only ones allowed to vote. slowly over many years that who could come and was expanded. it was expanded to lower income white males then it was extended to formally enslaved people. it wasn't until early 20th century that women were expanded or added to that tent. because we are an opt in system, that is you have to demonstrate that you are eligible to vote and decide it is important to you versus an opt out system where democracies you're born in the country and you get your id card and you are registered to vote. you have to decide to get out. because we are in an opt in system we have this constant tension about who is properly at the seat of the table for voting. it happened in the 20 century resulted in the voting rights acts of the 1960s because even though african americans were technically legally allowed to vote there was all kinds of stuff done to effectively keep them from the polls, famously poll taxes or literacy taxes et cetera and this debate is still

happening in america and my wish for this is to take one more thing off the table, one thing off the table for americans to be divided about because it was really government by we the people, not we the democrats, not weed the republicans, we the people, our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues, this is how we keep government small enough so that tierney doesn't take over. this is what the framers were worried about. i would like -- one day i would like to do an edit to the book or a new version of the book i don't need to have that passage in there because we all understand that by allowing each other full access to the ballot, of course we want to minimize fraud butin that is virtually nonexistent empirically anyway but it is important to have it secure. by enlarging ballot to the access individual citizens decide our government versus some other force dark money, as amended, corporate money, foreign interference that really

is not as interested in our children and kitchen tableas concerns as each other our. >> host: where do you fall on the debate you were talking about cannot do you think it arould be an opt out system or even the voting should be mandatory in this country can act as mandatory voting make voters more informed? >> mandatory voting actually, for example in australia and other democracies, the numbers are in the '90s in terms of participation. if what the study show is when people know their voting every cycle they are more informed. one of the critiques i've heard to my argument that we need more people voting is yet, the people aren't informed. i don't want voters going to the polls and winging it. that's not an alternate process greater participation means greater engagement and in australia it's a party. it's a saturday at the barbecue and it becomes this celebration of the country and of the freedoms of the country and i would like to l see that.

i don't think we saw this with obamacare and this libertarian spirit of american is not penalized for nonparticipation. i don't think a financialse penalty for not voting is the way to go but i would like to see some kind of benefit. congress has the power of authority under the constitution to pass national legislation relating to voting so why not give people that test tax credit or summon incentive, $50 off your tax bill if you go to the polls. i do think that will create a spirit or positive energy around something that is at the end of the day, a positive, it's a precious, precious thing. as i wrote in my first book the constitution is a piece of paper. it does not enforce itself. if we don't enforce it and it leads us to dysfunction print that's a dark day for america. >> host: you mentioned voter fraud. just a minute ago, president trump helping us out with this segment talking about voting

issues on his twitter page this morning. first linking to a bright bright story with noting that the attorney general said that mail-in ballots absolutely open the floodgates to fraud and then the president saying in a tweet following up on the link to that story, rigged 2020 election, millions of mail-in ballots will be printed by foreign countries and others and it will be the scandal of our time. i wonder your reaction. >> guest: well, again, that's not consistent with evidence. it is easy to see unfortunately voting itself as i indicated is a political issue or a constitution political but this is not political bird the evidence is this. in a study done from 2010-tray 14 of 1 billion with a b, ballots were looked at and only 31 credible examples of voter fraud so five states, including the republican leaving utah

exclusively conduct their elections by mail. there is not widespread voter fraud. in fact, elections conducted by mail increase participation on both sides of the aisle but more mail-in ballots do not benefit democrats could they do not benefit republicans but in fact, it is people that are more shots and so particularly in the age of covid could be elderly, people in rural populations that might traditionally lend republicans that expanded mail-in ballot access so it strengthens that voice in government as much as it does the other sides of the political spectrum. it's very unfortunate that the president of the united states and others are touting this notion that people should stay home from the polls. that's antidemocratic and inconsistent with the very concept of moxie by we the people. the problem, i think, in part is without these sort of political energy behind voting and without

the focus states don't necessarily have the funding that they need and states handle loading. your vote your right to vote hinges on your zip code. it depends on where you live and how easy it is to register, how easy it is to vote, how much resources your state puts towards voting and how well trained your coworkers are. those aren't real issues and states are struggling, tax revenues are down because of covid and they have to or they have to have a slice of the pipe in my view, the federal government should make that wedge for election to make elections go smoothly and the amount of money of the pie should be exclusively put towards elections. the federal government should support it so every american can vote, not only safely and have to make a choice between getting covid and not in voting but also do it in a way that is secure. we have top-notch scientists and experts in this country that know how to do things in a way

that is s secure and there is no reason that can't be brought to bear in voting. the answer isn't to stay home and the answer isn't to make harder for people to vote and the answer isn't to put resources into state coffers to make sure every american, not only toak vote but that the vote is secure and free of fraud. >> host: kimberly wehle is the author of what you need to know about voting and why. joining us via zoom from her home and is that a puppy in the background that occasionally wants to join? >> guest: yes, exactly. my kids are home and usually they keep her quiet. [laughter] >> host: the age of zoom television. plenty of viewers want to join the conversation as well. jimmy is up first out of kentucky. democrat, good morning. >> caller: good morning. >> host: you are on with professor wehle, go ahead. >> caller: i just wanted to say it like i told my wife, donald trump is not prejudice but he's going and doing whatever it takes to get him in to the

election and that is what he will do. he's trying to divide the country and stuff like that. he don't have enough, he ain't got nooe experience. that's why at the campaign he turns around to his administration and that's what keeps him going. it shows you what type of [inaudible] he is on. come on, man. this is like third, fourth grade level. >> host: that is jimmy in kentucky. kimberly wehle, the caller bring up the president and we saw his tweet already saying i wonder if you might be able to -- >> we leave this washington journal segment at this point to fill our long-term commitment to live in senate. we will finish watching this at c-span .org. u.s. senate about 2 gallons start the week for more debate this afternoon on the judicial nomination of cory wilson, the te