High Turnout Wide Margins

Co-hosts Brianna Lennon, county clerk in Boone County, Missouri and Eric Fey, director of elections in St. Louis County, Missouri, talk to subject-matter elections experts and local election administrators to ask the questions that are most meaningful to their work and talk with colleagues about how to best approach issues like voter education, cybersecurity, and integrity.

S4E9 – Navigating Elections after the Lahaina Wildfires with Maui’s Moana Lutey

In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Moana Lutey, the county clerk in Maui County, Hawaii. They spoke about the impact the 2023 Hawaii wildfires had on the communities of Maui – including figuring out how to run elections. They also spoke about the efforts in Maui County to get residents to update their signatures, in an effort to ensure that every voter’s vote gets counted. 

07-23
26:04

S4E19 – Compulsory Voting, Democracy Sausages and More: Learning about Elections Down Under with Former Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers

In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Tom Rogers, who was the Australian Electoral Commissioner from 2014 to 2024. They spoke about the structure of Australian elections, how the country counts its ballots, and the importance of democracy sausages.

12-24
27:31

S4E18 – Protecting Latin American Democracy Through Observation with Transparencia Electoral’s Eduardo Repilloza Fernández

High Turnout Wide Margins recently traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the 2025 summer convening of the Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions [PLEJ], and spoke with election officials from across the county — and world — about the elections work they are doing in their communities. In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Eduardo Repilloza Fernández. He’s the Director General of Transparencia Electoral, an election organization in Latin America that is working to promote and protect democracy through election observation, research and training.They spoke about the work of the organization, the focus the organization has placed on data privacy for individual voters and about how the work of the organization is important to the security of democracy in the region. You can check out Transparencia Electoral’s data privacy dashboard at https://transparenciaelectoral.org/privacidad-de-datos-en-procesos-electorales/

12-10
25:28

S4E17 – Making A[n Election] List and Checking it Twice with Florida’s Paul Lux and Mark Earley

High Turnout Wide Margins recently traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the 2025 summer convening of the Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions [PLEJ], and spoke with election officials from across the county — and world — about the elections work they are doing in their communities. In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Paul Lux, the Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections, and Mark Earley, the Supervisor of Elections in Leon County. They spoke about how the lists of registered voters are already maintained in Florida, and about how the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility, or SAVE Act — a proposed piece of federal legislation that would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections — could impact that process.

11-26
27:25

S4E16 – Reporting for duty: Exploring Nebraska’s poll worker draft process with Brian Kruse

High Turnout Wide Margins recently traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the 2025 summer convening of the Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions [PLEJ], and spoke with election officials from across the county — and world -- about the elections work they are doing in their communities. In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Brian Kruse. He’s the Douglas County Election Commissioner based in Omaha, Nebraska. They spoke about how elections work in Nebraska, as well as the unique way Nebraska ensures there’s enough poll workers — by drafting them. Kruse has announced that he will step down from his current position in January 2026.

11-12
25:38

S4E15 – A North Carolinian walks into a Texas Association: Learning more about the Texas Association of County Election Officials with Chris McGinn

High Turnout Wide Margins recently traveled to the 40th annual Election Center conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, and spoke with election administrations and officials from across the county about how they do the work of elections in their communities. In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Chris McGinn. For the past year and a half, he’s been working as the executive director of the Texas Association of County Election Officials [TACEO]  They spoke about some of the changes McGinn is helping make to the association, how the association balances the needs of some of the largest and smallest counties in the country, and about what’s next.

10-29
28:43

S4E14 – Helping Louisiana Voters Geaux Vote with Lisa Marie Manning Bridges in Orleans Parish

High Turnout Wide Margins recently traveled to the 40th annual Election Center conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, and spoke with election administrations and officials from across the county about how they do the work of elections in their communities. In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Lisa Marie Manning Bridges, the Registrar of Voters in the Parish of Orleans in Louisiana. They spoke about the unique nature of Louisiana elections, how the work is divvied up by different parish offices and how the parish works alongside the Louisiana Secretary of State to serve their voters.

10-15
23:20

S4E13 – Serving voters at home and those serving overseas with Arlington County, Virginia’s Gretchen Reinemeyer

High Turnout Wide Margins recently traveled to the 40th annual Election Center conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, and spoke with election administrations and officials from across the county about how they do the work of elections in their communities. In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Gretchen Reinemeyer, the General Registrar/Director of Elections for Arlington County. They spoke about some of the challenges that come from running elections in an area that has a large overlap with other metropolitan areas, as well as a large and ever changing number of military voters.

10-01
27:09

S4E12 – Exploring Alabama Elections with Jefferson County’s Judge Yashiba Glenn Blanchard

High Turnout Wide Margins recently traveled to the 40th annual Election Center conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, and spoke with election administrations and officials from across the county about how they do the work of elections in their communities. In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Judge Yashiba Glenn Blanchard in Jefferson County, Alabama. She was elected as the county’s probate judge in November of 2024, which means she hears probate cases – and is the chief election official for the county. They spoke about the decentralized nature of Alabama’s elections administration, what she’s learned about elections since coming into the role, and how she hopes to change the administration of elections in her community. 

09-17
25:21

S4E11 – Connecting with College Voters with Eddy Zerbe from the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition

High Turnout Wide Margins recently traveled to the 40th annual Election Center conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, and spoke with election administrations and officials from across the county about how they do the work of elections in their communities. In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Eddy Zerbe. He’s the deputy director of the Students Learn Students Vote Coalition, which works to engage college-aged voters. They spoke about some of the barriers that college-aged and first-time voters commonly face and how election administrators can work directly with students to educate and empower them to use their vote. You can find many of the reports and guides mentioned in this episode – here: https://slsvcoalition.org/resource-library/

09-03
26:18

S4E10 – Cutting through the noise on changes to the voluntary voting system guidelines with South Carolina’s Isaac Cramer

In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Isaac Cramer. He’s the Executive Director of the Charleston County Board of Elections in South Carolina, as well as a member of the EAC’s Technical Guidelines Development Committee. This committee is currently looking at ways the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, or VVSG, may be updated in the future. They spoke about Cramer’s role on this board, the importance of including voices and perspectives from voters of all abilities and about what these new guidelines could mean for election administrations in South Carolina and across the country.

08-20
29:14

S4E8 – Tracking ballots in Orange County, North Carolina with Rachel Raper

In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Rachel Raper, the Director of Elections for Orange County, North Carolina. They spoke about the unique way the state tracks and traces back mail ballots to voters, and about how election administrators have overcome many of the challenges that have impacted North Carolina in the last few years.

07-09
29:56

S4E7 – Voting at Home with Barbara Smith Warner

In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Barbara Smith Warner, the current executive director of the National Vote at Home Institute, a national organization working to “increase voters’ access to, use of and confidence in voting at home.” They spoke about how local election administrators can best work to inform state legislators about election administration, as well as about the resources the National Vote at Home Institute has for election administrators across the country – both those in universal vote from home states and those in states with more limits on ballot access.

06-25
27:30

S4E6 – Elected, Appointed...Unaffiliated? A Non-Partisan Model of Running for Office with Cristy Lynn in Ouray County, Colorado

In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Cristy Lynn, the County Clerk and Recorder in Ouray County, Colorado. She and many of fellow county officials are politically unaffiliated, which means they do not represent or run as a member of either major political party. They spoke about Lynn’s decision to run unaffiliated, how her community has responded to that decision and why she believes this could be a way to bridge the divisiveness of the current political landscape at the local level.

06-11
27:58

S4E5 – Fridays are for Weddings with Catherine McMullen in Clackamas County, Oregon

In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Catherine McMullen. She’s the Clerk in Clackamas County, Oregon. Her office is “the keeper of all county public records,” which means in addition to administering elections, the office also officiates weddings, handles property records and has to be notified in the case of missing property that the finder wants to keep.They spoke about these unique responsibilities, as well as how the Clackamas County Clerk’s office finds balance – and funding – for all of their numerous duties.

05-28
29:10

S4E4 – Running Elections in the Far North with Alaska’s Amanda McColley

In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Amanda McColley. She’s the Regional Supervisor for the Division of Elections Region III office in Alaska, which covers Fairbanks and the interior of Alaska. They spoke about some of the unique challenges Alaskan election administrations can face – think having to load election equipment onto small charter planes – as well as some of the challenges they share with the lower 48, such as voter education around rank choice voting and training election staff.

05-14
25:53

S4E3 – Navigating New Proof of Citizenship Requirements with New Hampshire’s Tina Guilford

In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Tina Guilford. She’s the Town Clerk in Derry, New Hampshire – home to the largest polling place in the United States (One polling location for 21,000 voters).They spoke about a newer law in New Hampshire that requires all people to provide proof of United States citizenship to register to vote, as well as how this new law has impacted the administration of elections in the state.

04-30
29:52

S4E2 – Elections Make the Heart Grow Fonder: A Conversation with Georgia’s Akyn and Noah Beck

In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with married election officials Akyn and Noah Beck in Georgia. Akyn is the Elections Supervisor in Floyd County, and husband Noah is the Elections Director in neighboring Polk County. They spoke about how the couple met and fell in love – over poll books and precinct population data, and about how they have seen the landscape of Georgia election administration change in the last few years.

04-16
23:36

S4E1 - The State of Election Administration: takeaways from the LEO survey with Paul Gronke and Paul Manson

In January, the HTWM team was invited to record a live episode at the Southern Political Science Association meeting held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.Brianna and Eric sat down with Paul Gronke and Paul Manson of the Elections & Voting Information Center about results of this last year's Local Election Official Survey Project, looking at challenges, attitudes, and job satisfaction.

04-02
28:01

S3E26 – Turning the tables: Brianna and Eric reflect on the November 2024 general election

In January, the HTWM team was invited to record a live episode at the Southern Political Science Association meeting held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.In a fun turn of events, our “guests” put Brianna and Eric on the receiving end of questions – giving them the opportunity to reflect on the administration of the November 2024 general election.

03-19
29:44

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