Keystone Today

During a conversation on Live Free TV with former military officer and GOP legislator Allen West, Gina Swoboda discussed election integrity and related issues in a far-reaching interview. 

Swoboda, executive director of Voter Reference Foundation, pointed out that in the wake of alleged issues across the country during the 2020 presidential election, it is important for voters to educate themselves and be in a position to hold their local election officials accountable when warranted. 

“So we need to verify that compliance exists in your county,” Swoboda said during the interview on YouTube. “And when you don't follow the law that is there for a reason to ensure the quality and the controls, […] then if there is chaos, there's room for bad things to happen.”

Swoboda told West during the interview it is important for votes to know the rules in their area. 

 “So people need to know what are the rules that are in place for the election and are they following them and have they followed them,” she said during the interview. “And then if they haven't, you need to go to your elected officials and have them make these at least county election officials comply with the statutes.”

The Voter Reference Foundation, according to its website, provides education and access to information about how elections work nationwide.

“Our goal is to encourage greater voter participation in all fifty states,” the organization said on its website. “We believe the people have an absolute right to a transparent elections system, including elections data and elections procedures.” 

According to the website, it offers information on each state, including a scorecard based on its data transparency and election operations, as well as absentee ballot trackers, election operations and state regulations for voter registration. 

During the interview, West and Swoboda talked about a recent Supreme Court verdict in Moore vs Harper, stemming from a North Carolina State Supreme Court case in which the state court prevented the state legislature from enacting a new jurisdictional map in 2021, according to a Supreme Court blog.  

While the Constitution puts state legislatures in change of federal elections in the state, the high court, in a 6-3 vote, ruled the  “the federal elections clause does not vest exclusive and independent authority in state legislatures to set the rules regarding federal elections,” which could be interpreted to mean states and legislatures could be overruled by the federal government. 

By limiting election power at the state level, Swoboda expressed concerns about the chance for fraud to occur. 

“The Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2020, in Ken Paxton's view and other states view, diluted the electors of the other states by not following what their own legislature said,” Swoboda said, pointing to a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, according to a post on his website, targeted at several states after they reportedly changed election laws amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“So this seems at first reading to open the door to more of that kind of activity, which is unfortunate.” Swoboda said of the Supreme Court decision in her interview with West.