State Sen. Ryan Braunberger joined this episode of Plain Talk to discuss his run for North Dakota Secretary of State, election integrity, campaign finance transparency, redistricting, and the growing distrust many Americans have in public institutions.

"I think we do a good job of running our elections," Braunberger said. "What I think the Secretary of State office could do better at is showing the receipts that we do good."

Braunberger said North Dakota's elections are secure, but argued the state needs to do a better job educating the public on how elections actually work, including canvassing, vote counting, and voter ID verification. "Many politicians say elections are fine," he said, "but we don't tell them why they're secure and how they're secure."

The conversation also covered campaign finance reporting, voter ID laws, redistricting fights, ballot measure transparency, and the challenge of maintaining trust in elections during a time of intense political division. Braunberger said he supports stronger enforcement of campaign finance laws and even suggested candidates who refuse to pay fines could potentially be barred from future ballots.

Also on this episode, Rob Port and guest co-host Erin Oban discuss Measure 1 on the June ballot, voter ID access in rural communities, the lawsuit over North Dakota's political "false statements" law, and the growing challenge of balancing free speech with misinformation online.

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