the program opened and that is the -- this is the final 30 seconds of the skit where they came out of character and told this to the audience. ♪ [applause] >> now it is time to get out there and vote. none of this matters if you do not vote. >> we cannot tell you who to vote for but on tuesday come we get a chance to choose what kind of country we will live in. live from new york, it is saturday night. host: there you have it. we are back with the washington journal. we will talk about the top stories of 2016. "newsmakers" is next. full campaign coverage today, tomorrow is tuesday. hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. have a great week ahead. tuesday night, our election returns begin.

♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] ♪ >> here on c-span, "news way -- newsmakers" is next. willthe afternoon, we bring you live campaign events with vice president biden, donald trump, and president obama. on this last newsmakers before the 2016 election, we focus on the 2016 vote. joins us, and denise merrill. she joins us from hartford.

white house reporter for voters and co-author for popular playbook at politico. anna, you have the first question. trump hasld repeatedly on the campaign trail said the system's rate. calling into question the integrity of our election in general. do you believe he is showing a legitimate concern about whether or not -- what happens to the result at the end of the day. >> nice to be here. evenld like to say that the question is destructive, about rigging. there is no evidence there is a massive conspiracy to overturn or even change u.s. relation -- election results. i think the result of the claim has been massive distrust in the

andem in connecticut elsewhere. reports of hundreds of people calling in to say, how are you counting my vote, are there illegal aliens voting, you know, the problem is the claim is vague. when you say rigged the election, i am not even sure what he meant, but it plays into fears people have that their vote will not be counted. mind, the claim alone is destructive and the fact is, it is, overstated would be an understatement, of a problem that really does not exist. many of us have been explaining at length for than that -- for the last month or so, including the fact that, for example, none of the election equipment were results are tabulated are connected to the internet, for example. people assume it will be an internet-based hacking of a system. it is not even possible. that is just the beginning of why it is a preposterous idea.

>> mr. hicks. thomas: i want to thank you for allowing me to be on the show. they should have the confidence in our system that it will election day.on over 30 million people have already voted early. there are alternative methods if you have some sort of doubt, that you want to ensure your vote will be counted. votes will be counted on election day, votes are being cast for election day. the election system is working well. this is the most secure the election system has ever been. my fellow commissioners and i have traveled around the country at the invite of many local election officials to see the process play out. i'm in chicago today because i am letting early voting take place. 100 machines worked hooked up for voters in the one precinct and none of them were connected to the internet. all of them had securitized.

if anyone attempted to interfere there wereocess, security there, poll workers there, and the system will function as well as a can. in terms of what the candidate said, i welcome those things he did say in terms of ensuring go out and serve as poll workers. if you see the process from the see -- in terms of poll watchers, as long as are operatingthey within the means of the law, they can serve as poll watchers. we do not want people out there intimidating folks were trying to influence the process. we want everyone to cast their ballot and have the ballots counted accurately. would like to follow-up on that last decision you made. are you expecting there to be a

lot of unplanned poll watchers showing up across the country and if so, how will the various places deal with that? how should they? expecting are not that but as done throughout its history, there are contingency plans for everything. officials haveon done, and the process that takes place, you know the elections are run by the states and not the federal government itself. if i am a voter and i go into a port -- a voter place and i feel intimidated, i should talk to election officials there. if that does not alleviate my fear, i should talk to local law enforcement. but i should not be intimidated to cast my ballot on election or to cast a ballot on election day for the states that allow it. found 41%ntly a poll of voters thought the election could be stolen.

are you surprised by that and what are you doing to make sure people are reassured before they do going vote or they going vote because they think the vote will count. i am not surprised by that given the kinds of conversations going on lately. if anything good comes out of this, there are two things. we are on high alert. i think many secretaries across the country usually charged with any --g on elections in in every state, they do it differently but all have come out and talked openly about how the election is administered and i think it has been a bit of a educationalnd an process, the second good thing to come out of this. people are asking, how does it really work? it is very local. we were talking about intimidation in the polls in

every state, the moderators of the polling place was the person in charge of keeping order. there were a lot of reports of that but people are now understanding that these elections are very local. that is the thing. you have an actual human being you can talk to about what is going on or whatever the problem might be. always operated on trust to a certain degree. people are questioning some of that now. we are getting an education on how elections run in this country. it is hard to see where that questioning is coming from but there have been reports of tampering and incorrect data when it comes to voter registration rolls. i want you to talk a little bit about that. why do those systems seem more vulnerable and why don't you spill over into the results of the election? thomas: i just wanted to expand

a little bit on the last question before we move on. i'm really suppressed about the thenumber but i hope as election season draws to an end, we continue to talk about these around,hat, 12017 rolls americans can still participate in the process in terms of the lone terrie voter system guidelines, for the next iteration of voting machines. we look at how we advance the process, that we look at how we are involved in the process as well. on voter registration rolls? denise: again, people should understand the mostly computerized registration rolls, state-by-state. not a lot of information sharing across state lines. degree, it is true,

there is a great deal of mobility now. we are very hesitant before we take anyone off, appropriately. but you should also understand the databases are one piece of election administration, not to the election results tabulation. in most states, voter registration lists are still printed out on paper. ironically, paper is still the best medium for elections. in advance of the elections, voter registration lists are printed out and people are checking in largely on paper. most of them not connected in any way to the elections results system, if you will. again, there is a check and balance. as far as the election being accurate, there have been talk about dead people on the roles

and so forth. that again is because we do not have a national database. elections are run by issue individual state. there have been efforts to clean up but every state, mine included, local registrars to canvassing every year and make many attempts to keep the role accurate. comes fromacy mostly cross registration, people who you need toize cancel your registration in one state before you go to another. noy of us join states were information sharing and i think the election is probably better than they ever have been because now they are computerized. you still get checked in at the desk. you still get checked in at every precinct. that is still the best way to make sure the people voting are

only where they reside. host: is the national database something you would advocate for? denise: not necessarily. i think probably, as you are seeing, it is probably a good thing, states do it somewhat differently. guidelineses provide and all of that. within small margins, states really do administer elections. i'm not sure a national database could be possible, but it might be and i think states that are sharing things like that is good first step to something like that. thomas: i agree with that but i would like to add with online voter registration, the lists are a lot cleaner than they have been in the past as well.

when the states talk to the electronic records information center, i think the states are doing a better job ensuring that the lists are a lot cleaner. if we want to make sure we keep the people who deserve to be on the list, i would err on the side of having the list a little unclean even though we're doing our best so we are not disenfranchising people, so if someone shows up on the polls and the name is mistakenly taken off, they are still allowed to vote or we want to ensure the folks who do show up at the polls are on the list as well. --t: you having knowledge acknowledged some of the concerns raised in the public about what would happen with the vote. our states and counties doing anything differently this year compared to previous election

cycles to ensure that the are correct and can you walk us through how that has thomas: in some of the states i have visited, the testing opened to the public, locals have invited the public. this election cycle has been different than any other. as we move forward, all election cycles need to be different. a week before the national election four years ago, hurricane sandy occurred. into thehat has played rhetoric of states being prepared for whatever functions that may happen. you cannot prepare for everything but i believe the states are prepared for a number this electionng cycle and from experience in the last election cycles, to ensure that the election will move forward.

counting machines, they make sure those are clean and accurate. i want to make sure folks know that the results you see on election night are not the official results. the official results occur several days later. if it takes a little bit longer, we wanted to be accurate. but we want to make sure things function well. todance has been put out election officials on making sure their databases are today. to ensure that election night reporting facilities are secure and accurate as well. we have worked with the fbi in maying out more threats have happened. we do not know of any credible threats right now, but we want to ensure the american people have the confidence to go out and cast a ballot on election day before or through early voting. host: is that normal to be

working with the fbi or is that specific to this election? that is specific to this election. states and locals have worked before with the fbi in the department of justice and local law enforcement because of threats that may have occurred with polling places and things like that. making sure the election is secure overall, for theance making sure election equipment is secure so they work with local law enforcement or security to ensure that things are done as well. host: are you talking about physical security or cyber security? thomas: physical security. in the past, they have worked on local law enforcement or other law enforcement agencies on the physical security. new to be it is working with law enforcement

agencies on cyber security. host: do you want to respond as well? i would echo everything thomas just said. i cochaired a committee that recommended emergency plans for every state. i believe now many states have emergency plans for elections. we are keeping those up to date and those include things like what do you do when the electricity goes off, when one of your polling places is underwater like a couple of years ago. those are real problems. for the weather will not be an issue this year. but emergency plans are good for a lot of things. i think we are on a bit of -- extra alert. i am part of the committee tom is describing where we are working with dhs, the first time they have been involved. we hope it will result in quick communications should there be since theof a threat

election results systems are generally not connected to the internet. a listblem might be with or maybe some sort of an attack that would slow things down in some way on a national basis. we will hopefully get first word or anything like that. hard to imagine what it would be but it is a goods -- good communications system. everyone in the country is trying their best, the election officials in every state are doing their best to make sure they go smoothly. we all remember under discussion this year, that may produce a positive result, which is everyone will be extra careful to follow all the protocols. on whati want to build the secretary is talking about there and add another piece to ensure that i hope the news ofia, because a lot

americans receive the election night reporting to the news media, is also prepared for the election. few weeks ago a denial of service attack that slow down internet service on the east coast and beyond. so i hope the news media is also preparing for this election cycle. host: is the election commission giving any guidance on how to do that? thomas: we have not but we could. it, we are more than willing. host: what would be a piece of advice you would give? thomas: to ensure the denial of service does not occur, to make sure any pdf's coming in or anything like that to ensure that, you have up-to-date virus to ensure that electricity or other things like that are backups as well.

there are a number of different things we could get to you on the topic. are you also prepared for potential legal challenges by donald trump or other voters or people in terms of challenging the results? host: go ahead. thomas: elections commission does not deal with challenges that way. ballot be done either through lawyers with the senate or the house and we would not be involved at all. yes.e: legal challenges would probably be on a state-by-state basis. in connecticut as with other states, enforcement of election bipartisanefinite commission separate from secretary's's office here it they would be the ones called on to take action or the state would be defended by the

attorney general. i think most states are prepared in a general way that you would be in any election. i want to mention one thing we sort of alluded to, and that is there is one new thing this year, that many states are implementing computerized results system. we are in connecticut and we call it the election management system. results will be uploaded electronically to make them quicker and frankly more accurate. most that we see on election night are human error. at the end of the long day, people are adding up numbers and get transposed. these are unofficial results. people have to remember that. it only really comes into play with a close election to we have two or three weeks in every state to verify the result. we checked against a paper copy in most cases. the slowdown on election night might occur with the denial of

service with some of the new systems, which are on the internet in many cases. think all ofns, i us are prepared with backup we still haveen, policeman bringing up results from certain small towns. old-fashioned ways are still out and will be called into play if there is a breakdown in the system. host: we have about 10 minutes left. you are a democrat elected as secretary of state in connecticut. what is your role at the national association of secretary of state? i ame: this year, president of the national association. it is a nonpartisan group where we share best practices and things like that. it is a one-year term and we rotate democrat and republican. host: and if you could talk a little bit about where the elections commission came from and what your budget is as you

work to help voting systems around the country? thomas: it came about after the 2000 election, formed by president bush on october 29 of 2002, to basically help states with the administration of elections here and we gave out $3.4 billion to the states to purchase new voting equipment statewide databases for voter registration, to reform things like provisional ballots. one of our biggest functions is our voting guidelines, which we are updating now and we hope to have it finished by the and of next year and the beginning of 2018. the standards have not been updated for over 10 years. part of that is due to the fact it was not functioning for a number of years. my colleagues and i are working hard to make sure those are written in a way that ensures that innovation takes place,

they were written before the iphone was done, or other smart phones and tablets as well. we want to ensure we move forward with that. best passes to the states, in terms of voting practices, but we also have a number of resources we provide to voters. card forly did a voter people who have disabilities. the card can be put in their wallets to bring to the polls to remind yourself of what your rights are. the last function we did with that, we did it through a qr code, so that you can scan it with your own device and see what your rights are. sure- we want to make voters vote securely and privately. bit: we talked a little about the topic of rigging the election.

is that even possible? if you wanted to rig an election, how would you do it? rigging an election would be -- go on. you know, it is hard to imagine what it really means. at first, ited is seems like the accusation would orsomeone out of the country a sort of cyber attack. it is clear that would be very difficult to imagine. the result systems are really not electronic. maybe some adding or subtracting of names on the voter registration list, that would be difficult because it would be detected pretty quickly. i think there are over 10,000 precinct jurisdictions not even counting all the polling places in the country.

they are pretty independent. even the states like my office, really, the moderator of each polling place is in charge of the place. they are charged with following the laws of the state and the federal government in the election. a lot of us are scratching our heads to see what this really even implies. we're trying to think of every scenario that we can. sense thatre is some there are a lot of illegal aliens voting. i think that is a subtext of some of this. again, it is hard to imagine how thereould happen given has been a long fight over voter id requirements in the country. it comes down to, a lot of us that making sure every eligible citizen can vote is the most important goal we all share. it is how you get there that i guess is the question.

that is behind all the fights about what we need to identify someone as a voter. barring something like that, and that on a grand scale is hard to imagine. host: on hypothetical rigging scenarios? thomas: rigging the election is something a lot of folks have peopleabout in terms of casting those who should not, or suppressing the vote by preventing other people from casting the ballots. one thing i want to ensure with is if the way that these scenarios are being described, you would need an army of tens of thousands if not millions of people to pull off the rigging of the election the way things are described. machines are not hooked up to the internet. they are secured by election officials and poll workers. it has guidelines on securing voting equipment. we want to ensure that, you

know, if you have any sort of suspicion that those things are to reportce, you need those. it is still a felony to commit voter fraud. it is still a felony to suppress people's votes. we want to ensure that. that is something local law enforcement would participate in or the department of justice, where there are number of actors -- advocacy groups where you can call to express your opinion if you feel the vote is being rigged. anna: there is a lot of focus on cyber attacks. how common is in person voter fraud? is that a wide problem or nonissue? thomas: it is not an issue. denise: extremely rare. thomas: it is extremely rare. to have in person voter fraud. there is quite a large

academic body of work that supports that. researchers have tried to find in person voter fraud and i think one research to describe described it as you are more likely to be hit by lightning than experience voter fraud. host: we want to ask you about overseas and military voters serving overseas. how do you make sure the voting process is as secure as in the precinct in the united states? thomas: military and overseas voters through the act passed in 2010, have two important features. they are able to receive their ballots 45 days before the federal election. they are also able to's -- to receive those electronically. see states allow you to that electronically as well. many returns have been raised about the hacking of those votes.

we want to make sure the men and women fighting for our fight -- our right to vote, get their votes back as quickly as possible. because some of those votes in the past, when they have sent those back from combat zones, have not been counted because they have gotten here not in time. we want to ensure that we can make sure that our men and women overseas can have those votes counted as well. we move forward, we want to see if there are other ways we can go about ensuring that people can test their votes and have those votes counted accurately. so they come january when we have a new president, whoever , we are looking about ways to go latter functions for the next year or so. want to look at ways to ensure that we look at other ways to cast ballots as well, so that we are not making these same arguments 10 years down the road on ensuring that the right to vote is not secured.

give jeff mason the last -- host: just a minute or two left, i want to give jeff mason the last question. mr. mason: just to follow-up up on anna's question about voter fraud in person, you mentioned there is good research and little evidence that there is a widespread problem. why is that viewed so differently by the different parties? how has that become a thing the republicans and democrats see differently, despite the research and the evidence you are citing. host: secretary merrill, i will you start. secretary merrill: i'm not sure. like all things in this country right now, i think it's a bit politicized. most of their case rests on the fact that they want more -- republicans seem to want more identification at the polls, in spite of the fact that there is little evidence that there is in-person voter fraud, just to be sure. i don't think it rests on the evidence one way or the other. i think it is just a sense that there are a lot more people who are not citizens, perhaps not

legal in the country, and we want to make sure those people are not voting. i don't think evidence plays into it very much. i think it is more this sense of distrust that is now pervasive in the country about almost all our institutions. and the question is always well, if you need to get a specific kind of idea to get on airplane, -- id to get on airplane, why shouldn't we require an id to vote? and that, of course, ignores the fact that they are plenty of people in this country that don't have those kinds of id's for one way or another. that's the battleground, it's really not so much id's themselves, whether or not you should have to say who you are when you get to the polls. it's more about what kinds of id you should be required to have in order to prove you are who you are. again, it comes back to a more profound distrust, i think, now than before. host: chairman hicks, in the last 30 seconds or so.

chairman hicks: i spent 11 years working in the united states congress and the committee on house administration. what i first got there, there was a lot of camaraderie on different issues. one, we would save you might have your point of view and i have my point of view, but there has to be some sort of common ground. and we would work towards getting that kind of common ground and passed legislation that we felt that was beneficial to the american people. not necessarily to a political party, but to the american people. i hope that -- that's not our role at the eac, our role is to interpret the laws congress sees fit. but in my own capacity as an american, i hope the we can get back to that. host: and we will have to end it there in the last "newsmakers," before election day. secretary merrill, chairman hicks, thank you for your time and good luck in the days ahead. chairman hicks: thank you. secretary merrill: thanks.