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Just as Wisconsin is heading to

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the polls next Tuesday,

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calls from Washington to nationalize

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elections.

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The executive order President Trump

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signed this week would create a

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national list of U.S.

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Citizens eligible to vote and

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restrict mail-in ballots.

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This order is not in effect for our

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April 7 election, and Democrats

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have filed a lawsuit over it,

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but does it perpetuate mistrust

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in the voting process?

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We turn to the chair of the

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Wisconsin Elections Commission,

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Ann Jacobs. Thanks very much for

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being here.

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Happy to be here.

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So what is your reaction to

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President Trump's executive order?

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I think it was at

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best unfortunate and at worst

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unconstitutional.

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The administration of elections is

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delegated by the U.S.

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Constitution to the states,

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and Congress can make laws

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regulating elections,

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and an executive order is

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neither of those things.

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And so it's your belief

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that this would not be in effect for

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the November elections or in effect

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ever.

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My suspicion is never in

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effect ever.

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It's sort of a backdoor way to

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create time limits

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and new administrative

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hurdles for voters to go

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through under the

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auspices of addressing

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essentially what our conspiracy

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theory is about absentee balloting.

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If it were to go into effect,

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what would the ramifications be

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in Wisconsin?

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So in Wisconsin, by way of example,

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you can request an absentee ballot

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five days before an

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election. And you are eligible to

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vote if you've been a resident of

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Wisconsin for 28 days.

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So a new resident of

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WIsconson could come

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and ask for a ballot and have the

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right to vote.

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Under the executive order, however,

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that name and that address had to

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have been submitted to the U.S.

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Government prior to 60 days

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before the election.

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So you create conflicts between

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the statutory rights under state

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law with this

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mailing deadline.

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And now the government's going

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to control whether they

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will even mail your

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ballot. And how do you undo that?

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What is the remedy if the

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government says, oh, you weren't on

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the list, so I'm not going to mail

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your balance, ha ha.

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And the reason they're not mailing

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it is maybe because there's a typo

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in a list somewhere or you

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move. Or what have you, so

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it's really just sort

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of creating an unnecessary

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and unworkable mess.

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In your mind,

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is it more possible with

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mail-in ballots to

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experience voter fraud?

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The short answer is no.

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There's a number of checks and

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balances involved in

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addressing mail-in ballots.

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First of all, you gotta be

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registered.

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Being registered in Wisconsin

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requires a driver's license or

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the last four digits of your Social

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Security number if you don't

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have a license or ID.

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It has to go to

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your registered voter address.

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If you're sending it somewhere else,

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we send a postcard to your

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registered voter's address saying,

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hey, did you order this ballot to go

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somewhere else?

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Um, it requires a

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witness with an address to

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sign your absentee ballot envelope

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that affirms that they know you

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and they saw you complete this

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ballot. And then when it comes in

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to the elections, uh,

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municipal clerks across the state,

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they check it off, check it in,

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and that ballot then is

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tallied. There's just a lot of

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checks and balances alone.

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This executive order also

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seems to be trying to get at the

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issue of only U.S.

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Citizens voting.

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Because that is considered in

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some corners, you know,

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rampant with fraud.

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What is your knowledge of whether

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that is happening here in Wisconsin,

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non-citizens voting?

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We actually

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have some numbers on that.

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There are four documented cases

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of non-citizen voting since

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2016.

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During that time, 25 million

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ballots have been issued in the

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state of Wisconsin.

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And if you want to do the math,

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it's like 0.00000

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something something

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of all ballots cast.

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This is quite simply not

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an issue and not

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a problem.

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Non-citizens, generally

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speaking, don't want to get in

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trouble with the U.S.

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Federal government.

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And that's why we haven't

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seen really hardly any

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numbers of non-citizen votings.

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And even those cases where

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non-citizens have voted,

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many times it's because

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they received some sort of legal

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status that they incorrectly

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believed entitled them to vote.

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Is this executive order separate

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though from the U.S.

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DOJ

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suing Wisconsin to turn over

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redacted voter registration data?

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Let me clarify, they're not

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asking for redacted voter

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data, they are looking for

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unredacted voter data.

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They're looking for your

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complete name, date of birth,

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driver's license number, and social

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security number.

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That information under Wisconsin law

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is protected.

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We don't give that out, and

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that's a state law that prohibits

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that. And I think we've also seen

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recent disclosures

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of, I believe it was a

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Doge employee.

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Who loaded some

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sort of entire social security

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database onto a thumb drive and took

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it elsewhere.

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Wisconsinites want their private

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information protected.

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They don't want it going out to be

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shared by the government with random

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anti-voting entities so they

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can, quote, investigate

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non-citizen voting.

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So, The government's

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asking for private information,

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not the public information.

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They're welcome to have the public

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information.

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Anyone can go to

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badgervotors.wi.gov,

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I think, Badger Voters website and

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order the entire Wisconsin

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ballot voter

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roll.

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As to our question at the head, do

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these moves out of Washington cause

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mistrust in elections?

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I think it waters and fertilizes

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the seeds

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of conspiracy theories and

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distrust.

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And it's so important for people to,

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if they've got questions, to

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ask the people running the

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elections. And that could be their

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municipal clerks, that can be

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their county clerks and that can be

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the elections commission.

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We always encourage people to come

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to our website.

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We have an FAQ page.

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We probably have answered

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any concerns voters have

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about voting, about absentee

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balloting, about all of that.

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So I really encourage people to

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do that.

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All right, Ann Jacobs.

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Thanks very much.

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Yes, I had a typo in my question.

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Thank you.

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Unredacted, unredact it.

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Thank you

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That's all right, I thought maybe

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you were testing me.

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I would not be so foolish,

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madam.

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I caught it, so all

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is well.

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All right.

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Thank you so much.

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Have a good weekend. You're welcome.
You're welcome.

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Have a good day.

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Thanks.