attorney lisa blatt. and then he makes his opening say -- statement. 9:30 live on tuesday at a.m. eastern on c-span, c-span.org, or listen on the radio app. washington journal continues. host: we are talking with thomas hicks, chair of the u.s. election assistance commission, good morning. guest: good morning. host: tell us what it doesn't how you get started? guest: this came out after the 2000 election under the help america vote act of 2002, it's a bipartisan piece of legislation that provided the states with $3.9 billion to reform process that we saw across the country in 2000. host: and what are you looking forward to with these upcoming elections?

do we see more problems similar to what we saw in 2000? or are we in a new ballgame when it comes to election security? guest: every election is different, right now we are seeing things about internet cyber security. but overall, we wanted to make sure that the confidence remains high for voters, so that they know when they cast their ballots they will be counted. host: what about the argument that -- how confident are you that ballots can be cast and they will be counted? guest: i'm very confident. there are over a thousand jurisdictions and 10,000 election workers ranging from coworkers all secretary's of state and they all have a distinct duty under the constitution -- and they all have a distinct -- right up to the secretaries of state, and now have a distinctively under the constitution. host: we want you to join in on the conversation, for democrats (202) 748-8000, for republicans

(202) 748-8001, for independents (202) 748-8002. you can always reach us on social media, on twitter you can and you canpanwj, reach us at facebook.com/c-span there are $380 million in hava funding, explain what that is and where the money goes? america vote help act, but security funds that congress appropriated in march under the us -- the appropriations bill. president and congress came together in a bipartisan manner and gave $308 million to the -- 380 million dollars to the states to improve the process overall. many states are using the money to purchase new voting equipment, some are doing cyber security upgrades, some are

doing things with voter registration systems, some are implementing audits. overall the money was put in in 2018, but you could spend up to five years as well. most of it is going to be allocated for this year. we have the understanding that 2020 is coming up and 2022 is coming up as well, so states have put some of that money away to look at threats down the road . we don't know what 2020 is going to look like or 2022. host: with all the talk about election hacking, is it feasible or advisable to go away from computerized voting and go back to paper ballots? guest: it is up to each individual state, right now many states say -- or many individuals say that in order to conduct an audit or to make sure the voters counted you have to have a tangible piece of

verification. right now that's paper. but we want to make sure, if we do go back to paper, but those that disabilities are not left behind. the help america vote act exquisitely says that those with disabilities and vote independently and privately. -- can vote independently and privately. let's go to joe, in texas, on the democratic line. good morning. caller: i have been listening to c-span at the very beginning when susan was there. because of always been doing a good job. haveestion is why do we paper ballots? if the question is to keep russia out of our business and

the only way we can do that i know of his paper ballots, have a backup plan. i don't know if it is trump was avoiding this or republicans, but i want to ask the gentlemen, do you also think that we are investing enough money to make sure that everybody gets one vote and it's tabulated and everything is on the up and up? guest: thank you. i really appreciate that question. i traveled through most all 50 states, and what i hear from election officials is that they need additional resources. payment,s a great down but they are looking towards 20, -- 2020, 20 22, 20 24, and they will need additional resources. the elections assistance commission provides resources,

not only monetarily but as a clearinghouse to allow for states to have resources that they need to ensure the elections run smoothly. your other part of the question about paper ballots, it's up to each individual state on what sort of machine they want to use or not at all in terms of voting apparatus. paper,have access to that's in absentee ballots. many apply for absentee ballots to vote early, a lot of states allow you to vote early now, or if there's an excuse. in virginia, you have to have an excuse to cast your ballot early. 16 or 17 issues ranging from having to work or being incapacitated and at home. there are ways you can vote using paper.

place,go into a polling and you want the machines to all the associated with paper, you want to ensure that those folks with disabilities are still able to use those machines. has to haveg place at least one accessible machine to allow for those that have disabilities to vote independently and privately. host: there are some places, especially on the west coast who do solely mail in ballots, is that more or less secure than polling places we are used to here on the east coast? guest: there are three states that allow for all mail-in ballots, washington state, oregon, and colorado. i have visited all of them as chair of the eac. i would not say one is more secure than others, there are different aspects of security. one of the things that we focus in on is that we are not just focusing on cyber security. we are focusing on physical security and we work with our

partners, particularly the dod .nd u.s. postal service when you talk about mail in ballots, we also talk about our military and overseas people mailing ballots back into the united states. we work with our partners to make sure the process runs smoothly. in fact we have a facebook live with ourn september 19 partners to talk about voter registration and other aspects for making sure that registration is up to date. that's one of the things that i would say, and of the callers want to take anything from this is two things, ensure that your voter registration is up to date. and to serve as a poll worker. if you feel there are problems with our system, be part of the process as opposed to complaining about the problem. yard --t's go to main on the --maynard,

republican line. anyone who risks their lives for the country is a hero, no matter who they are. elections, all of this stupid stunt has been pulled while this country is tearing itself apart. why don't we concentrate on keeping our own country safe and stuff -- and stop fighting each other? we are not getting anywhere this ?ay and stop listening to the news, because most of the news is a business, it's so biased that you cannot understand them. i would like to get back to not fighting ourselves, but fighting people who are trying --host: let's go to james on the

maryland -- in maryland. i think your guest authority address to the things that i wanted to say, it's ironic that in the 90's when electronic voting was coming in it was the wave of the future. mores counted as a accurate, safe, and secure way to vote. let's do away with paper, the old-style and all of this. and now you have a lot of people who think that the only way to that your vote is counted and not manipulated is to do it with paper, and mail in ballots. and your guest is already talking about that. i think it's ironic that we are going back to the future and looking at this is the most secure way to vote. although is your guest has pointed out, it's safer from the -- manipulation but you get back to the old problems with paper ballots being mislaid, torn up, illegible, etc.

i'm not sure what the future is, a combination of both? electronic voting with paper? what does your guests is the way of the future? guest: i think that's a great question and i don't think we know what the future holds. there are different partnerships coming about, the vendors are out there. is of the things the eac working on is the voluntary voting system guidelines. they have not been updated since 2007 and that's a real issue that is hampering the development of innovative processes. quorum, is without a and i hope in the near future we have a quorum so we can look at these guidelines, vote on them, and allow for innovation as we move forward into the 21st century. and i wanted to highlight, on october 3 in the heart building,

be having an election summit hosted by a couple senators. we will look at election security and there will also be some vendors where you can look at some of their wares. these machines will not necessarily be used in this area but there will be some of these machines around the country. if you are in the d.c. area and you want to come to the summit on october 3, make sure you get there. host: one of our twitter followers, steve, tweeted a question, what is your organization doing to stop voter suppression and the false cry of collection security as a subterfuge to affect suppression? that's not an issue that we deal with, our main goal is to make sure that those who are eligible vote can vote. that something more so for the department of justice to handle, and i will just leave it at that. host: let's go to larry, in alabama on the democratic line.

good morning. caller: good morning, and good morning to your guest. guest: good morning. caller: first of all i have three questions. i agree with you, it's a right to vote and people should vote. but the thing is now, are your votes counting? these machines they are using problems.of them have in 2016 and 2017 i voted in a church, where i placed a ballot in a box. watched and the number did not change. i asked the poll worker, would you mind going in there, unlocking the box, and put my ballot back in so it counts? he said yes and did it.

but these machines can be hacked into. along with the gentleman here who said that we need an upgrade, in order to get an these to function, you need monk -- money from the taxpayer. the republican party shut him down when he went for the republicans and asked for money recently. , alabamaes need money might not, because our population is not like new york. and my third question, do you. i would like to know from you. how many voter frauds have you noticed during the presidential election? because that report that they had over 5 million voter frauds, and if you cannot tell these i would like to ask

you, thank you very much. guest: thank you for your comments and questions. on your first question, with the logic of voter machines not functioning well, you did the right thing by talking to the poll worker. aspects there are other that you can go to before the process, to go through the logic and accuracy testing at each individual jurisdiction is supposed to have before that equipment is deployed. secretary merrill in alabama would be happy to have you come out and watch those things happen. and the money that was voted down, the u.s. congress did vote for $380 million to be distributed to the states. match andto do a 5% as of today, 98% of those funds have been distributed. we will know where they are

spending that money on december 31, when they have to give their audits back to us. but they have five years to spend that money. in terms of voter suppression and voter fraud, the eac is not looking for that, that's something for the department of justice to go out and do. personally i have not seen that, but i cannot comment on what the president is seeing. host: of the $380 million given to congress -- given from congress in hava funds, is that enough? guest: election officials have all spoken to me saying they need additional resources, $3.9 billion was authorized and it was not enough in these folks say these -- they need additional resources to continue on. they are saying this was a down payment, it's not enough to replace all of the paperless machines, or the machines that are 10 to 15 years old.

i don't know how many callers have computers that are 10 to 15 with the sort of -- and what sort of confidence they would have been that. -- they would have in that. one of the great things about the eac is that we have resources that go beyond money. i talk about older voting equipment, for election officials we have -- for managing older equipment and the things they are supposed to do to make sure engines well, one of the things i like to say is if you have an older car it might not have all the features you have today, but you are still on the road. so you want to make it as safe as possible and be able to run with that. the other thing the eac is doing for electioning officials. we know election officials have to do a lot more today than they had to do in 2000.

adaof those things is the compliant, they have to be a media consultant, they have to do things like count votes, and check random voting machines. they have 20 to 40 additional titles without additional pay. we go to the states and give them training that they need, and we do it for free, because we know they cannot all come to d.c. for that training. christine, in to minnesota, on the republican line. good morning. morning, thank you for taking my call. i am from minnesota, my biggest question and concern is what do we do with permanent residence that vote? i worked at the liberian church in 2009 to 2012. they secured permanent residence, which was the majority to vote during that election.

the bookkeeper at the church actually admitted that i vote. as minnesota does not require id, this is my concern, it does not play well for the voters that are sincere, that our citizens and are able to vote. this is what has happened here in minnesota as we do not require id, my question is, what do we do with permanent residents voting? guest: on each form that is filled out for voter registration, it asks if you are a u.s. citizen. i would suggest you talk to secretary simon in minnesota about that, and look towards reporting those incidents overall. but thank you for your question, but i think overall those are issues that need to be addressed on a state level with each determining the eligibility of each individual

voter. go to robert, in west virginia on the democratic line. good morning. caller: i had a similar question to the last caller, it was a state-by-state issue and there 20 million undocumented workers or illegal aliens or noncitizens throughout the country. there are states like therernia, are you saying -- is there any proof that is involved? that is my question? guest: each individual state determines whether or not they are eligible to vote. it's not just yes or no, it's other aspects as well, are they over 18? are they a citizen of that state? and other aspects, it's not just a yes or no question, some states have voter id, some have an affirmation and so forth.

there are other aspects and safeguards to ensure that those who are eligible or the ones who vote, and overall, the election administrators are the ones that are counting the votes to determine if those votes are actually eligible. , from news go to mike york on the independent line. caller: good morning to you both. i was wondering, what are we going to do about the electoral college and the 3/5 vote? when will we get rid of that? this is a terrible thing we have to put up with, counting votes again and again and it's always a republican winner at the end, what about the 17th amendment? our senators and whatnot? i feel it there trying to get rid of this amendment. which i feel is very unfair.

thank you very much and john mccain is my hero. guest: thank you. i think with the 17th amendment you are looking at the direct election of senators to the senate as opposed to being appointed by their state governments. the government does not appoint senators, best on my each individual state when there is an opening and the term has not and finished out. that is not something that the gets involved in, when you asked about the electoral college. our role is to ensure that those folks were eligible to vote are able to cast their ballot and have that ballot counted accurately. thejob is to help administrators of elections, the best that we can, ensure that they have the best election possible, each election cycle we will see problems. whether that the poll opening storm.r a

in 2012 hurricane sandy came up the east coast a week before the election. if it had occurred a week later we might be having a different outcome to that election process. one of the things you brought up was senator mccain. i had the pleasure of working with senator mccain on some bipartisan legislation in a previous job that i had, i can guarantee you that he is a true american hero and he did something that i hope that we continue to do, work across party lines for the betterment ,f not only the american people but the overall betterment of our democracy. host: one of our twitter paul -- follower says that paper ballots are still only half of the solution, we need receipts that can be checked online. if you're voting electronically, how can you be sure your vote has been counted? guest: if you're voting online? host: if you're voting with an

electronic machine. is a verified voter paper trail which you could check before you leave, otherwise you go to the logic and accuracy testing to make sure those things are programmed the way they are. under testing and certification of thes, which is one top testing and certification programs in the world, it basically says that if this is the program that you have on that machine, before election day, this is what you have on it after, and it should be counting things accurately. votingove towards a new system guideline, we want to make sure that gets stronger, because those have not been updated since smartphones came out. we want to make sure we move forward in the 21st century with more rigorous testing and certification.

but also make sure that if people have a question about their ballots being counted, they verify that before they leave. barbara, ingo to tallahassee, florida, on the republican line. caller: good morning, and thank you mr. hicks for your service to the country. hear, in tallahassee, use the optical scanner machine, which gives us a paper ballot. to --vbsgu referred that you refer to, we hope that you can get that forward. one of the things i would sit -- suggest with regard to the no precinct voting, the no precinct voting, where we are voting in precinct but in early

voting, we do not vote in precinct. we can go to multiple sites and vote. that is something that i think would ensure greater participation. could you speak on that? and if c-span could, i think it would enable us to have a perspective of the contribution and context and concept of our nation if we could put up the the state population, the annual earnings capacity, the educational capacity, i think sometimes when we hear from very small states and the impacts of the states as it relates to voting as we do have

all 50 states, many are small populated. the point i would like mr. hicks to refer to but the point that i would like the gentleman to refer to is you spoke to the paperless e.r.a. machines. on then georgia helping randolph county where they were claiming the ada noncompliant with the seven counties, and they had closed those precincts, seven out of nine. now, we had pushed back on that, but georgia has the laptop. it is about 10 to 15 years old. i think we need a mandated national standard. i would like you to comment on your expertise on that as to whether or not the national standard, as we do with the certification testing, but do we not made a national standard is really soup recent voting so that way you are not forcing

people to go to a precinct when we can have no precinct doing early voting, as i stated, and i think that would aid us in getting the participation, as we have no participation. callers are concerned about i.d. we never had a concern about i.d. until recent times. i have a 90-year-old grandparent. guest: thank you for the questions, barbara. inere were a few of them there. going to vote centers, i think both centers are great for early voting, as long as you have poll up the if you can pull restriction and they can have the correct precinct that they are casting their ballot for. you are correct that that is

something that is being moved toward the future. there are several states that are doing that, particularly colorado and other states as well. in terms of georgia and replacing their voting equipment, they are one of the usees that are looking to their $380 million to replace their voting equipment, and i believe that, as you might be aware, these machines are not something that you can just go down to your local best buy or hardware store and get off the shelf. these are things that take some time to build, take time to certify, take time to ensure that they are functioning correctly. there will not be enough time for folks to buy that equipment. here we are in september for the november election and then employ that. -- deploy that. so we are looking at 2020 for ployed inhines to be de georgia or elsewhere.

those machines that are 10 to 15 years old. host: we want to thank thomas election the u.s. assistance commission. thank you. affairs' shep melnick would join us for our next conversation, evolution of title ix. we will be right back. ♪ >> joint is monday at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span for a profile of brett kavanaugh. just before the start of the confirmation hearings, we look back to this previous confirmation hearings, and we talked to people who know the judge. worsto think some of the moments have been judicial activism, like the dred scott case, where the course went outside proper bounds, in my judgment, and interpreting

clauses of the constitution to impose its own policy views into some last the proper role of the legislative branch. >> i sent several weeks before that looking at all the people on president trump's so-called list, and i thought, no disrespect to the others, that brett kavanaugh was the best. brett kavanaugh's record alone is not enough. confirmation of brett kavanaugh on c-span, c-span.org, or listen with the free c-span radio app. this labor day weekend, american history tv on c-span3 has three days of feature programming, starting tonight at 8:00 eastern with lectures in history as matt

harris discusses the antislavery movement before the civil war. "oral at 10:00 a.m. on histories," our women in congress continues with barbara fanelli. then on "the presidency," a look at washington and alexander hamilton and a look at the historical accuracy of "hamilton: the musical." watch american history tv this labor day weekend on c-span3. >> "washington journal" continues. host: this week's spotlight on magazine segment takes a look at a recent "national affairs" article on the evolution of title ix. here to talk was about that article is contributor and author of the book shep melnick. good morning, professor melnick. guest: good morning. host: