Listener Support and Introduction to the Compass Podcast by iVoterGuide
Debbie Wuthnow Hello, I'm Debbie Wathnow, co host of the Compass, the official radio program of ivoterguide. Did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. That's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will help sustain American Family Radio. And specifically this podcast. A generous gift to ivoterguide will help make sure that we're, there for you in the future. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today of AFR by visiting afr.net give that's afr.net give
Welcome to the Compass Navigating the Public Square with Rick Beggs and Debbie Wathnow
Jeff Chamblee welcome to the Compass. Navigating the public square together with faith, truth and conviction.
Rick Beggs Well, we are so glad you are with us today on the Compass. And no matter how you're listening to us, it could be off of even our website right there on the bottom right hand side, you could be listening to US via afr, afr.net or even the app. But regardless, I'm Rick Beggs and my co host, as always is Debbie. What now? She is the president of IVoterGuide. Say hey Debbie.
Debbie Wuthnow Hey Rick. Hey everybody. It's good to be back with you again.
Rick Beggs Hey Debbie.
The Power of One Vote Discussing Upcoming Elections and Personal Voting Experiences
We got this little thing going on next week. I don't know if you're aware of it, but next Tuesday, I don't know, people are gathering, they're going to do something like vote.
Debbie Wuthnow You mean those text messages are leading up to something and my phone's gonna stop, blowing up
Rick Beggs and those yard signs are going away.
Debbie Wuthnow Praise
Rick Beggs God. Amen. But we thought we'd take this, this moment prior to November 3rd to talk about the power of one vote. Sort of, Sort of. The big idea is people think my vote really doesn't mean anything. It, you know, why, why should I go? And we're going to prove that wrong today, Debbie, aren't we?
Debbie Wuthnow Well, we're going to do our best to let you know that your vote does matter and it does make a difference and to encourage you to go and vote next Tuesday and because it's important. So that's, that's our topic for today.
Rick Beggs And not just vote, but use iVoterGuide to look at your ballot all the way to the bottom.
Debbie Wuthnow Amen. So
Rick Beggs we don't have any empty spaces on our down ballots.
Debbie Wuthnow Don't skip any questions. Check and check every race.
Rick Beggs Hey Debbie. I voted today.
Debbie Wuthnow Good, job, Rick.
Rick Beggs I did, I voted today. I'm so excited. One, that it's over and two, there wasn't a lot of people there. I actually went and took my mom. she
Debbie Wuthnow didn't want
Rick Beggs to go with the, with all the assisted living. did
Debbie Wuthnow they have the assisted living? Took a whole van load. They had a field trip.
Rick Beggs Oh, they just piled them in. And my mom.
Debbie Wuthnow I love it when they do
Rick Beggs that. I'm going with my son. I'm not. I'm not sure that's how she sounded, but that's how it's. That's how it is in my ear. Anyway, so we went today. Nancy and I took her over and, she said, this is so much more difficult than I ever remember.
Debbie Wuthnow Did
Rick Beggs she used to do absentee? Yeah, well, you know, she's got to push stuff. And look at her. Oh,
Debbie Wuthnow because the electronic voting machine instead of a paper ballot or something.
Rick Beggs Yeah, whatever. So anyway, but it was. It was like a field trip. And. And it was wonderful because she got to go do it, experience it. And now when she watches, she can know that her vote counted. But she's only one vote. And one vote does matter, Debbie. And that's what we're going to talk about today.
Debbie Wuthnow Yep.
Does One Vote Matter Exploring Election Margins and the Impact of Individual Votes
Rick Beggs You wrote an article not too long ago, and, actually, I think it was a bit of time ago.
Debbie Wuthnow It was a couple years ago.
Rick Beggs Yeah. I'm not sure you wrote the whole thing. You may have had staff writing. I
Debbie Wuthnow do have a team. Yes.
Rick Beggs But it did say, does one vote matter? So why don't you kind of walk us through that article?
Debbie Wuthnow Well, you know, this topic comes up every election. Not just presidential elections, but midterm elections, which is what we have now. And everybody, you know, there are some people out there who, you know, my one vote's not going to matter. I've got something planned that day, or, you know, oh, I didn't even think about it. And they're. They'll just dismiss and think that, you know, it doesn't matter if I vote. Everybody else is going to vote. And I think a lot of those people are thinking about the presidential election. When we hear about millions and millions of people who vote and realize, you know, think that my one little drop is not going to make much of a difference, but it really does. if we don't vote, we're leaving the decision to other people. And it's our responsibility to make our voice heard. And there are so many elections that turn on a small number of votes. I mean, we've talked in, the past about school boards and various things, and the number that we've shared before is, you know, when I voter guide covered school board races, and in 2024, there were what the average Winning margin for a third of the races was less than 400 votes. But even there are races that are even closer than that in every election at every level.
Rick Beggs That's a small church, Debbie. That's a small church that could go take care of that.
Debbie Wuthnow I think that's an assisted living facility. But yes,
Rick Beggs that's exactly right. Yeah, that's what boggles my mind is that we, in our hands, the Christian community, could make the difference if they just registered. And if registered, they would go vote
Debbie Wuthnow 100, 100%. So we kind of wanted to step through a couple of examples just to give you some concrete stories that if somebody tells you their vote doesn't matter, that you can tell them this story of races that were very closely decided. Right. I think that gives people some examples.
Close Election Examples in Kentucky Alaska Iowa and a School Board Race
So I have a couple I'm just going to read through and then kind of a bigger story to share. So in Kentucky's 13th district, they ended in a one vote margin that elected a Democratic challenger over Republican independent. In Alaska, in the same year in 2018, there was a one vote margin even after a recount for a state supreme court judge. What I like to talk about is in what year did it happen? In 2020, there was a congressional race, you know, where there's hundreds of thousands of people who vote. In fact, in this 1 there were 400,000 people who voted. It was the second district of Iowa and Republican Marionette Miller Meeks won by just six votes. And they even had a recount and it was six votes. and it was just the closest House race in decades. I remember hearing David Bar to tell the story of a school board race that literally nobody turned up to vote. And even the candidate who got busy didn't turn up to vote. And he didn't get elected because nobody voted. If he'd even gone and voted for himself, he would have won. It's. And you know that's crazy.
Virginia's Closely Contested House Race Decided by a Draw from a Bowl
It is. But my other favorite story is in Virginia in 2020, 2017. Virginia's always been one of those very, in their state legislative chamber. It's very close into who controls it. It flips back and forth. It's kind of a purple state. So it's not one that's overwhelmingly blue or red, although it's changed since then. But in this case there was a House race that was down to a, down to eight. Let's see how close was. It was down to just a. So Republican David Yancey won by the first count by 10 votes. They did a recount and the other guy was up by one vote. And then they had a disputed ballot for the guy who was up by one, and it ended up being an exact tie for this one state house seat in Virginia. You can't make
Rick Beggs these things up. You just can't make these up.
Debbie Wuthnow And so it's a flat out tie. And not only that tie for that one seat, but that whoever wins that. Won that seat was going to determine who control which party controlled that state legislative chamber in Virginia. So what did they do? They'd already done a recount. They put names in a bowl, and they drew the winner, out of a bowl to see who was gonna win and control the state legislature for the entire state of Virginia. I mean, that's crazy. If what other person had turned out to vote, it would have made a different result.
Rick Beggs Then later they played charades. I just can't imagine.
Debbie Wuthnow It's like your fishbowl game right now. We're gonna. That's right.
Rick Beggs That is crazy.
Wyoming's Similar Tie-Breaking Election and the Importance of Every Single Vote
Now, you told me about some state. It probably, maybe it was Wyoming or Montana or something where they used a hat.
Debbie Wuthnow A cowboy hat.
Rick Beggs Yeah,
Debbie Wuthnow it was Wyoming. That's
Rick Beggs it.
Debbie Wuthnow They had a similar. They had a similar situation. It was longer ago as in 1994, but they had two candidates who ended in an exact tie. And the governor broke the tie by pulling a ping pong ball out of a cowboy hat. So one of the guys.
Rick Beggs Oh, gosh, now we're doing the lotto. Oh, my gosh, that's crazy.
Debbie Wuthnow It's just amazing, you know, because all those people who turn up to vote, but not enough to get somebody over the difference. If one other person had voted a different way, it would have made the difference. And, you know, and that's. Those are what. That's a state house seat. I mean, we're hearing about congressional seats, school board, it's even more common, and local mayor, city council.
Encouraging Vote Multipliers and the Impact of Down Ballot Races on Local Governance
So the down ballot, you know, we've talked about all the Barna data, all that down ballot stuff. It really makes a difference.
Rick Beggs Well, I'm guessing that people are listening to us, today are probably voters. I think that they, they didn't stumble upon us because they, they don't vote.
Debbie Wuthnow I would say most
Rick Beggs everybody. But I. What I will say is those who are listening, if you would just remind other people that their vote matters. I, I know you all know it, but it was like me talking to my mom, a couple weeks ago. I said, mom, do you want to go vote? And she said, well, I, you know, going out and she's in a wheelchair, and so
Debbie Wuthnow it's harder to get out. It
Rick Beggs makes it. It is hard. And, And so we made sure that they were going to do it through the assisted living, and they did yesterday. But when I was talking to her and I was encouraging her, of course, she's always been an advocate of yours, Debbie, and actually gives to I Voter guide, so she knows the importance. But I know she. You could tell by watching she was wondering if her vote mattered. And so
Debbie Wuthnow sometimes
Rick Beggs it's not so much that we.
Debbie Wuthnow It's worth the effort, kind of is it worth.
Rick Beggs Yes. but we know many people who might say that. And we can come back and say. Let me tell you a couple crazy stories Debbie told me on the compass, because these are for real. This isn't like we're making stuff up here. I had a friend just last year was, up for us. There you go. yeah. And, and he was, He probably served. I would say served almost 10 years on the school board in the
Debbie Wuthnow largest
Rick Beggs county. Largest county in Georgia. Yeah.
Debbie Wuthnow Is that in Atlanta? No.
Rick Beggs Yeah, Gwinnett.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay.
Rick Beggs And, he. He lost by 400 votes.
Shame on Us The Church's Role in Encouraging Voting and Utilizing iVoterGuide
Debbie Wuthnow That's that one.
Rick Beggs Can I. It's that one church. So now they are down to one conservative vote on the largest county in Georgia. It just makes me sick to my stomach. And you think of how little it would have taken,
Debbie Wuthnow right,
Rick Beggs to get enough people to get there, let alone flip other seats. So, you know what? you know, I hate using the word shame on us, but shame on us that we don't as the church, as the body of Christ, that we don't take this serious enough that we would encourage others to go do it. I. I'm so grateful that our listeners are probably great voters, but I want to encourage them to go out and tell others. And I think the tool that we have, I Voter Guide, is the great door opener for people who may choose not to vote.
Debbie Wuthnow I want them to be not just voters, but vote multipliers. I want them to be that. That encourager to their church and to their family and their friends to say, you know, just the question, huh?
iVoterGuide as a Tool to Empower Voters and Bridge Information Gaps for Down Ballot Races
have you voted? And if somebody says, you know, my vote doesn't count, or I don't know who to vote for, or all those people are, you know, I don't trust them. Just check out I Voter Guide to find out, really, which one aligns with your values. Get your personalized voter Guide. And a lot of times, information is power, and let that be an equipping tool to Those that, you know, around you to make them feel, you know, empowered to go vote, because it really does make a difference.
Rick Beggs Well, what was the stat that we have been sharing the last three, four weeks with George Barna about of those who are likely to vote, and those who will vote down ballot? What was the numbers that we used there?
Debbie Wuthnow So it was, of the 2,000 likely voters, 85% of them are likely to vote at the top of the ticket. So, you know, in Georgia, governor race or federal races?
Rick Beggs Yeah, the
Debbie Wuthnow federal race. Yeah. Some states it's governor, some it's federal, it's, it's Senate, it's that. That very first race at the top when you get to. When you see your ballot. But we asked them, would you fill in. Would you vote all of the races in your ballot? And only 55% said they would fill in every race. Meaning there's a 30, point drop in people who were skipping races on their ballot. And, and those are those down ballot races that you may think are not important, but they really are.
Understanding Voter Behavior and the Impact of Nonpartisan Voter Guides
They're, you know, school boards and DAs and city councils. The closer they are to the down of the ballot, the closer they are to your family, honestly, to where you live and work and worship. And so those are really important races. So we found out that. And then we asked them why. And the reason they didn't vote was they didn't have information on who to vote for, didn't know who was the candidate who would represent me best. And really, that's the gap that I voter guide exists to fill. We, you know, we asked them what would change your behavior, and two thirds of them said if they got a nonpartisan, trusted voter guide, that they would be likely to vote. So that's our goal, is to, to change that behavior, not just get into the polls and vote, but to vote the entire ballot.
Rick Beggs So do you know a trusted voter guide, Debbie, that you
Personal Voting Experiences and Ensuring Complete Ballot Completion for Meaningful Impact
Debbie Wuthnow could recommend? Okay, well, I think I. Voterguide.com might be a good source that we would point people to, so.
Rick Beggs Well, it was very fun to pull it up today and just to make sure that, you know, we got all the information and did
Debbie Wuthnow you print. Gave it to your mom and printed it and everything?
Rick Beggs Well, we didn't know because that would have been too much paper, so we had to. And oh, by the way, this was very cool, actually. They asked did I want to help my mom so they would put you. They put us in a little special spot because she could do it from her wheelchair, but I actually got to do it with her,
Rick Beggs and, and that made it a lot easier and I, I could tell she was a lot more, she was pretty. Resident. Resident. To, to go in there and do it by herself.
Debbie Wuthnow Reticent. Okay.
Rick Beggs Reticent. Reluctant. Yes. Redesent. Yes. Now you're my English teacher. And yes, I have more, including my mother. So anyway, we were in there,
Debbie Wuthnow but
Rick Beggs they were very kind in letting you know, just being very helpful. But I think in my mom's case as well, I think there are, well, meaningful people who don't finish well. And I, I think that's what that whole down ballot is. They, they can say, yeah, I went and voted. But if you ask them, did you finish the ballot? Well, no. Did you do any studying? No.
Debbie Wuthnow Yeah.
Rick Beggs they don't, they don't finish well. So it's one thing to say you voted. It's a whole nother thing to say you, you filled out your ballot completely.
Debbie Wuthnow The whole thing. Yeah. Don't skip anything.
George Barna's Insights on Motivation and Serving Christ Through Voting Responsibly
Yeah. So I think we did talk to George Barna about, things we should do, like to be a good steward and to multiply our vote.
Rick Beggs I think we should hear from George. Debbie,
Debbie Wuthnow let's see what George had to say. Could you play clip n1 please, Brent?
George Barna One is that you've got to be motivated to vote. Tens and tens of millions of Christians don't even bother to vote. You know, we're talking during our little time here about people who do vote. Let's not forget that an enormous proportion of the Christian body doesn't even bother to do that. Shame on us. We can do better. We should. We need to do better so that that motivation is one element. Second element is do this as if you're serving Christ. So do your homework. You know, get all the information you can.
The Importance of Intentional Planning Research and Utilizing iVoterGuide for Full Ballot Completion
Debbie Wuthnow Well, in one of the places you can get information is I voter guide dot com.
Rick Beggs Well, George, just basically repeated everything we just said, or maybe we stole it from him when we talked to him. But the fact of the matter is, well, because he used the word shame. And I thought, oh my gosh, if George Barnett can use it, I guess I could use it too. But I love that he said you got to be motivated to vote, which really is a mindset. Change
Debbie Wuthnow it is.
Rick Beggs And then do your homework. If you're going to do it, then do it right and do it fully.
Debbie Wuthnow Well, you need to do it intentionally and be prepared. I mean, you need to make a plan. We have an email that came out recently about make sure, you know, you know, if you're Going to vote early, if you know that's probably over by this point. But if you going to do that, if you couldn't vote on election day, make that plan. Where are you going to go, when are you going to go? And then, you know, find out what's on your ballot, do your research. I mean, I Voter Guide covers a lot of races, in every state, but we don't cover all the local races. So to fill in your ballot, you're going to have to do additional homework. I Voter Guide is a great place to start. but, but leave yourself some time to do that other research so that you can be that best steward of, of all the talents God's given you, which is all your votes.
Rick Beggs And sometimes when we say we're our one vote, does it really count?
Multiplying Your Vote Through Influence and Remaining Encouraged Despite Political Divides
If you vote in, your groups, your family, your network of influence, your adult children, your small groups, your Sunday school class, your, your one vote then is multiplied. And, and I think we don't think that way most of the time.
Debbie Wuthnow That's true. That's true. And I would also say, don't be discouraged. Do your part. I will say I live in an area of Texas where, it's a very blue. I live in Austin. It's a very blue area. And I drive my neighborhood and I see a bunch of signs for the Senate candidate that wouldn't, be my pick, when I'm going to go to vote.
Yard Signs Don't Vote The Need for Deeper Engagement and Overwhelming Opponents
And I don't use that to get discouraged because, George told us something about what the purpose of yard signs.
Rick Beggs Well, let's go. C15.
George Barna When I was managing campaigns, we always had an expression, yard signs don't vote. So don't just think that, you know, getting a sign in somebody's yard. We're doing it now. You know, maybe we're doing a little bit to build name awareness, but we got to go much, much deeper than that. And as Christian voters, we've got to go a lot deeper than that.
Debbie Wuthnow Yep. Don't vote. Those people have to show up at the polls. So you just overwhelm them with more of our side showing up.
Rick Beggs Yeah. And it's amazing. Even when you pull up, I, I don't know what the rules are in Texas, but here we, we were at a public library. The signs are unbelievable as you pull up, I mean, they're on top of each other. Did
Debbie Wuthnow they have any people outside passing out things or talking to you?
Rick Beggs No, not today. But I, I've experienced that where it's almost like going to a Carnival
Debbie Wuthnow it is. And they have to be a certain number of. At least in Texas they have to be, you know, I don't know, 50ft or something from the entrance. And then they're all kind of behind the, behind the line, you know, who you're voting for. And you know, there are people who will vote by the last flyer they saw or they didn't know who to vote for and somebody planted them a flyer and that's who they vote for. And that is not the best way to know the candidates. Who's, who's going to represent what's important to you. So do your homework. Check out I voter guide. and honestly, you know, yard signs. Don't vote. Do your part. And God doesn't work through a majority.
God Doesn't Wait for a Majority The Power of a Remnant and Serving Him
Right? He. He only needs a remnant if we need to make a difference. And I find that very encouraging. You know, we could talk about the story of Gideon, but even George Barna talked a bit about that. God doesn't never waited for a majority. Can we, can we play C16?
George Barna And so as long as I'm willing to serve him and we've got other people willing to serve him, God, throughout human history, as recorded in the Bible, has never waited until he won a majority to change the culture.
Speaker E He's never been on the ballot,
George Barna has he? No. And he doesn't need to be. All he needs is a remnant of us who are sold out to Him. We'll go wherever he sends us. We'll do whatever he tells us to do. And we're going to leave the results to him because he's in control.
Trusting God Doing Your Part and Focusing on Love Compassion and Unity
Debbie Wuthnow So trust him. But do your part. Do your research. Don't leave your community. well, and don't leave your community to be decided in a fishbowl or a cowboy hat. Do your part.
Rick Beggs Yeah, it, it sort of makes me think of something here, Debbie. I, I know that when, you know, when we're talking and it appears like we want to be partisan and I voter guide is not a partisan thing. Yes, we are Christians,
Debbie Wuthnow we're biblical
Rick Beggs Christians, that we are putting our, our best foot forward in regards to telling the truth. Our biblical worldview is, is shapes everything we do. But I want to remind our listeners, I guess I want to remind us, Debbie, that, the most important thing here is we always close out the show by saying this, that Jesus is our true north on the campus.
Debbie Wuthnow 100.
Rick Beggs And when he said, come follow me and love your enemies, that kind of flies in the face of all the politics that go on this, time of year.
Recognizing Shared Humanity Amidst Political Disagreements and Checking Priorities
and, and, and it. Sometimes that can be very discouraging because we have mean ones on our side, as they have mean ones on their side. I think they think we're evil, and we think that they're evil. But in. But in reality, we all are image bearers that we were made in God's image.
Debbie Wuthnow Yep.
Rick Beggs Ah. And to think that politics and how angry we can get over it makes, me want to really check myself.
Debbie Wuthnow Right. Priorities.
Closing Thoughts on Faith Love Unity and the Eternal Perspective of Voting
Yep.
Rick Beggs Yeah. So I want to. If you don't mind, Debbie, I really want to close with, a portion of scripture. We may even have a little moment to talk about it. But, I usually use this. It's interesting when I do weddings. But
Debbie Wuthnow elections.
Rick Beggs That's right. Well, we are talking about, we are the bride of Christ, so this is very fitting. This is out of Colossians 3, starting at verse 12. So as those who have been chosen of God, that's us, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you, beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called to one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. With all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness your hearts to God. And what a close this is. Whatever you do, in word or deed, do, all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father
Debbie Wuthnow and all, means all, everything.
Rick Beggs Yeah. And it is a pure reminder to me, Debbie, that we are just visiting here for those who are followers of Christ. This isn't our home.
Debbie Wuthnow Right.
The Greater Reason for Voting Being Christ on Earth and Maintaining Focus on Him
Rick Beggs We have an eternity to look forward to. I'm not downplaying that we should take this so serious. Who we vote for, what they are going to teach our kids, who's going to make laws, what we have to live by. Those things are so important. But in the end they shouldn't be more important.
Debbie Wuthnow Right,
Rick Beggs Than loving and being kind and caring for one another. But beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Anyway, I. I know that's your heart, Debbie, especially in leading I voter guide. This is not something, new that you and I talk about, but I think it's a constant reminder when we're in the fervor of all of this stuff that's going on in our country that there is a far greater reason we are voting. There's a far reason that we go to the polls. There's a far greater reason we encourage others to do this. It's because we want to do and be Christ on earth. We're not waiting for heaven to do that. We're going to keep our
Debbie Wuthnow eyes on Christ. Yep.
Rick Beggs Amen. Any closing thoughts? Debbie is, as we come to the end here,
Closing Prayer and the Importance of Voting and Praying for All Elected Officials
Debbie Wuthnow I always just close with prayer. I think that's, that's what God calls us to do. And pray before you vote. Pray before you do everything keeps your focus on God, which is what you just talked about. Pray, for the people that are going to win, even if they aren't the people you voted for. This is God's sovereign. I mean, we want our godly people to be elected, but our duty is just to vote. It's God who's got the results.
Rick Beggs Amen. And take somebody with you.
Final Encouragement to Vote Take Others and Contacting The Compass via Email
Debbie Wuthnow Take 10 people with you.
Rick Beggs Go do that. Yeah, that's right. Take a busload from an assisted living complex. Or be like me,
Debbie Wuthnow but not Rick's moms because she's gone.
Rick Beggs Yeah, she's already voted. And she wore her tag proudly today to lunch when we took her back in because she got tired of people asking her did she vote. Anyway, you've been listening to the Compass. Debbie and I are so grateful that you would take time, to be with us. Debbie, if they wanted to get a hold of us, where would they write?
Debbie Wuthnow email compassivoterguide.com with any questions. We're glad they're help you vote. We want to give you everything you need.
Rick Beggs We are grounded in God and rooted in research.
The Compass Grounded in God Rooted in Research and Jesus as True North
We are I voter guide. Our producer is Brent Austin. True north always will be Jesus.
Listener Support and Introduction to the Compass Podcast by iVoterGuide
Debbie Wuthnow Hello, I'm Debbie Wathnow, co host of the Compass, the official radio program of ivoterguide. Did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. That's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will help sustain American Family Radio. And specifically this podcast. A generous gift to ivoterguide will help make sure that we're, there for you in the future. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today of AFR by visiting afr.net give that's afr.net give
Welcome to the Compass Navigating the Public Square with Rick Beggs and Debbie Wathnow
Jeff Chamblee welcome to the Compass. Navigating the public square together with faith, truth and conviction.
Rick Beggs Well, we are so glad you are with us today on the Compass. And no matter how you're listening to us, it could be off of even our website right there on the bottom right hand side, you could be listening to US via afr, afr.net or even the app. But regardless, I'm Rick Beggs and my co host, as always is Debbie. What now? She is the president of IVoterGuide. Say hey Debbie.
Debbie Wuthnow Hey Rick. Hey everybody. It's good to be back with you again.
Rick Beggs Hey Debbie.
The Power of One Vote Discussing Upcoming Elections and Personal Voting Experiences
We got this little thing going on next week. I don't know if you're aware of it, but next Tuesday, I don't know, people are gathering, they're going to do something like vote.
Debbie Wuthnow You mean those text messages are leading up to something and my phone's gonna stop, blowing up
Rick Beggs and those yard signs are going away.
Debbie Wuthnow Praise
Rick Beggs God. Amen. But we thought we'd take this, this moment prior to November 3rd to talk about the power of one vote. Sort of, Sort of. The big idea is people think my vote really doesn't mean anything. It, you know, why, why should I go? And we're going to prove that wrong today, Debbie, aren't we?
Debbie Wuthnow Well, we're going to do our best to let you know that your vote does matter and it does make a difference and to encourage you to go and vote next Tuesday and because it's important. So that's, that's our topic for today.
Rick Beggs And not just vote, but use iVoterGuide to look at your ballot all the way to the bottom.
Debbie Wuthnow Amen. So
Rick Beggs we don't have any empty spaces on our down ballots.
Debbie Wuthnow Don't skip any questions. Check and check every race.
Rick Beggs Hey Debbie. I voted today.
Debbie Wuthnow Good, job, Rick.
Rick Beggs I did, I voted today. I'm so excited. One, that it's over and two, there wasn't a lot of people there. I actually went and took my mom. she
Debbie Wuthnow didn't want
Rick Beggs to go with the, with all the assisted living. did
Debbie Wuthnow they have the assisted living? Took a whole van load. They had a field trip.
Rick Beggs Oh, they just piled them in. And my mom.
Debbie Wuthnow I love it when they do
Rick Beggs that. I'm going with my son. I'm not. I'm not sure that's how she sounded, but that's how it's. That's how it is in my ear. Anyway, so we went today. Nancy and I took her over and, she said, this is so much more difficult than I ever remember.
Debbie Wuthnow Did
Rick Beggs she used to do absentee? Yeah, well, you know, she's got to push stuff. And look at her. Oh,
Debbie Wuthnow because the electronic voting machine instead of a paper ballot or something.
Rick Beggs Yeah, whatever. So anyway, but it was. It was like a field trip. And. And it was wonderful because she got to go do it, experience it. And now when she watches, she can know that her vote counted. But she's only one vote. And one vote does matter, Debbie. And that's what we're going to talk about today.
Debbie Wuthnow Yep.
Does One Vote Matter Exploring Election Margins and the Impact of Individual Votes
Rick Beggs You wrote an article not too long ago, and, actually, I think it was a bit of time ago.
Debbie Wuthnow It was a couple years ago.
Rick Beggs Yeah. I'm not sure you wrote the whole thing. You may have had staff writing. I
Debbie Wuthnow do have a team. Yes.
Rick Beggs But it did say, does one vote matter? So why don't you kind of walk us through that article?
Debbie Wuthnow Well, you know, this topic comes up every election. Not just presidential elections, but midterm elections, which is what we have now. And everybody, you know, there are some people out there who, you know, my one vote's not going to matter. I've got something planned that day, or, you know, oh, I didn't even think about it. And they're. They'll just dismiss and think that, you know, it doesn't matter if I vote. Everybody else is going to vote. And I think a lot of those people are thinking about the presidential election. When we hear about millions and millions of people who vote and realize, you know, think that my one little drop is not going to make much of a difference, but it really does. if we don't vote, we're leaving the decision to other people. And it's our responsibility to make our voice heard. And there are so many elections that turn on a small number of votes. I mean, we've talked in, the past about school boards and various things, and the number that we've shared before is, you know, when I voter guide covered school board races, and in 2024, there were what the average Winning margin for a third of the races was less than 400 votes. But even there are races that are even closer than that in every election at every level.
Rick Beggs That's a small church, Debbie. That's a small church that could go take care of that.
Debbie Wuthnow I think that's an assisted living facility. But yes,
Rick Beggs that's exactly right. Yeah, that's what boggles my mind is that we, in our hands, the Christian community, could make the difference if they just registered. And if registered, they would go vote
Debbie Wuthnow 100, 100%. So we kind of wanted to step through a couple of examples just to give you some concrete stories that if somebody tells you their vote doesn't matter, that you can tell them this story of races that were very closely decided. Right. I think that gives people some examples.
Close Election Examples in Kentucky Alaska Iowa and a School Board Race
So I have a couple I'm just going to read through and then kind of a bigger story to share. So in Kentucky's 13th district, they ended in a one vote margin that elected a Democratic challenger over Republican independent. In Alaska, in the same year in 2018, there was a one vote margin even after a recount for a state supreme court judge. What I like to talk about is in what year did it happen? In 2020, there was a congressional race, you know, where there's hundreds of thousands of people who vote. In fact, in this 1 there were 400,000 people who voted. It was the second district of Iowa and Republican Marionette Miller Meeks won by just six votes. And they even had a recount and it was six votes. and it was just the closest House race in decades. I remember hearing David Bar to tell the story of a school board race that literally nobody turned up to vote. And even the candidate who got busy didn't turn up to vote. And he didn't get elected because nobody voted. If he'd even gone and voted for himself, he would have won. It's. And you know that's crazy.
Virginia's Closely Contested House Race Decided by a Draw from a Bowl
It is. But my other favorite story is in Virginia in 2020, 2017. Virginia's always been one of those very, in their state legislative chamber. It's very close into who controls it. It flips back and forth. It's kind of a purple state. So it's not one that's overwhelmingly blue or red, although it's changed since then. But in this case there was a House race that was down to a, down to eight. Let's see how close was. It was down to just a. So Republican David Yancey won by the first count by 10 votes. They did a recount and the other guy was up by one vote. And then they had a disputed ballot for the guy who was up by one, and it ended up being an exact tie for this one state house seat in Virginia. You can't make
Rick Beggs these things up. You just can't make these up.
Debbie Wuthnow And so it's a flat out tie. And not only that tie for that one seat, but that whoever wins that. Won that seat was going to determine who control which party controlled that state legislative chamber in Virginia. So what did they do? They'd already done a recount. They put names in a bowl, and they drew the winner, out of a bowl to see who was gonna win and control the state legislature for the entire state of Virginia. I mean, that's crazy. If what other person had turned out to vote, it would have made a different result.
Rick Beggs Then later they played charades. I just can't imagine.
Debbie Wuthnow It's like your fishbowl game right now. We're gonna. That's right.
Rick Beggs That is crazy.
Wyoming's Similar Tie-Breaking Election and the Importance of Every Single Vote
Now, you told me about some state. It probably, maybe it was Wyoming or Montana or something where they used a hat.
Debbie Wuthnow A cowboy hat.
Rick Beggs Yeah,
Debbie Wuthnow it was Wyoming. That's
Rick Beggs it.
Debbie Wuthnow They had a similar. They had a similar situation. It was longer ago as in 1994, but they had two candidates who ended in an exact tie. And the governor broke the tie by pulling a ping pong ball out of a cowboy hat. So one of the guys.
Rick Beggs Oh, gosh, now we're doing the lotto. Oh, my gosh, that's crazy.
Debbie Wuthnow It's just amazing, you know, because all those people who turn up to vote, but not enough to get somebody over the difference. If one other person had voted a different way, it would have made the difference. And, you know, and that's. Those are what. That's a state house seat. I mean, we're hearing about congressional seats, school board, it's even more common, and local mayor, city council.
Encouraging Vote Multipliers and the Impact of Down Ballot Races on Local Governance
So the down ballot, you know, we've talked about all the Barna data, all that down ballot stuff. It really makes a difference.
Rick Beggs Well, I'm guessing that people are listening to us, today are probably voters. I think that they, they didn't stumble upon us because they, they don't vote.
Debbie Wuthnow I would say most
Rick Beggs everybody. But I. What I will say is those who are listening, if you would just remind other people that their vote matters. I, I know you all know it, but it was like me talking to my mom, a couple weeks ago. I said, mom, do you want to go vote? And she said, well, I, you know, going out and she's in a wheelchair, and so
Debbie Wuthnow it's harder to get out. It
Rick Beggs makes it. It is hard. And, And so we made sure that they were going to do it through the assisted living, and they did yesterday. But when I was talking to her and I was encouraging her, of course, she's always been an advocate of yours, Debbie, and actually gives to I Voter guide, so she knows the importance. But I know she. You could tell by watching she was wondering if her vote mattered. And so
Debbie Wuthnow sometimes
Rick Beggs it's not so much that we.
Debbie Wuthnow It's worth the effort, kind of is it worth.
Rick Beggs Yes. but we know many people who might say that. And we can come back and say. Let me tell you a couple crazy stories Debbie told me on the compass, because these are for real. This isn't like we're making stuff up here. I had a friend just last year was, up for us. There you go. yeah. And, and he was, He probably served. I would say served almost 10 years on the school board in the
Debbie Wuthnow largest
Rick Beggs county. Largest county in Georgia. Yeah.
Debbie Wuthnow Is that in Atlanta? No.
Rick Beggs Yeah, Gwinnett.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay.
Rick Beggs And, he. He lost by 400 votes.
Shame on Us The Church's Role in Encouraging Voting and Utilizing iVoterGuide
Debbie Wuthnow That's that one.
Rick Beggs Can I. It's that one church. So now they are down to one conservative vote on the largest county in Georgia. It just makes me sick to my stomach. And you think of how little it would have taken,
Debbie Wuthnow right,
Rick Beggs to get enough people to get there, let alone flip other seats. So, you know what? you know, I hate using the word shame on us, but shame on us that we don't as the church, as the body of Christ, that we don't take this serious enough that we would encourage others to go do it. I. I'm so grateful that our listeners are probably great voters, but I want to encourage them to go out and tell others. And I think the tool that we have, I Voter Guide, is the great door opener for people who may choose not to vote.
Debbie Wuthnow I want them to be not just voters, but vote multipliers. I want them to be that. That encourager to their church and to their family and their friends to say, you know, just the question, huh?
iVoterGuide as a Tool to Empower Voters and Bridge Information Gaps for Down Ballot Races
have you voted? And if somebody says, you know, my vote doesn't count, or I don't know who to vote for, or all those people are, you know, I don't trust them. Just check out I Voter Guide to find out, really, which one aligns with your values. Get your personalized voter Guide. And a lot of times, information is power, and let that be an equipping tool to Those that, you know, around you to make them feel, you know, empowered to go vote, because it really does make a difference.
Rick Beggs Well, what was the stat that we have been sharing the last three, four weeks with George Barna about of those who are likely to vote, and those who will vote down ballot? What was the numbers that we used there?
Debbie Wuthnow So it was, of the 2,000 likely voters, 85% of them are likely to vote at the top of the ticket. So, you know, in Georgia, governor race or federal races?
Rick Beggs Yeah, the
Debbie Wuthnow federal race. Yeah. Some states it's governor, some it's federal, it's, it's Senate, it's that. That very first race at the top when you get to. When you see your ballot. But we asked them, would you fill in. Would you vote all of the races in your ballot? And only 55% said they would fill in every race. Meaning there's a 30, point drop in people who were skipping races on their ballot. And, and those are those down ballot races that you may think are not important, but they really are.
Understanding Voter Behavior and the Impact of Nonpartisan Voter Guides
They're, you know, school boards and DAs and city councils. The closer they are to the down of the ballot, the closer they are to your family, honestly, to where you live and work and worship. And so those are really important races. So we found out that. And then we asked them why. And the reason they didn't vote was they didn't have information on who to vote for, didn't know who was the candidate who would represent me best. And really, that's the gap that I voter guide exists to fill. We, you know, we asked them what would change your behavior, and two thirds of them said if they got a nonpartisan, trusted voter guide, that they would be likely to vote. So that's our goal, is to, to change that behavior, not just get into the polls and vote, but to vote the entire ballot.
Rick Beggs So do you know a trusted voter guide, Debbie, that you
Personal Voting Experiences and Ensuring Complete Ballot Completion for Meaningful Impact
Debbie Wuthnow could recommend? Okay, well, I think I. Voterguide.com might be a good source that we would point people to, so.
Rick Beggs Well, it was very fun to pull it up today and just to make sure that, you know, we got all the information and did
Debbie Wuthnow you print. Gave it to your mom and printed it and everything?
Rick Beggs Well, we didn't know because that would have been too much paper, so we had to. And oh, by the way, this was very cool, actually. They asked did I want to help my mom so they would put you. They put us in a little special spot because she could do it from her wheelchair, but I actually got to do it with her,
Rick Beggs and, and that made it a lot easier and I, I could tell she was a lot more, she was pretty. Resident. Resident. To, to go in there and do it by herself.
Debbie Wuthnow Reticent. Okay.
Rick Beggs Reticent. Reluctant. Yes. Redesent. Yes. Now you're my English teacher. And yes, I have more, including my mother. So anyway, we were in there,
Debbie Wuthnow but
Rick Beggs they were very kind in letting you know, just being very helpful. But I think in my mom's case as well, I think there are, well, meaningful people who don't finish well. And I, I think that's what that whole down ballot is. They, they can say, yeah, I went and voted. But if you ask them, did you finish the ballot? Well, no. Did you do any studying? No.
Debbie Wuthnow Yeah.
Rick Beggs they don't, they don't finish well. So it's one thing to say you voted. It's a whole nother thing to say you, you filled out your ballot completely.
Debbie Wuthnow The whole thing. Yeah. Don't skip anything.
George Barna's Insights on Motivation and Serving Christ Through Voting Responsibly
Yeah. So I think we did talk to George Barna about, things we should do, like to be a good steward and to multiply our vote.
Rick Beggs I think we should hear from George. Debbie,
Debbie Wuthnow let's see what George had to say. Could you play clip n1 please, Brent?
George Barna One is that you've got to be motivated to vote. Tens and tens of millions of Christians don't even bother to vote. You know, we're talking during our little time here about people who do vote. Let's not forget that an enormous proportion of the Christian body doesn't even bother to do that. Shame on us. We can do better. We should. We need to do better so that that motivation is one element. Second element is do this as if you're serving Christ. So do your homework. You know, get all the information you can.
The Importance of Intentional Planning Research and Utilizing iVoterGuide for Full Ballot Completion
Debbie Wuthnow Well, in one of the places you can get information is I voter guide dot com.
Rick Beggs Well, George, just basically repeated everything we just said, or maybe we stole it from him when we talked to him. But the fact of the matter is, well, because he used the word shame. And I thought, oh my gosh, if George Barnett can use it, I guess I could use it too. But I love that he said you got to be motivated to vote, which really is a mindset. Change
Debbie Wuthnow it is.
Rick Beggs And then do your homework. If you're going to do it, then do it right and do it fully.
Debbie Wuthnow Well, you need to do it intentionally and be prepared. I mean, you need to make a plan. We have an email that came out recently about make sure, you know, you know, if you're Going to vote early, if you know that's probably over by this point. But if you going to do that, if you couldn't vote on election day, make that plan. Where are you going to go, when are you going to go? And then, you know, find out what's on your ballot, do your research. I mean, I Voter Guide covers a lot of races, in every state, but we don't cover all the local races. So to fill in your ballot, you're going to have to do additional homework. I Voter Guide is a great place to start. but, but leave yourself some time to do that other research so that you can be that best steward of, of all the talents God's given you, which is all your votes.
Rick Beggs And sometimes when we say we're our one vote, does it really count?
Multiplying Your Vote Through Influence and Remaining Encouraged Despite Political Divides
If you vote in, your groups, your family, your network of influence, your adult children, your small groups, your Sunday school class, your, your one vote then is multiplied. And, and I think we don't think that way most of the time.
Debbie Wuthnow That's true. That's true. And I would also say, don't be discouraged. Do your part. I will say I live in an area of Texas where, it's a very blue. I live in Austin. It's a very blue area. And I drive my neighborhood and I see a bunch of signs for the Senate candidate that wouldn't, be my pick, when I'm going to go to vote.
Yard Signs Don't Vote The Need for Deeper Engagement and Overwhelming Opponents
And I don't use that to get discouraged because, George told us something about what the purpose of yard signs.
Rick Beggs Well, let's go. C15.
George Barna When I was managing campaigns, we always had an expression, yard signs don't vote. So don't just think that, you know, getting a sign in somebody's yard. We're doing it now. You know, maybe we're doing a little bit to build name awareness, but we got to go much, much deeper than that. And as Christian voters, we've got to go a lot deeper than that.
Debbie Wuthnow Yep. Don't vote. Those people have to show up at the polls. So you just overwhelm them with more of our side showing up.
Rick Beggs Yeah. And it's amazing. Even when you pull up, I, I don't know what the rules are in Texas, but here we, we were at a public library. The signs are unbelievable as you pull up, I mean, they're on top of each other. Did
Debbie Wuthnow they have any people outside passing out things or talking to you?
Rick Beggs No, not today. But I, I've experienced that where it's almost like going to a Carnival
Debbie Wuthnow it is. And they have to be a certain number of. At least in Texas they have to be, you know, I don't know, 50ft or something from the entrance. And then they're all kind of behind the, behind the line, you know, who you're voting for. And you know, there are people who will vote by the last flyer they saw or they didn't know who to vote for and somebody planted them a flyer and that's who they vote for. And that is not the best way to know the candidates. Who's, who's going to represent what's important to you. So do your homework. Check out I voter guide. and honestly, you know, yard signs. Don't vote. Do your part. And God doesn't work through a majority.
God Doesn't Wait for a Majority The Power of a Remnant and Serving Him
Right? He. He only needs a remnant if we need to make a difference. And I find that very encouraging. You know, we could talk about the story of Gideon, but even George Barna talked a bit about that. God doesn't never waited for a majority. Can we, can we play C16?
George Barna And so as long as I'm willing to serve him and we've got other people willing to serve him, God, throughout human history, as recorded in the Bible, has never waited until he won a majority to change the culture.
Speaker E He's never been on the ballot,
George Barna has he? No. And he doesn't need to be. All he needs is a remnant of us who are sold out to Him. We'll go wherever he sends us. We'll do whatever he tells us to do. And we're going to leave the results to him because he's in control.
Trusting God Doing Your Part and Focusing on Love Compassion and Unity
Debbie Wuthnow So trust him. But do your part. Do your research. Don't leave your community. well, and don't leave your community to be decided in a fishbowl or a cowboy hat. Do your part.
Rick Beggs Yeah, it, it sort of makes me think of something here, Debbie. I, I know that when, you know, when we're talking and it appears like we want to be partisan and I voter guide is not a partisan thing. Yes, we are Christians,
Debbie Wuthnow we're biblical
Rick Beggs Christians, that we are putting our, our best foot forward in regards to telling the truth. Our biblical worldview is, is shapes everything we do. But I want to remind our listeners, I guess I want to remind us, Debbie, that, the most important thing here is we always close out the show by saying this, that Jesus is our true north on the campus.
Debbie Wuthnow 100.
Rick Beggs And when he said, come follow me and love your enemies, that kind of flies in the face of all the politics that go on this, time of year.
Recognizing Shared Humanity Amidst Political Disagreements and Checking Priorities
and, and, and it. Sometimes that can be very discouraging because we have mean ones on our side, as they have mean ones on their side. I think they think we're evil, and we think that they're evil. But in. But in reality, we all are image bearers that we were made in God's image.
Debbie Wuthnow Yep.
Rick Beggs Ah. And to think that politics and how angry we can get over it makes, me want to really check myself.
Debbie Wuthnow Right. Priorities.
Closing Thoughts on Faith Love Unity and the Eternal Perspective of Voting
Yep.
Rick Beggs Yeah. So I want to. If you don't mind, Debbie, I really want to close with, a portion of scripture. We may even have a little moment to talk about it. But, I usually use this. It's interesting when I do weddings. But
Debbie Wuthnow elections.
Rick Beggs That's right. Well, we are talking about, we are the bride of Christ, so this is very fitting. This is out of Colossians 3, starting at verse 12. So as those who have been chosen of God, that's us, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you, beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called to one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you. With all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness your hearts to God. And what a close this is. Whatever you do, in word or deed, do, all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father
Debbie Wuthnow and all, means all, everything.
Rick Beggs Yeah. And it is a pure reminder to me, Debbie, that we are just visiting here for those who are followers of Christ. This isn't our home.
Debbie Wuthnow Right.
The Greater Reason for Voting Being Christ on Earth and Maintaining Focus on Him
Rick Beggs We have an eternity to look forward to. I'm not downplaying that we should take this so serious. Who we vote for, what they are going to teach our kids, who's going to make laws, what we have to live by. Those things are so important. But in the end they shouldn't be more important.
Debbie Wuthnow Right,
Rick Beggs Than loving and being kind and caring for one another. But beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. Anyway, I. I know that's your heart, Debbie, especially in leading I voter guide. This is not something, new that you and I talk about, but I think it's a constant reminder when we're in the fervor of all of this stuff that's going on in our country that there is a far greater reason we are voting. There's a far reason that we go to the polls. There's a far greater reason we encourage others to do this. It's because we want to do and be Christ on earth. We're not waiting for heaven to do that. We're going to keep our
Debbie Wuthnow eyes on Christ. Yep.
Rick Beggs Amen. Any closing thoughts? Debbie is, as we come to the end here,
Closing Prayer and the Importance of Voting and Praying for All Elected Officials
Debbie Wuthnow I always just close with prayer. I think that's, that's what God calls us to do. And pray before you vote. Pray before you do everything keeps your focus on God, which is what you just talked about. Pray, for the people that are going to win, even if they aren't the people you voted for. This is God's sovereign. I mean, we want our godly people to be elected, but our duty is just to vote. It's God who's got the results.
Rick Beggs Amen. And take somebody with you.
Final Encouragement to Vote Take Others and Contacting The Compass via Email
Debbie Wuthnow Take 10 people with you.
Rick Beggs Go do that. Yeah, that's right. Take a busload from an assisted living complex. Or be like me,
Debbie Wuthnow but not Rick's moms because she's gone.
Rick Beggs Yeah, she's already voted. And she wore her tag proudly today to lunch when we took her back in because she got tired of people asking her did she vote. Anyway, you've been listening to the Compass. Debbie and I are so grateful that you would take time, to be with us. Debbie, if they wanted to get a hold of us, where would they write?
Debbie Wuthnow email compassivoterguide.com with any questions. We're glad they're help you vote. We want to give you everything you need.
Rick Beggs We are grounded in God and rooted in research.
The Compass Grounded in God Rooted in Research and Jesus as True North
We are I voter guide. Our producer is Brent Austin. True north always will be Jesus.
Does one vote really matter? On this episode of The Compass, hosts Rick and Debbie make the case that it does—with real examples of elections decided by a single vote, a handful of ballots, or even a tie settled by drawing names. They explain why local and down-ballot races deserve attention, share research showing many voters leave parts of their ballots blank, and discuss how a trusted voter guide can help people vote with confidence.
The conversation also looks beyond election results: listeners are encouraged to do their homework, bring friends and family along, and multiply their influence by helping others participate. As election season stirs strong emotions, Rick and Debbie close with a reminder to keep Christ at the center, treat others with compassion, and leave the outcome in God’s hands.
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