Kerby Anderson
Now that the 2024 election is in the rearview mirror, there are some steps we need to take to improve our future elections. Much of this needed to be done four years ago, but anytime you talked about improving our electoral process, you were usually accused of trying to change the election. Now that this election was more decisive, it provides an opportunity to make some needed changes.
That’s why I invited Hans von Spakovsky to come on my radio program. He was a member of the Federal Election Commission, is the senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Legal and Judicial Studies and is the manager of the think tank’s Election Law Reform Initiative.
When he is asked about the state of election integrity, he responds that we are in better shape nationally than we were last time, but much depends on what state you live in and vote in. Sadly, he also pointed out there is also a problem with state attorneys general and secretaries of state who are unwilling to enforce good state election laws.
On my program, he talked about the fact that he often is tasked with briefing European election observers. They are shocked and astounded to find out that two states with some of the nation’s largest populations do NOT require ID to vote.
Every state has work to do. He has put together an “Election Integrity Scorecard” that analyzed all 50 states and the District of Columbia. It provided an assessment of laws, regulations, and administrative practices of each state. He reported that no state scored 100 when he launched the Scorecard, and that is still the case.
Our goal for elections in this country should be “to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.” Before the next important election, let’s get to work.

Kerby Anderson
The election of Donald Trump will advance the cause of religious liberty. That is the conclusion of First Liberty President Kelly Shackelford. On my radio program he talked about Trump policies in his first term that offer hope for the future of religious liberty and then quoted from the speech Trump gave at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention.
We’ve provided a link to an article with a complete list of policies, along with a link to a video by Kelly Shackelford. Here are just a few reasons why the future of religious liberty in this country looks bright.
Former President Trump’s executive orders on religious liberty made a difference when he was in office. His 2017 Executive Order on Protecting Religious Liberty was able to advance religious freedom across all federal executive agencies. His 2019 Executive Order on Combating Anti-Semitism prohibited discrimination against Jewish communities and believers.
Kelly Shackelford also talked about the establishment of the HHS Conscience and Religious Freedom division. One of his former employees was able to direct the agency’s efforts to protect religious freedom and people of faith in the healthcare industry.
What will a Trump administration do in the future? Trump’s speech at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention delineated seven major actions.
One was the development of a Religious Liberty Task Force. Trump explained that he would “create a new federal task force [to fight] anti-Christian bias” and it would “investigate all forms of illegal discrimination, harassment, and persecution against Christians in America.” He also promised he would protect Christians, religious symbols, and religious expression and speech.
The election of Donald Trump is good news for those of us concerned about the future of religious liberty in America.