Introduction to The Compass Podcast and Its Hosts
Rick Beggs Welcome to The Compass Navigating the public square together with faith, truth and conviction.
iVoterGuide
Well, good afternoon. We are so glad you've joined us here on, The Compass My, name is Rick Beggs and my co host, as always, is the president of iVoterGuide voter Guide and her name is Debbie Wuthnow. Now say hey Debbie.
Debbie Wuthnow Hey, Rick. Good to be with you again.
Rick Beggs Yeah, always. Debbie from Austin. I'm from Atlanta and sometimes we do it in the same studio or in the same city, but today we're in our separate places and, it's not nearly as fun. But I'll tell you what makes it good is that our producer makes us sound good and he's in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Navigating iVoterGuide to See Your Ballot and Election Information
That's kind of how this thing works. Which I believe me, that's as much as I know. So it is magic. Anyway, we're, this is the official radio show of iVoterGuide If you don't know anything about iVoterGuide you should go to our Reps website, I voterguide.com Debbie, what do you do when you go to ivoterguide.com
Debbie Wuthnow well, depends on what mood I'm in. But if I need my election, if it's time to vote, I go to, ivoterguide.com enter my address and get to see my ballot. You know, sometimes I can't remember the name of my, my state, my state representative. And I want to see who represents me. So we. You can enter your address and do that. You can also click on a button and watch The Compass Maybe I want to read an article. There's a lot there, but it's [email protected]
Rick Beggs well, and it becomes more important as we're easing towards November, which by the way, is kind of scary.
Understanding Early Voting and State-Specific Election Processes
There are already states that are early voting, aren't there, Debbie?
Debbie Wuthnow Yes, there are. Yeah, there are several more as we get closer. And some states don't even have early voting. So you need to know what goes on in your state. But our team is working. We have to release the voter, our voter guide state by state. So we're trying to release them before early voting in each of those states. And you know, some of the states are out there. We've got them out there.
The Crucial Work of the iVoterGuide Research Team
If you go and look for your state and it doesn't show you the ratings of the candidates or says, you know, it's going to come later because tune back in, get on our email list, we'll let you know because we are. Our team is under the tsunami. If you wanted a prayer request, it would Be pray for the iVoterGuide voter guide research team, because right now they are in the. The crunch of it.
Rick Beggs Well, and you and I may not know the specifics, but our team is just.
Overview of State-Level Offices: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General
They are going at it right now. So we're so thankful for them because they're the ones that are filling up those iVoterGuide ballots. So people have a real understanding of who they're voting for or who they should not vote for. the last, week, we went over, a lot of the offices that are held in, the 50 states that we have around our country. we found that most of them have a governor. We, understand that most of them have a lieutenant governor or a lieutenant governor that was voted upon. Except if you're in some states.
Debbie Wuthnow Well, somebody fills that role. But how they get into that position? Kind of various states. The beauty of the republic, right?
Rick Beggs Yeah, it is different states, different ways of doing it. Then we had attorney general. We talked about that. Who is the sort of the state's chief legal officer and represents the state in court. And that is always the same in 43 states and different in seven states. Yes, that's right.
Debbie Wuthnow Only.
Rick Beggs And then we have. And then we have secretary of state.
Understanding the Role of Secretary of State and State Treasurer
Secretary of state is, it's not
Debbie Wuthnow like the u. S. Secretary of state. It's very different. It's what this. It's the elections. Oversee the elections. They oversee who's on the registered. Who's a registered voter. How do we clean that up? How do we administer the elections? All of that is at the state level. The job of the secretary of state.
Rick Beggs And all of those in every state is the same. Well, 35 of them. Yeah. And then they're.
Debbie Wuthnow Sometimes they're appointed, sometimes they're elected. sometimes they're elected by the, you know, the people. Sometimes they're appointed by the governor, Sometimes they're appointed by the legislature. But it's an important job, and every state has somebody that does that job.
Rick Beggs And as Debbie said, they are the chief elections officer and oversee all that has to do with elections. We wish that they did a little more cleaning on their roles then,
Debbie Wuthnow and again, that varies state by state.
Rick Beggs Yeah. And then the state treasurer.
The Function of State Treasurer and the Comptroller Role
What do they do, Debbie?
Debbie Wuthnow They, as the name implies, they manage the money. They pay the bills, they issue the bonds, they, balance or don't the budget. They reunite people with any lost funds. They basically do what a treasurer would do, even at your pta, but they do it at the statewide level. They manage the state's cash, their investments, and in Most cases those are elected, but not all. Sometimes they're appointed as well.
Rick Beggs Well, in all 50 states, it's done the same, except for two of them, one in which you live in. And, they. They call it something different, don't they?
Debbie Wuthnow Yeah, they call it comptroller, which is. It's just a different I. They fold some other additional, like watchdog, responsibilities into that. So it's not just pure treasures. They kind of made it a bit bigger and gave it a different title.
State Auditor and Organizing Government Roles Effectively
So. So the comptroller in Texas and New York does treasure jobs as well as some, financial watchdog things. Auditing agencies and organizations and programs for waste and fraud, and that would be a good thing. So it's just got a different title. If you see comptroller on your ballot, that tells you what it does.
Rick Beggs Well, and then there's also a state auditor. I mean, so some they, they kind of fold these jobs together or they separate them. I guess it depends on.
Debbie Wuthnow It's every. Every business has similar things that have to happen and different, you know, they, they organize themselves differently. So that happened in each of the states. And, you know, they may have even started one way and they've evolved and changed over time. And you just need to look at what's on the ballot in your state, how that. Who does that job and how do they. What is. What is entailed in that job? Especially as you're looking at, the qualifications of the people that you're choosing to do that job. You, you need to know what the job does. You don't want somebody who's a comptroller who's really bad managing money, right?
The Importance of Knowing Job Roles When Electing Officials
Rick Beggs No, no. I mean, even in marriages, you better have a comptroller. One of you should be that person. That's right.
Debbie Wuthnow Very true.
Rick Beggs well, we're now going to talk about sort of the state legislature, because that has interest to people, because it kind of was set up much like our federal government is. But then the states do it, very similar, but there are different aspects to say state senator versus state house. And, so let's start with the Senate. Debbie, what. What can you tell us about a state senate, Senate board?
Understanding the Structure and Role of State Senates
Debbie Wuthnow Well, it starts out being very similar to the U.S. senate. Right. It's typically a smaller body of people, you know, fewer numbers of people who serve in the state senate. They serve for longer terms. I mean, when the founders formed the U.S. government, they, you know, the people's house was the house and turns over every two years, and that's where the fiery debates happen. the Senate was supposed to be where the what the, the tea cooled in the saucer. It was supposed to be more reasoned debate. So they wanted people that served there longer. And you know, some states have as few as 20 members in the Senate. Some you know, have 50 or so. So it var. all. Almost every state has both a state Senate and a state legislative chamber. And they all, they call them different. Sometimes they're different names. We even have to work on that at I voter guides. Sometimes they're called state, the State House, they're called the State Assembly. They're called, you know, what are they? Louisiana calls the something. It's your parish who represents your parish. So there's different vocabulary in each state. But the type of role of having both the seasoned longer term state Senate and the shorter term people represented every voted on every two years would be the House.
Rick Beggs So in the state Senate they have a distinct role really in confirming governor's appointments to my understanding, which is agencies, the courts, those types of things.
Debbie Wuthnow And that would be similar to the US Senate, that is the body that confirms appointments and judges. So yes, you're correct.
State Houses and Assemblies: Their Roles and Functions
Good job.
Rick Beggs I know I'm getting really good at this. So proud actually I'm getting very mediocre out this. now the State House and, or the assembly depending on how they describe it. And I think there are several states who use the word assembly rather than. I remember when I lived in California it was always called the Assembly.
Debbie Wuthnow It's because you're in California.
Rick Beggs That's right. But they are not the only one.
Debbie Wuthnow There's three or four, Nevada and Wisconsin call it an Assembly. And I was surprised when I started working in iVoterGuide that there are two states actually Virginia and West Virginia call it the House of Delegates. So they're delegates, not representatives.
Rick Beggs So the jobs are similar. They just have a different way to phrase.
Debbie Wuthnow It's everybody's unique. Right. Every company, every family has their own little twist and you know, dialect could, you know. But that's why they're different. But the job's similar. The name may be different.
Rick Beggs And I think, and I think their roles are really to stay close to the constituents.
Debbie Wuthnow Right. And they're supposed to represent their constituents and, and propose bills, legislation to address the, that they're hearing from their constituents. Happens on the House side, happens on the Senate side. The whole legislative process, obviously another topic for another day.
The Importance of Engaging with and Praying for Representatives
But that's. They're supposed to represent the interests of the people they represent.
Rick Beggs Yeah. And I think that's Sort of where we get sideways with some of our representatives. Well, we put them in and go
Debbie Wuthnow ahead, but then we don't talk to them or we don't pray for them. And I would challenge each of us to know who they are and pray for them by name, because it's biblical.
Rick Beggs Pray for those and go meet with them. They're supposed to be out and about. Go. Go see them, go be with them.
Debbie Wuthnow Even if you don't agree with them on, you know, party alignment or political issues, there's still people, and they're still your representative, and you can go and talk to them. And I'm speaking from my own heart of, you know, you. It's. It's. It's a. It can be a challenge, but it really is, something God asked us, asks us to do.
Rick Beggs You know, it occurred to me, Debbie, that, one of the things.
iVoterGuide's Mission to Cover the Entire Ballot and Its Funding Needs
This is all very fun and informational as we're going through these, statewide jobs that we vote in, that. That really, at, at iVoterGuide we are really trying to go as deep down the ballot as we possibly can in every state, of course, because we're nonprofit, that takes money. And of course, anybody interested in sending money our way, we would love to have you do that. But because of that and sort of, we're restricted a lot of times how deep we can go. But really, it's our goal to get there, isn't it? With every state?
Debbie Wuthnow It is. iVoterGuide began in Texas, covering the entire ballot in five counties, all the way down. And when we went nationwide, we couldn't go as far down. But our vision, really, our goal, my desire would be to research the entire ballot, to educate you on. On as many races as possible. that's why we've moved into covering school boards and judges and all that, that type of thing. Because the further down the ballot you go, the more you need. It's harder to find information, the more you need somebody to do that research for you. And so that's. We'll be talking about that as well. the. The role that iVoterGuide is. Is prayerfully stepping into. And, appreciate your prayers, appreciate your support as we move in that direction.
Biblical Principles of Faithfulness in Small and Large Responsibilities
Rick Beggs Well, it reminds me of a scripture out of Luke, 1610. And, when we listen and talk about these things, of these jobs, which we may in our own minds think that they're smaller, they're less than, they're whatever. And you and I have talked a lot about, these are sort of the minor leagues down at the school Boards especially where we can, you start growing your candidates for statewide, jobs and then maybe even federal jobs later. But we may tend not to fill out our ballots down there because we don't think it matters. It matters. And in Luke 16, verse 10, it says, he who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much. And he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. M. Loosely translated, be and do well with the little God gives you, so that when you have much, you can also govern that well. And that's why talking about these positions and going all the way down to school board races and state judges and state legislatures and, all that is really important because we are now going to find out who does well with little, and hopefully we can trust with much.
Debbie Wuthnow Love it.
Introduction to Statewide Judicial Offices
That's awesome. It's very true, you know. Yeah.
Rick Beggs Well, so that moves us into judges.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay.
Rick Beggs not the book of, but the, statewide judicial offices.
Debbie Wuthnow I love that you're mining it there. That's awesome.
Rick Beggs All right, well, good. It's,
Understanding State Supreme Courts and Judicial Appointment Processes
So of course, we know we all have supreme courts in every state that acts differently than what happens on the federal level.
Debbie Wuthnow Right. The federal level, we have the U. S. Supreme court. And, if you didn't know, those, justices are appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate. The u. S. Senate, and then they serve a lifetime appointment. And then each state, has a supreme court. now how those justices get on that court varies. I think there's five. Is it five different ways? Some of them, are appointed by the governor and then confirmed by the senate. So it would be kind of like how the way the U.S. the federal level that we do it, sometimes they are actually on the ballot. In my state, they run as republicans and democrats. They run as a party, so they have to run in the primary, they run in the general election. and some states they run as nonpartisan, meaning kind of like how school board is where there's no party behind it, and they'll say, you know, we're not political. But in a way, sometimes the party label lets you know the platform they support, issues.
Navigating Nonpartisan Races and Retention Elections for Judges
Support. Yeah. So it's. It's harder to vote in a nonpartisan race. You've got to do a lot more research because the party label does at least give you a hint of where they're landing on the political spectrum or on the different issues, even if it's not political on life and religious liberty and the role of government versus the role of, Individuals and personal responsibility and all of that. But, in some states they are, appointed by the legislature. Trying to think. Some do they have commissions in some states that appoint these justices. So if you see a judge on your ballot sometimes, in Texas I see it, you know, Republican, Democrat. Some states, they're the ones where they're appointed by the governor. Sometimes they'll then be on their ballot at the end of that first term in what they call a retention election. So this judge was, appointed by the governor. Sometimes the governor gets, as in a committee that gives him a short list of people to pick from. but they serve on the bench for whatever their term is. Four years, six years, I don't think any or two. But then they'll some. In some states they're on the ballot. I know Oklahoma's one of them. I'm sure there's quite a few others where they, Florida, there's a retention vote. So you'll see one. All you'll see is one name on your ballot and you're saying basically, yes, keep them. No, don't keep them. And of all the races on the ballot, this is the hardest, I think almost.
Rick Beggs Absolutely, yes.
Debbie Wuthnow They don't. The people aren't campaigning. There's not a candidate or, you know, an opponent that's trying to reveal something about them. The only time, something, I think I have. I need to look into these statistics. They're almost always retained. They're very, very rarely not retained. And it's.
Rick Beggs Unless there's a huge campaign against them from someone and.
The Impact of iVoterGuide on Judicial Retention Elections
Debbie Wuthnow Yep, exactly. And so we actually, iVoterGuide started covering, Supreme Court retention elections in Oklahoma and exposing, you know, some activist judges that, you know, might say they're conservatives, but that's not how they were ruling on these cases. So we have, We've talked about our team of judicial researchers that are reading the rulings of these judges and especially looking at those controversial issues, religious liberty, right to life, and seeing, you know, are these judges, just adhering to the law and interpreting the law and applying the law, or are they, you know, creating, law and going beyond, what we might call being an activist judge. So there was this judge who was really being an activist. We rated them in the activist spectrum, gave all the information there, and they were not retained by just 400 votes out of 1.5 million people who voted. So, it's really important to know what they do, but also to find somebody who's doing the research into should these. Are these people doing a Good job. Are they doing the type of job I'd want them to do and do I want to keep them in office or. And yeah. And then what happens basically, if they're not retained, it goes back to however somebody got there in the first place. If the governor appointed them, the governor gets to appoint somebody new. So you also pay attention to, you know, who was the person who appointed that judge to know the type of person.
Rick Beggs Well, yeah, you're going to have one be removed from office with a no retention vote, then you better have somebody who you trust.
The Challenge of Voting in Judicial Elections and Undervotes
Debbie Wuthnow You're hoping somebody better gets in. Right? That's right.
Rick Beggs That's right.
Debbie Wuthnow We don't want to go the other direction.
Rick Beggs From bad to worse. Yeah, right. that. To me, that's fascinating because that is one of those places where you're on your ballot and you're going down. You say, I never heard of this person. I don't know anything about them. And now I'm supposed to say yes or no, which is.
Debbie Wuthnow I think a lot of people just skip it. And they leave it blank and they. We call it an undervote. And you know, that's even in Oklahoma. That was what, 11% of voters before iVoterGuide voter guide covered it. That dropped 4 percentage points when we started giving information. But, you know, if you don't know the right answer, skip it and leave a blank. or people just say, yeah, keep them. They can't be doing that bad a job. I don't know anything about them. So.
Rick Beggs Well. And that, not.
The Indispensable Role of I Voter Guide in Researching Candidates
Not to blow our own horn, but that's what this show is about. But that's why iVoterGuide voter guide really is important, because if we are researching in these particular states down.
Debbie Wuthnow Nobody else does this. Nobody else does this.
Rick Beggs No, no. And that's what's so sad because these are the people making decisions about our lives personally in our states. Yep. And if we. If we didn't do our work to find out anything about them and someday myself or my family or a friend member is going to come up against them, I'd sure like them to have a closer worldview to mine than what is happening out in culture today.
Debbie Wuthnow Yep.
The Importance of Understanding State-Level Decision Makers
Very important.
Rick Beggs Okay, there's a. Oh, go ahead.
Debbie Wuthnow No, I was going to say that's. That's important. I agree completely.
Understanding Appellate Courts and Their Role in the Judicial System
So were you going to talk about appellant courts?
Rick Beggs I was. I was gonna go, Because I know, you know, I always hear appellate court, which to me is where you take something that you didn't like the outcome down at the trial court or something. And, and now you're trying to appeal that somebody would listen to you with the hopes that they will have a course change in their mind. Maybe they'll move it up to the Supreme Court of the state to get a good decision. Tell me about the appellate court.
Debbie Wuthnow Well, you know, there's layers to the court system. The Supreme Court of the United States doesn't hear very many cases. A lot more are heard at the state supreme court level. And in some states, they actually set lower courts because even the state Supreme Court can't hear all of the appeals that happen through the judicial system. So they, you know, they set up layers of trial courts that lead up to the Supreme Court. And you know, in many states, those, those judges are on the ballot and running as part of a party, and you want to make sure that they're judging and applying the law the way that you would want the law applied, not in not just making the law, but just reading it in the intent that it was written. So that's the. And I'm going to throw out a piece of trivia.
Trivia: Texas Has Two Supreme Courts for Civil and Criminal Cases
I think we're going to get into some trivia. But in Texas, there are two Supreme Courts. Did you know that, Rick?
Rick Beggs No. Why?
Debbie Wuthnow We have a. We have. I didn't even know why until there's a guy at my church running for one of those courts. But it's the u. The state Supreme Court hears the criminal cases and the court of Criminal Appeals. No, maybe it's opposite one of them civil courts. Here's the civil courts cases and one of them. Here's the criminal cases. But they have two, basically statewide supreme courts, but they are for different types of appeals that go up the system and they're both going to be on your ballot. So you'll see them both on the Texas ballot. Interesting trivia. There's. It's interesting how every state goes and creates things slightly differently.
Rick Beggs Well, I do know. I do know this.
States Without Appellate Court Systems and Population Factors
I should ask you, as a trivia question, that there are some states that don't even have an appellate court system. They go right from trials and they. It moves up to the Supreme Court if.
Debbie Wuthnow Yeah, it's designated. It is. There are. There are eight states. And if you look at the states, it's the states that have fewer people. So at least as I'm reading those states. So Delaware, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming to know those are smaller populations. So there's going to be, you would think, fewer lawsuits. Fewer. You need less layers of hierarchy. If you think about it. Middle management is basically how you could view the appellant court before it gets up to the supreme court. But speaking of trivia, Rick, can I ask you.
Rick Beggs Okay, I've. I've been trying. I've been trying to avoid this part of the show because you know what, Debbie? This only makes me feel foolish, so feel free to make.
Nebraska's Unique Unicameral Legislature: A Single Chamber System
Debbie Wuthnow But you love games, so let's think
Rick Beggs of it as I do. Okay, But I'm chairman of the rules committee, so not in the, like something. Okay.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay.
Rick Beggs So have at me.
Debbie Wuthnow One of the states does not have two chambers, does not have a state house and the state senate. Did you know that? And which state is it?
Rick Beggs Oh, gosh. First of all, I have to understand the question before I can answer the question. But no, I don't have a clue.
Debbie Wuthnow So, I don't know why my birth state, the state of Nebraska is called a unicameral cameral meeting chamber or house. They don't have a state senate and a state house. They only have one chamber and they call them all senators. So in Nebraska you will not have state house and state senate. You will just have running. Who's going to be your senator in the state of Nebraska? Because they are unicameral there. That is unique.
States with the Most and Fewest State Legislators: New Hampshire and Nebraska
See, now you know something new and
Rick Beggs I have to tell you, I will. I will never remember that. Except really the unit camera. Well, that's an odd name. So I. I guess I might remember it from that. So give me something that maybe I could get.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay. So what down there, what state has the most state legislators, both senate and house?
Rick Beggs I know this one.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay.
Rick Beggs I know this one.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay.
Rick Beggs because it always. It always. I want to laugh every time I read it because it's a small state. You just mentioned it. I think about who didn't have something.
Debbie Wuthnow The appellate.
Rick Beggs Yeah, yeah. New Hampshire, because it's so tiny.
Debbie Wuthnow I know you would think it'd be California, but. No. How many do they have?
Rick Beggs Yes. 400.
Debbie Wuthnow Yes. And if you think about New Hampshire,
Rick Beggs it's like I knew the other answer. That's why I made it sound like I didn't know.
Debbie Wuthnow And then I almost think it must got to be like block captains almost. I mean, they've got so many people that get represented. So, part of what iVoterGuide voter guide in a way. you know, the cost to iVoterGuide to cover a certain state and certainly depends on how many races and candidates. So New Hampshire would be a very expensive state for us to.
The Sheer Number of State Legislators Across the Country
To research all of their state legislators. But you know, we're Looking at alternatives for all of that. So that's the biggest and the smallest. I'm trying to think, was that going to be Nebraska? Because they only have one chamber. I bet it is.
Rick Beggs Well, I would think so because it's whatever the number is for both sides, right?
Debbie Wuthnow Actually, yeah. Yeah, they have 49 total, in. In Nebraska. So that's interesting. So do you know how many legislators we have across all 50 states? State legislators, state Senate, state House.
Rick Beggs Oh, gosh, 5,000. As just.
Debbie Wuthnow It's even more. It's over 7,500 state legislators.
The Ballooning Number of Candidates and iVoterGuide's Mission
Rick Beggs And that's why we don't do them all yet.
Debbie Wuthnow That's why we don't know them all. And that's how we get to, you know, everybody's. How can you cover 15,000 candidates? And it's because we cover all the federal candidates, which is, you know, the 500, 435 plus, you know, the third of the Senate and then in the state legislature and then the statewide, that just puts us up almost to 10,000. We add in some school boards, add in some judges, and it's. It's easy to see how this, the number of candidates on your ballot just balloons. And it's a huge job. And we very much covet your prayers at iVoterGuide as we undertake this this November.
Rick Beggs Yeah, I, I, guess I'm more amazed every time we talk about all this stuff that needs to be reviewed and looked at and candidates and stuff. I am overwhelmed. What those two men started, before iVoterGuide became into God inspired. Truly, it really, it really has to be. And the fact that this is a free tool for anybody to use.
Gratitude for Being Part of iVoterGuide's Growth and Impact
I thank the Lord that I've gotten to be a part of it. Thanks, Debbie for leading its growth.
Debbie Wuthnow I thank him that you're part of it too.
Rick Beggs Well, I, we quickly. We have come to the end of this show.
Conclusion: The Compass Podcast, iVoterGuide, and True North
if you're interested in listening to our show at any other place, go get the app, the AFR app, and find us. the compass is, like I said, the official show of IBuilderGuy. We are grounded in God and rooted in research. And remember, Jesus will always be our true north.
Introduction to The Compass Podcast and Its Hosts
Rick Beggs Welcome to The Compass Navigating the public square together with faith, truth and conviction.
iVoterGuide
Well, good afternoon. We are so glad you've joined us here on, The Compass My, name is Rick Beggs and my co host, as always, is the president of iVoterGuide voter Guide and her name is Debbie Wuthnow. Now say hey Debbie.
Debbie Wuthnow Hey, Rick. Good to be with you again.
Rick Beggs Yeah, always. Debbie from Austin. I'm from Atlanta and sometimes we do it in the same studio or in the same city, but today we're in our separate places and, it's not nearly as fun. But I'll tell you what makes it good is that our producer makes us sound good and he's in Tupelo, Mississippi.
Navigating iVoterGuide to See Your Ballot and Election Information
That's kind of how this thing works. Which I believe me, that's as much as I know. So it is magic. Anyway, we're, this is the official radio show of iVoterGuide If you don't know anything about iVoterGuide you should go to our Reps website, I voterguide.com Debbie, what do you do when you go to ivoterguide.com
Debbie Wuthnow well, depends on what mood I'm in. But if I need my election, if it's time to vote, I go to, ivoterguide.com enter my address and get to see my ballot. You know, sometimes I can't remember the name of my, my state, my state representative. And I want to see who represents me. So we. You can enter your address and do that. You can also click on a button and watch The Compass Maybe I want to read an article. There's a lot there, but it's [email protected]
Rick Beggs well, and it becomes more important as we're easing towards November, which by the way, is kind of scary.
Understanding Early Voting and State-Specific Election Processes
There are already states that are early voting, aren't there, Debbie?
Debbie Wuthnow Yes, there are. Yeah, there are several more as we get closer. And some states don't even have early voting. So you need to know what goes on in your state. But our team is working. We have to release the voter, our voter guide state by state. So we're trying to release them before early voting in each of those states. And you know, some of the states are out there. We've got them out there.
The Crucial Work of the iVoterGuide Research Team
If you go and look for your state and it doesn't show you the ratings of the candidates or says, you know, it's going to come later because tune back in, get on our email list, we'll let you know because we are. Our team is under the tsunami. If you wanted a prayer request, it would Be pray for the iVoterGuide voter guide research team, because right now they are in the. The crunch of it.
Rick Beggs Well, and you and I may not know the specifics, but our team is just.
Overview of State-Level Offices: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General
They are going at it right now. So we're so thankful for them because they're the ones that are filling up those iVoterGuide ballots. So people have a real understanding of who they're voting for or who they should not vote for. the last, week, we went over, a lot of the offices that are held in, the 50 states that we have around our country. we found that most of them have a governor. We, understand that most of them have a lieutenant governor or a lieutenant governor that was voted upon. Except if you're in some states.
Debbie Wuthnow Well, somebody fills that role. But how they get into that position? Kind of various states. The beauty of the republic, right?
Rick Beggs Yeah, it is different states, different ways of doing it. Then we had attorney general. We talked about that. Who is the sort of the state's chief legal officer and represents the state in court. And that is always the same in 43 states and different in seven states. Yes, that's right.
Debbie Wuthnow Only.
Rick Beggs And then we have. And then we have secretary of state.
Understanding the Role of Secretary of State and State Treasurer
Secretary of state is, it's not
Debbie Wuthnow like the u. S. Secretary of state. It's very different. It's what this. It's the elections. Oversee the elections. They oversee who's on the registered. Who's a registered voter. How do we clean that up? How do we administer the elections? All of that is at the state level. The job of the secretary of state.
Rick Beggs And all of those in every state is the same. Well, 35 of them. Yeah. And then they're.
Debbie Wuthnow Sometimes they're appointed, sometimes they're elected. sometimes they're elected by the, you know, the people. Sometimes they're appointed by the governor, Sometimes they're appointed by the legislature. But it's an important job, and every state has somebody that does that job.
Rick Beggs And as Debbie said, they are the chief elections officer and oversee all that has to do with elections. We wish that they did a little more cleaning on their roles then,
Debbie Wuthnow and again, that varies state by state.
Rick Beggs Yeah. And then the state treasurer.
The Function of State Treasurer and the Comptroller Role
What do they do, Debbie?
Debbie Wuthnow They, as the name implies, they manage the money. They pay the bills, they issue the bonds, they, balance or don't the budget. They reunite people with any lost funds. They basically do what a treasurer would do, even at your pta, but they do it at the statewide level. They manage the state's cash, their investments, and in Most cases those are elected, but not all. Sometimes they're appointed as well.
Rick Beggs Well, in all 50 states, it's done the same, except for two of them, one in which you live in. And, they. They call it something different, don't they?
Debbie Wuthnow Yeah, they call it comptroller, which is. It's just a different I. They fold some other additional, like watchdog, responsibilities into that. So it's not just pure treasures. They kind of made it a bit bigger and gave it a different title.
State Auditor and Organizing Government Roles Effectively
So. So the comptroller in Texas and New York does treasure jobs as well as some, financial watchdog things. Auditing agencies and organizations and programs for waste and fraud, and that would be a good thing. So it's just got a different title. If you see comptroller on your ballot, that tells you what it does.
Rick Beggs Well, and then there's also a state auditor. I mean, so some they, they kind of fold these jobs together or they separate them. I guess it depends on.
Debbie Wuthnow It's every. Every business has similar things that have to happen and different, you know, they, they organize themselves differently. So that happened in each of the states. And, you know, they may have even started one way and they've evolved and changed over time. And you just need to look at what's on the ballot in your state, how that. Who does that job and how do they. What is. What is entailed in that job? Especially as you're looking at, the qualifications of the people that you're choosing to do that job. You, you need to know what the job does. You don't want somebody who's a comptroller who's really bad managing money, right?
The Importance of Knowing Job Roles When Electing Officials
Rick Beggs No, no. I mean, even in marriages, you better have a comptroller. One of you should be that person. That's right.
Debbie Wuthnow Very true.
Rick Beggs well, we're now going to talk about sort of the state legislature, because that has interest to people, because it kind of was set up much like our federal government is. But then the states do it, very similar, but there are different aspects to say state senator versus state house. And, so let's start with the Senate. Debbie, what. What can you tell us about a state senate, Senate board?
Understanding the Structure and Role of State Senates
Debbie Wuthnow Well, it starts out being very similar to the U.S. senate. Right. It's typically a smaller body of people, you know, fewer numbers of people who serve in the state senate. They serve for longer terms. I mean, when the founders formed the U.S. government, they, you know, the people's house was the house and turns over every two years, and that's where the fiery debates happen. the Senate was supposed to be where the what the, the tea cooled in the saucer. It was supposed to be more reasoned debate. So they wanted people that served there longer. And you know, some states have as few as 20 members in the Senate. Some you know, have 50 or so. So it var. all. Almost every state has both a state Senate and a state legislative chamber. And they all, they call them different. Sometimes they're different names. We even have to work on that at I voter guides. Sometimes they're called state, the State House, they're called the State Assembly. They're called, you know, what are they? Louisiana calls the something. It's your parish who represents your parish. So there's different vocabulary in each state. But the type of role of having both the seasoned longer term state Senate and the shorter term people represented every voted on every two years would be the House.
Rick Beggs So in the state Senate they have a distinct role really in confirming governor's appointments to my understanding, which is agencies, the courts, those types of things.
Debbie Wuthnow And that would be similar to the US Senate, that is the body that confirms appointments and judges. So yes, you're correct.
State Houses and Assemblies: Their Roles and Functions
Good job.
Rick Beggs I know I'm getting really good at this. So proud actually I'm getting very mediocre out this. now the State House and, or the assembly depending on how they describe it. And I think there are several states who use the word assembly rather than. I remember when I lived in California it was always called the Assembly.
Debbie Wuthnow It's because you're in California.
Rick Beggs That's right. But they are not the only one.
Debbie Wuthnow There's three or four, Nevada and Wisconsin call it an Assembly. And I was surprised when I started working in iVoterGuide that there are two states actually Virginia and West Virginia call it the House of Delegates. So they're delegates, not representatives.
Rick Beggs So the jobs are similar. They just have a different way to phrase.
Debbie Wuthnow It's everybody's unique. Right. Every company, every family has their own little twist and you know, dialect could, you know. But that's why they're different. But the job's similar. The name may be different.
Rick Beggs And I think, and I think their roles are really to stay close to the constituents.
Debbie Wuthnow Right. And they're supposed to represent their constituents and, and propose bills, legislation to address the, that they're hearing from their constituents. Happens on the House side, happens on the Senate side. The whole legislative process, obviously another topic for another day.
The Importance of Engaging with and Praying for Representatives
But that's. They're supposed to represent the interests of the people they represent.
Rick Beggs Yeah. And I think that's Sort of where we get sideways with some of our representatives. Well, we put them in and go
Debbie Wuthnow ahead, but then we don't talk to them or we don't pray for them. And I would challenge each of us to know who they are and pray for them by name, because it's biblical.
Rick Beggs Pray for those and go meet with them. They're supposed to be out and about. Go. Go see them, go be with them.
Debbie Wuthnow Even if you don't agree with them on, you know, party alignment or political issues, there's still people, and they're still your representative, and you can go and talk to them. And I'm speaking from my own heart of, you know, you. It's. It's. It's a. It can be a challenge, but it really is, something God asked us, asks us to do.
Rick Beggs You know, it occurred to me, Debbie, that, one of the things.
iVoterGuide's Mission to Cover the Entire Ballot and Its Funding Needs
This is all very fun and informational as we're going through these, statewide jobs that we vote in, that. That really, at, at iVoterGuide we are really trying to go as deep down the ballot as we possibly can in every state, of course, because we're nonprofit, that takes money. And of course, anybody interested in sending money our way, we would love to have you do that. But because of that and sort of, we're restricted a lot of times how deep we can go. But really, it's our goal to get there, isn't it? With every state?
Debbie Wuthnow It is. iVoterGuide began in Texas, covering the entire ballot in five counties, all the way down. And when we went nationwide, we couldn't go as far down. But our vision, really, our goal, my desire would be to research the entire ballot, to educate you on. On as many races as possible. that's why we've moved into covering school boards and judges and all that, that type of thing. Because the further down the ballot you go, the more you need. It's harder to find information, the more you need somebody to do that research for you. And so that's. We'll be talking about that as well. the. The role that iVoterGuide is. Is prayerfully stepping into. And, appreciate your prayers, appreciate your support as we move in that direction.
Biblical Principles of Faithfulness in Small and Large Responsibilities
Rick Beggs Well, it reminds me of a scripture out of Luke, 1610. And, when we listen and talk about these things, of these jobs, which we may in our own minds think that they're smaller, they're less than, they're whatever. And you and I have talked a lot about, these are sort of the minor leagues down at the school Boards especially where we can, you start growing your candidates for statewide, jobs and then maybe even federal jobs later. But we may tend not to fill out our ballots down there because we don't think it matters. It matters. And in Luke 16, verse 10, it says, he who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much. And he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. M. Loosely translated, be and do well with the little God gives you, so that when you have much, you can also govern that well. And that's why talking about these positions and going all the way down to school board races and state judges and state legislatures and, all that is really important because we are now going to find out who does well with little, and hopefully we can trust with much.
Debbie Wuthnow Love it.
Introduction to Statewide Judicial Offices
That's awesome. It's very true, you know. Yeah.
Rick Beggs Well, so that moves us into judges.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay.
Rick Beggs not the book of, but the, statewide judicial offices.
Debbie Wuthnow I love that you're mining it there. That's awesome.
Rick Beggs All right, well, good. It's,
Understanding State Supreme Courts and Judicial Appointment Processes
So of course, we know we all have supreme courts in every state that acts differently than what happens on the federal level.
Debbie Wuthnow Right. The federal level, we have the U. S. Supreme court. And, if you didn't know, those, justices are appointed by the president and confirmed by the senate. The u. S. Senate, and then they serve a lifetime appointment. And then each state, has a supreme court. now how those justices get on that court varies. I think there's five. Is it five different ways? Some of them, are appointed by the governor and then confirmed by the senate. So it would be kind of like how the way the U.S. the federal level that we do it, sometimes they are actually on the ballot. In my state, they run as republicans and democrats. They run as a party, so they have to run in the primary, they run in the general election. and some states they run as nonpartisan, meaning kind of like how school board is where there's no party behind it, and they'll say, you know, we're not political. But in a way, sometimes the party label lets you know the platform they support, issues.
Navigating Nonpartisan Races and Retention Elections for Judges
Support. Yeah. So it's. It's harder to vote in a nonpartisan race. You've got to do a lot more research because the party label does at least give you a hint of where they're landing on the political spectrum or on the different issues, even if it's not political on life and religious liberty and the role of government versus the role of, Individuals and personal responsibility and all of that. But, in some states they are, appointed by the legislature. Trying to think. Some do they have commissions in some states that appoint these justices. So if you see a judge on your ballot sometimes, in Texas I see it, you know, Republican, Democrat. Some states, they're the ones where they're appointed by the governor. Sometimes they'll then be on their ballot at the end of that first term in what they call a retention election. So this judge was, appointed by the governor. Sometimes the governor gets, as in a committee that gives him a short list of people to pick from. but they serve on the bench for whatever their term is. Four years, six years, I don't think any or two. But then they'll some. In some states they're on the ballot. I know Oklahoma's one of them. I'm sure there's quite a few others where they, Florida, there's a retention vote. So you'll see one. All you'll see is one name on your ballot and you're saying basically, yes, keep them. No, don't keep them. And of all the races on the ballot, this is the hardest, I think almost.
Rick Beggs Absolutely, yes.
Debbie Wuthnow They don't. The people aren't campaigning. There's not a candidate or, you know, an opponent that's trying to reveal something about them. The only time, something, I think I have. I need to look into these statistics. They're almost always retained. They're very, very rarely not retained. And it's.
Rick Beggs Unless there's a huge campaign against them from someone and.
The Impact of iVoterGuide on Judicial Retention Elections
Debbie Wuthnow Yep, exactly. And so we actually, iVoterGuide started covering, Supreme Court retention elections in Oklahoma and exposing, you know, some activist judges that, you know, might say they're conservatives, but that's not how they were ruling on these cases. So we have, We've talked about our team of judicial researchers that are reading the rulings of these judges and especially looking at those controversial issues, religious liberty, right to life, and seeing, you know, are these judges, just adhering to the law and interpreting the law and applying the law, or are they, you know, creating, law and going beyond, what we might call being an activist judge. So there was this judge who was really being an activist. We rated them in the activist spectrum, gave all the information there, and they were not retained by just 400 votes out of 1.5 million people who voted. So, it's really important to know what they do, but also to find somebody who's doing the research into should these. Are these people doing a Good job. Are they doing the type of job I'd want them to do and do I want to keep them in office or. And yeah. And then what happens basically, if they're not retained, it goes back to however somebody got there in the first place. If the governor appointed them, the governor gets to appoint somebody new. So you also pay attention to, you know, who was the person who appointed that judge to know the type of person.
Rick Beggs Well, yeah, you're going to have one be removed from office with a no retention vote, then you better have somebody who you trust.
The Challenge of Voting in Judicial Elections and Undervotes
Debbie Wuthnow You're hoping somebody better gets in. Right? That's right.
Rick Beggs That's right.
Debbie Wuthnow We don't want to go the other direction.
Rick Beggs From bad to worse. Yeah, right. that. To me, that's fascinating because that is one of those places where you're on your ballot and you're going down. You say, I never heard of this person. I don't know anything about them. And now I'm supposed to say yes or no, which is.
Debbie Wuthnow I think a lot of people just skip it. And they leave it blank and they. We call it an undervote. And you know, that's even in Oklahoma. That was what, 11% of voters before iVoterGuide voter guide covered it. That dropped 4 percentage points when we started giving information. But, you know, if you don't know the right answer, skip it and leave a blank. or people just say, yeah, keep them. They can't be doing that bad a job. I don't know anything about them. So.
Rick Beggs Well. And that, not.
The Indispensable Role of I Voter Guide in Researching Candidates
Not to blow our own horn, but that's what this show is about. But that's why iVoterGuide voter guide really is important, because if we are researching in these particular states down.
Debbie Wuthnow Nobody else does this. Nobody else does this.
Rick Beggs No, no. And that's what's so sad because these are the people making decisions about our lives personally in our states. Yep. And if we. If we didn't do our work to find out anything about them and someday myself or my family or a friend member is going to come up against them, I'd sure like them to have a closer worldview to mine than what is happening out in culture today.
Debbie Wuthnow Yep.
The Importance of Understanding State-Level Decision Makers
Very important.
Rick Beggs Okay, there's a. Oh, go ahead.
Debbie Wuthnow No, I was going to say that's. That's important. I agree completely.
Understanding Appellate Courts and Their Role in the Judicial System
So were you going to talk about appellant courts?
Rick Beggs I was. I was gonna go, Because I know, you know, I always hear appellate court, which to me is where you take something that you didn't like the outcome down at the trial court or something. And, and now you're trying to appeal that somebody would listen to you with the hopes that they will have a course change in their mind. Maybe they'll move it up to the Supreme Court of the state to get a good decision. Tell me about the appellate court.
Debbie Wuthnow Well, you know, there's layers to the court system. The Supreme Court of the United States doesn't hear very many cases. A lot more are heard at the state supreme court level. And in some states, they actually set lower courts because even the state Supreme Court can't hear all of the appeals that happen through the judicial system. So they, you know, they set up layers of trial courts that lead up to the Supreme Court. And you know, in many states, those, those judges are on the ballot and running as part of a party, and you want to make sure that they're judging and applying the law the way that you would want the law applied, not in not just making the law, but just reading it in the intent that it was written. So that's the. And I'm going to throw out a piece of trivia.
Trivia: Texas Has Two Supreme Courts for Civil and Criminal Cases
I think we're going to get into some trivia. But in Texas, there are two Supreme Courts. Did you know that, Rick?
Rick Beggs No. Why?
Debbie Wuthnow We have a. We have. I didn't even know why until there's a guy at my church running for one of those courts. But it's the u. The state Supreme Court hears the criminal cases and the court of Criminal Appeals. No, maybe it's opposite one of them civil courts. Here's the civil courts cases and one of them. Here's the criminal cases. But they have two, basically statewide supreme courts, but they are for different types of appeals that go up the system and they're both going to be on your ballot. So you'll see them both on the Texas ballot. Interesting trivia. There's. It's interesting how every state goes and creates things slightly differently.
Rick Beggs Well, I do know. I do know this.
States Without Appellate Court Systems and Population Factors
I should ask you, as a trivia question, that there are some states that don't even have an appellate court system. They go right from trials and they. It moves up to the Supreme Court if.
Debbie Wuthnow Yeah, it's designated. It is. There are. There are eight states. And if you look at the states, it's the states that have fewer people. So at least as I'm reading those states. So Delaware, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming to know those are smaller populations. So there's going to be, you would think, fewer lawsuits. Fewer. You need less layers of hierarchy. If you think about it. Middle management is basically how you could view the appellant court before it gets up to the supreme court. But speaking of trivia, Rick, can I ask you.
Rick Beggs Okay, I've. I've been trying. I've been trying to avoid this part of the show because you know what, Debbie? This only makes me feel foolish, so feel free to make.
Nebraska's Unique Unicameral Legislature: A Single Chamber System
Debbie Wuthnow But you love games, so let's think
Rick Beggs of it as I do. Okay, But I'm chairman of the rules committee, so not in the, like something. Okay.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay.
Rick Beggs So have at me.
Debbie Wuthnow One of the states does not have two chambers, does not have a state house and the state senate. Did you know that? And which state is it?
Rick Beggs Oh, gosh. First of all, I have to understand the question before I can answer the question. But no, I don't have a clue.
Debbie Wuthnow So, I don't know why my birth state, the state of Nebraska is called a unicameral cameral meeting chamber or house. They don't have a state senate and a state house. They only have one chamber and they call them all senators. So in Nebraska you will not have state house and state senate. You will just have running. Who's going to be your senator in the state of Nebraska? Because they are unicameral there. That is unique.
States with the Most and Fewest State Legislators: New Hampshire and Nebraska
See, now you know something new and
Rick Beggs I have to tell you, I will. I will never remember that. Except really the unit camera. Well, that's an odd name. So I. I guess I might remember it from that. So give me something that maybe I could get.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay. So what down there, what state has the most state legislators, both senate and house?
Rick Beggs I know this one.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay.
Rick Beggs I know this one.
Debbie Wuthnow Okay.
Rick Beggs because it always. It always. I want to laugh every time I read it because it's a small state. You just mentioned it. I think about who didn't have something.
Debbie Wuthnow The appellate.
Rick Beggs Yeah, yeah. New Hampshire, because it's so tiny.
Debbie Wuthnow I know you would think it'd be California, but. No. How many do they have?
Rick Beggs Yes. 400.
Debbie Wuthnow Yes. And if you think about New Hampshire,
Rick Beggs it's like I knew the other answer. That's why I made it sound like I didn't know.
Debbie Wuthnow And then I almost think it must got to be like block captains almost. I mean, they've got so many people that get represented. So, part of what iVoterGuide voter guide in a way. you know, the cost to iVoterGuide to cover a certain state and certainly depends on how many races and candidates. So New Hampshire would be a very expensive state for us to.
The Sheer Number of State Legislators Across the Country
To research all of their state legislators. But you know, we're Looking at alternatives for all of that. So that's the biggest and the smallest. I'm trying to think, was that going to be Nebraska? Because they only have one chamber. I bet it is.
Rick Beggs Well, I would think so because it's whatever the number is for both sides, right?
Debbie Wuthnow Actually, yeah. Yeah, they have 49 total, in. In Nebraska. So that's interesting. So do you know how many legislators we have across all 50 states? State legislators, state Senate, state House.
Rick Beggs Oh, gosh, 5,000. As just.
Debbie Wuthnow It's even more. It's over 7,500 state legislators.
The Ballooning Number of Candidates and iVoterGuide's Mission
Rick Beggs And that's why we don't do them all yet.
Debbie Wuthnow That's why we don't know them all. And that's how we get to, you know, everybody's. How can you cover 15,000 candidates? And it's because we cover all the federal candidates, which is, you know, the 500, 435 plus, you know, the third of the Senate and then in the state legislature and then the statewide, that just puts us up almost to 10,000. We add in some school boards, add in some judges, and it's. It's easy to see how this, the number of candidates on your ballot just balloons. And it's a huge job. And we very much covet your prayers at iVoterGuide as we undertake this this November.
Rick Beggs Yeah, I, I, guess I'm more amazed every time we talk about all this stuff that needs to be reviewed and looked at and candidates and stuff. I am overwhelmed. What those two men started, before iVoterGuide became into God inspired. Truly, it really, it really has to be. And the fact that this is a free tool for anybody to use.
Gratitude for Being Part of iVoterGuide's Growth and Impact
I thank the Lord that I've gotten to be a part of it. Thanks, Debbie for leading its growth.
Debbie Wuthnow I thank him that you're part of it too.
Rick Beggs Well, I, we quickly. We have come to the end of this show.
Conclusion: The Compass Podcast, iVoterGuide, and True North
if you're interested in listening to our show at any other place, go get the app, the AFR app, and find us. the compass is, like I said, the official show of IBuilderGuy. We are grounded in God and rooted in research. And remember, Jesus will always be our true north.
In this episode of The Compass, hosts Rick Beggs and Debbie Wuthnow navigate the intricacies of state elections and the importance of understanding local government roles. They delve into the responsibilities of various state offices, including governors, attorneys general, and secretaries of state, while emphasizing the significance of informed voting. As November approaches, they discuss the challenges of early voting and the vital research conducted by theiVoterGuide team to ensure voters are well-informed. Tune in for insights on the legislative process and the critical roles of judges and state legislators in shaping our communities.
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