Over 130 million Americans didn’t vote last presidential cycle—that’s 40% of eligible voters ghosting democracy. Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley go hard on the real barriers: gerrymandering rigging districts, voter ID laws blocking people without the “right” paperwork, felons permanently silenced, and an Electoral College that ignores the popular vote, and sketchy e-voting tech nobody trusts. If you’re pissed that your vote feels pointless, this episode explains exactly why—and why it doesn’t have to stay that way.

Timestamps:

• (00:00) Voting Kickoff – Barriers to Ballots: Rethinking Who Votes in America
• (00:47) Intro to Voting Issues – Setting the stage
• (02:34) Exploring Voting Challenges – The big picture
• (04:22) Gerrymandering Explained – How districts get rigged
• (12:01) Debating Voter ID Requirements – Suppression or security?
• (20:23) Modernizing Voting Methods – What actually works
• (30:59) Cybersecurity Concerns in E-Voting – Hackable democracy
• (34:51) Government + Tech Giants – Cozy or creepy?
• (35:35) Trust in Tech for Security – Spoiler: there isn’t much
• (36:05) Risks & Penalties in Digital Voting – What could go wrong
• (36:54) CEO Accountability – Who pays when it breaks?
• (38:05) Identity Theft Nightmare – Real-world fallout
• (39:20) Right to Vote in the Constitution – It’s thinner than you think
• (40:41) Electoral College Breakdown – Why your vote can be worthless
• (51:14) Felons and Voting Rights – Permanent punishment?
• (57:48) Ranked Choice Voting – A better way?
• (01:03:15) Fixing America’s Voting Mess – What’s actually broken
• (01:09:32) Conclusion & Call to Action – Don’t just complain, do this