High Turnout Wide Margins

Back in September, the High Turnout Wide Margins team traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for the 2025 Summer Convening of the Partnership for Large Jurisdictions, or PLEJ. 
While there, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon had the opportunity to speak with election administrators from across the county and world. They also had the opportunity to take the stage for a special live taping with Carolina Lopez, the executive director of PLEJ. 
They spoke about the history of PLEJ, as well as how it has grown and benefited election administrators across the county. They also brought several members on stage — Zach Manifold of Gwinnett County, Georgia, and Kurt Bahr of St. Charles County, Missouri — to share how PLEJ has supported them in their work and how they have given back to the organization.

In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Christopher Mann, the Research Director at the Center for Election Innovation & Research, and Stuart Holmes, the Director of Elections for Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs.
They spoke about the centralized system for responding to public records requests that Washington state implemented in 2023, as well as how the system is helping combat misinformation and is returning some time to local election administrators who continue to receive an increased number of public records requests.
You can read the full case report from the Center for Election Innovation & Research at https://electioninnovation.org/research/centralizing-requests-in-washington-state/.

In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Bill Gates. He’s the director of Arizona State University Mechanics of Democracy Lab, as well as the former chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in Arizona. 
They spoke about AI in elections — Both how generative AI tools could be responsibly used in election offices and how election officials might combat bad actors spreading mis- and disinformation through AI deep fakes. 
You can learn more about the Mechanics of Democracy Lab at https://modl.spa.asu.edu/

In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Michelle Kavanaugh, the Bernalillo County Clerk in New Mexico. 
They spoke about some of the recent changes to New Mexican election law, which include automatic voter registration at the Motor Vehicle Division, semi-open primaries and the restoration of voting rights to citizens after incarceration — regardless of felony status.

In this episode, hosts Eric Fey and Brianna Lennon speak with Ben Ginsberg and Bob Bauer. These two longtime and respected election experts launched a national effort called Pillars of the Community in 2024. This program aims to educate and answer questions from trusted community members who can then assist in the fight against election dis- and misinformation.

You can find out more about the program, as well as access community engagement tools for election administrators, at https://pillarsofthecommunity.org/.