The Election University Campaigns and Politics Podcast Jason Bennett and Reiny Cohen

In Episode 37, we attempt to unpack the roles and responsibilities of a local elections director. Our hosts talk with Registrar of Voters for Orange County, Neal Kelley. Orange County is the 5th largest voting jurisdiction in the nation and weathered an enormous turnout election in 2018 that was nearly as high as the 2016 election. What goes into conducting an election like that? Were there attempts to attack and corrupt the election? Was Orange County turning completely blue on the radar? 

Welcome to Season 2, fair listener! Political commentators and pundits have long-predicted the death of political direct mail. But is it dead or does it continue to persuade voters? In Episode 36 (our first full episode of Season 2), our hosts dig deeper into the data with Lionel Dripps, Managing Director for Program and Digital at The Voter Participation Center, who answers the burning question and so much more.

We preview our upcoming Season 2 with a Holiday Bonus episode! In Episode 35, our hosts chat with Rene LeBeau, program manager for Seattle's Democracy Voucher Program. A very specific, first-in-the-country type of public financing program for funding candidate campaigns, Democracy Vouchers made their debut in 2017 and are getting geared up for Round 2 in 2019. What is this peculiar program and what is its impact on candidates and campaigns? Tune in as we learn more about the Vouchers and what is changing for 2019.

In Episode 34, our hosts interview Kerry Kriseman, spouse of St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, about her 20-year front row seat on campaigns. From having "The Conversation" before his first run to color-coded scheduling to facing hate crimes at her child's school, Kerry shares with our listeners how she dealt with it all. Now, she's using her extensive communications background to write a book about her experience. She offers great advice to other spouses on how to navigate the campaign's highs and lows. 

In Episode 33 of the podcast, our hosts talk with Russ Swindell, Chief Client Strategist for Public Policy Polling - one of the country's top rated polling firms. We talk about ways down ballots campaigns can afford accurate, useful research and polling information without breaking the bank. We discuss the challenges of polling post-2016 and what Russ is seeing after 1,200 polls across the US this year in terms of the impending blue wave. 

In Episode 32, our hosts talk with cybersecurity expert, Jake Braun, one of the organizers of Def Con's "Voting Villages" about the vulnerabilities of our electronic voting machines. Last year's Voting Village invited hackers to find exploits and vulnerabilities in electronic voting machines. This year, they invited kids, ages 5-17 to hack replica websites of various Secretaries of State. What happened? Listen to this eye-opening episode and find out!