ICYMI: Why Public Service? podcast interviews Amber McReynolds

“I think the first problem is most people do not understand how elections work and I would count the politicians in that. I think most elected leaders actually don’t understand how an election works. We look at Congress, I don’t think there’s anyone that’s actually running an election at the local level in Congress today. Secretaries of state, most of them have actually not run an election. They’ve run the state offices, which are regulatory and have responsibility for voter registration systems, but they haven’t dealt with hiring poll workers for the most part or counting ballots or processing voter registration forms and all of that. They don’t deal with the direct service, if you will, for voters. And so I think there’s a complete lack of understanding. I think the political class tends to think that it’s the same thing as running a campaign. And those two things are couldn’t be farther from not the same.”

That’s Amber McReynolds, this week’s guest on Why Public Service?, speaking about running elections and her experience as a former elections administrator.

Today, McReynolds is CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute and Coalition, dedicated to improving voter engagement, reducing election-related cots and making elections more secure. She has been in public service for more than two decades, previously served as director of elections in Denver, Colorado and coauthored the book, “When Women Vote.” Follow her on Twitter @AmberMcReynolds.

(Subscribe to Why Public Service? on Spotify or Apple, by RSS feed or search for it wherever you listen to podcasts.)

Click here for the transcript.