Episode 106

full
Published on:

8th Sep 2025

Barriers to Ballots: How 130 Million Voters Are Ghosted by Democracy

More than 130 million voters never cast a ballot. Why? Because gerrymandering, voter ID laws, and felon disenfranchisement turn democracy into a maze. Jerremy and Dave reveal how politicians redraw maps to lock in wins, why ID debates leave millions shut out, and how outdated rules and money in politics fuel distrust. The barriers aren’t glitches—they’re features of a system built to keep power in the right hands.

Timestamps:

(00:00) 130 Million Missing Voters: Who Got Ghosted?

(01:47) Voting Problem or Power Play?

(03:34) Gerrymandering’s Funhouse Maps

(11:13) ID Laws: Gym Cards vs Ballot Access

(19:35) Modernizing Democracy: Tech at the Polls


📢 Solving America’s Problems Podcast – Real Solutions For Real Issues

🎧 Listen on  Apple | Spotify | & More!

🌍 Join the conversation on Instagram | YouTube | X

Transcript
Jerremy:

dc Dave Conley.

2

:

We're having discussions today.

3

:

What are we discussing?

4

:

Dave: In this week's episode of Solving

America's Problems, we examine the core

5

:

of our democracy voting, and its systemic

cracks that raise a critical question.

6

:

What if over 130 million

eligible voices are left unheard?

7

:

From barriers facing felons, young

people, and immigrants to the distorted

8

:

districts of gerrymandering that skew

representation, we explore how low

9

:

participation and outdated influences

like money and politics erode.

10

:

Trust.

11

:

Join us as we uncover reforms that

could ensure every vote counts.

12

:

And that's this week on solving

America's problems, barriers to ballots,

13

:

rethinking Who Votes in America.

14

:

. Jerremy: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and

girls, friends and family from around the

15

:

world, welcome to another Mind Altering

Opinion Shifting, world renowned Listen

16

:

Solving America's Problems podcast.

17

:

I am Jerremy Lexander, my co-host.

18

:

Amazing Dave Congress, and we

are discussing him and I, and

19

:

we're gonna have some incredible

guests coming on this series.

20

:

We are sure it's gonna be really

fun, but we're talking voting.

21

:

Now, what's fantastic about this one is it

popped up on our radar as like, all right,

22

:

a lot of people are talking about this

one, but then there are people that are

23

:

talking about it and there's people that

aren't, and there's people that are, and

24

:

there's some changes that are being made.

25

:

There's not a lot of changes being made.

26

:

A lot of people don't know.

27

:

People don't know.

28

:

So Dave and I are gonna dive in and

hopefully not only educate ourselves

29

:

even more on the topic, but also educate

every single one of our listeners.

30

:

You can share it with your friends, you

can share it with your family, and we can

31

:

all learn and grow and dive in together.

32

:

Dave, is there a problem

around voting at all,

33

:

or is this just us.

34

:

Dave: I was gonna ask

you the same question.

35

:

It's do we have a problem?

36

:

You know, I don't know.

37

:

So this episode is all about our kickoff.

38

:

What, like what are our biases?

39

:

What do we think about this going

forward as we start this series.

40

:

And that starts always

with a lot of research.

41

:

And then when I dug into it, because

initially when you said, Hey, let's

42

:

do voting, I was like, oh, snooze.

43

:

And then I was like, no, actually

I do have a lot of opinions.

44

:

Oh yeah, I can get fired up about this.

45

:

It's oh yeah, we got a lot of problems.

46

:

Jerremy: Snooze.

47

:

Dave: and then I wonder

what the problems are.

48

:

There are certainly issues that could make

voting better, and there are certainly.

49

:

Things I would love to, to see

that I get like fired up about.

50

:

And then some things that I'm, I

am fired up about, like, I think

51

:

we'll talk about it, voter id

you know, like what does that do?

52

:

What does that actually mean?

53

:

And then I'm like, okay, well actually

we do get millions of people voting

54

:

all the time, every two years at least.

55

:

And we do get the results.

56

:

And then Dave wonders

like, what is broken?

57

:

Because you know, I, I don't know

a lot of people who look at our

58

:

representative democracy here and

be like, oh, that works perfect.

59

:

But those are sort of the end results.

60

:

And I think we're looking

at voting at fixing that.

61

:

I'm not sure if that's the okay, we

have terrible representatives that

62

:

don't seem to be listening to us,

and then they don't seem to be doing

63

:

anything that makes a difference

for the vast majority of people.

64

:

Is that voting?

65

:

Yeah, I think some of it, maybe it's

money in politics, maybe it's this,

66

:

maybe it's that, maybe it's influence.

67

:

I don't know.

68

:

Yeah.

69

:

Like I, this, that's the

whole point of this thing.

70

:

Jerremy: Yeah, exactly.

71

:

There's huge discussions going on

right now about gerrymandering,

72

:

right?

73

:

Between Texas and California

and Governor Newsom and

74

:

Trump,

75

:

Dave: crazy.

76

:

Jerremy: who just hate each other,

77

:

Dave: Oh yeah.

78

:

Jerremy: Big time.

79

:

Why does that make you crazy?

80

:

Dave: Gerrymandering.

81

:

I think anybody who looks at it,

other than a politician looks

82

:

at me like this is bonkers.

83

:

Like these crazy drawn maps that.

84

:

Ensure that one party stays in

power, doesn't represent a group

85

:

because, it goes for a thousand

miles in these weird ass shapes.

86

:

And I don't get it.

87

:

I mean, like, I honestly do not get where

somebody looks at this and goes, perfect.

88

:

You know, I think actually disenfranchises

a lot of people because you get

89

:

lumped in with people who may not,

you know, know or feel anywhere near

90

:

about what you, think about stuff.

91

:

I don't know what, you know, like,

I'm not sure my issues being in an

92

:

urban environment would translate well

to somebody who's, literally with a

93

:

cattle ranch a hundred miles from here.

94

:

And yet those people need to be

heard and I need to be heard too.

95

:

Jerremy: It's very strange to me

because to define it for listeners

96

:

gerrymandering is redrawing district

boundaries to favor a part of your group.

97

:

Now, you might go no one's doing that.

98

:

Just strictly yeah, they are

99

:

Like politicians are sitting down.

100

:

Literally saying, all right,

cool, so here's all the votes.

101

:

And they just draw all these crazy lines

where the boundaries are literally nothing

102

:

else that exists other than whoever

needed the votes to come in for who the,

103

:

who needs to get the votes to come in.

104

:

For example, they're not county lines,

105

:

Dave: no.

106

:

Jerremy: they're not city lines,

they're not township lines, they're

107

:

not river lines, they're not

landlines, they're not property lines.

108

:

They're literally who do we need to vote?

109

:

Who is on our side and in our favor?

110

:

Where do they live?

111

:

We know these people.

112

:

Let's group them into their individual

idiosyncratic circles so that

113

:

they will vote for us so that we

will win this particular location.

114

:

Dave: Okay let's flip the

script on this, right?

115

:

So a hundred miles from here, there

is, somebody who's attending a

116

:

cattle ranch or, growing tomatoes.

117

:

And we do share a lot of things.

118

:

And, on the national level, won't

most of our things sort of align.

119

:

And so what sounds crazy on this

side, particularly in rural areas

120

:

where you have these big stretches

of land and not a lot of people.

121

:

What does it matter?

122

:

Look, my personal feeling is

gerrymandering his bonkers

123

:

and they should just use math.

124

:

Jerremy: Yeah.

125

:

Dave: But I don't know.

126

:

Is there a pro gerrymandering thing?

127

:

Jerremy: I'm sure we'll track one down.

128

:

Dave: Somebody will believe in it.

129

:

Jerremy: Yeah, we'll have to find one.

130

:

It's gonna be someone who loves politics.

131

:

Because again, I'm over here thinking

to myself, isn't that already done?

132

:

Don't we already have county lines?

133

:

Dave: Yeah.

134

:

Jerremy: And if you're a voter or an

individual in the United States of

135

:

America, I'm here to tell you that a

gerrymandering line and a county line

136

:

are two totally different things.

137

:

Like county line's, a preset, they

all, you know where they are if you're

138

:

driving wherever you're driving.

139

:

But mostly in the southeast, when you go

from one county to the next, the roads

140

:

are different, the signs are different.

141

:

you Can physically tell, okay,

I am now in a different county,

142

:

Gilchrist County or Laua County,

Florida, I have changed county.

143

:

Alright?

144

:

That's not how these lines are drawn.

145

:

That's not who's voting, that's not

who they're trying to group together.

146

:

And again, it just seems to

me like there should be some.

147

:

Pretty easy, pretty basic, like

understanding that we already

148

:

have voting territories down,

like they're called counties.

149

:

You're done.

150

:

There's no more, there's no other

need to not only spend time and waste

151

:

resources, but for just a random dis

appropriation of let's just ensure that

152

:

we are drawing this voting corridors

the way we want to so that we can

153

:

get the vote that we need to get.

154

:

Is mind blowing to me?

155

:

Dave: Okay.

156

:

I'm desperately trying to take the

other side of this, but I, it's tough.

157

:

This is arguing for

invading another nation.

158

:

I live again in an urban environment.

159

:

And so the number of people that

a representative represents,

160

:

I don't know, I think it would

extend like 10 blocks that way.

161

:

10 blocks north, 10 blocks south,

and Miami-Dade County is huge.

162

:

Whereas if you were in a

lemme try the word again.

163

:

Rural environment.

164

:

Jerremy: roll

165

:

area.

166

:

Yeah.

167

:

You have less people to oversee.

168

:

Dave: Yeah.

169

:

I also went to school out in Colorado and

we'd go up to the University of Wyoming

170

:

and, there's more sheep than people.

171

:

There might be just a small

handful of representatives that

172

:

represent the entire state.

173

:

I don't know.

174

:

So I, I did plug this into our research

and they said, yeah, there are certain

175

:

districts that need to be kept together,

like, native American Indian tribes.

176

:

I'm like, okay, I get that.

177

:

It's the partisanship

that is bonkers, right?

178

:

I think in some ways, you, actually see

it when they draw school lines, you know?

179

:

I think that's more, analogous,

maybe less partisan, but that can

180

:

be like class level, like classism,

let's make sure these neighborhoods

181

:

are going to this school and these

neighborhoods are going to this school.

182

:

I think that does happen.

183

:

I've seen that when I grew

up in Northern Virginia.

184

:

So I'm gonna try and take the

other side of this, which is

185

:

like, okay, representative

democracy doesn't fit neatly into

186

:

these big places, big counties.

187

:

What do you think?

188

:

Jerremy: I think ultimately

man, like that's the county like

189

:

that you're choosing to live in.

190

:

So if you have a huge county,

like you can have, we can easily

191

:

create a very simple rule.

192

:

It's oh, one county has 400.

193

:

The population of another county,

they should get more representatives.

194

:

Dave: Yeah.

195

:

And they do right now,

196

:

But So how do you draw it inside of that?

197

:

So like, where's your, where, you know,

do you gerrymander inside the big county?

198

:

Like what do you do then?

199

:

Jerremy: I think you just

simply, everyone votes, right?

200

:

If you don't even have to you just say,

201

:

Dave: I see.

202

:

So if I live in Miami-Dade, they're just

like, okay, this is the 10 reps you get

203

:

and they just represent the entire county.

204

:

And if there's not enough people

in one county, then it's okay, you.

205

:

You won, represent these two counties or

the three represent these five counties.

206

:

Yeah.

207

:

Okay.

208

:

I get it.

209

:

All right.

210

:

Jerremy: I can just see it

like, it makes sense to me.

211

:

Dave: Does everywhere have counties?

212

:

Jerremy: Every state in the US.

213

:

Dave: Yeah.

214

:

Okay.

215

:

Jerremy: Never state in the us and

some of 'em are big, some of 'em are

216

:

small, but again, they're already there.

217

:

We already have everything

created for them.

218

:

There's no more need to do anything.

219

:

And yeah, sure, counties could change

in some very rare circumstances,

220

:

Dave: I think I have more in common

with the people in my county, even

221

:

though it's like incredibly diverse.

222

:

Like I would get that because it

is diverse and we handle it now,

223

:

Jerremy: right.

224

:

Precisely.

225

:

And you already lived there.

226

:

You chose to

227

:

live there, so it was

like, that's your decision.

228

:

Dave: If I just get any of the reps in

here, let's say it's 10 for, this county

229

:

or whatever, five, it's like fantastic.

230

:

I get five more people to call.

231

:

Jerremy: Yeah, that's right.

232

:

Dave loves

233

:

Dave: I'm down with that.

234

:

So you

235

:

Jerremy: Now here's one that we

both agree on, without question.

236

:

I'm pretty sure we do.

237

:

We'll see.

238

:

We'll find out the save act.

239

:

Safeguard.

240

:

American Voter Eligibility Act

was requiring citizen proof

241

:

for federal registration.

242

:

This was house passed in 2024 with

stall proponents cite integrity,

243

:

opponents warn of disenfranchising

citizens without documents.

244

:

Dave: so this is curious.

245

:

Yeah,

246

:

Jerremy: fine.

247

:

No, it's fine.

248

:

I'm curious,

249

:

Dave: I'm trying to take

the other side on things,

250

:

Jerremy: I try.

251

:

You're you're doing

252

:

me tell you a story about

253

:

this weekend.

254

:

So I'm in Laguna Beach this

weekend with a bunch of my buddies.

255

:

We're gonna go to this gym

and we're all gonna work out

256

:

because, and so we're all there.

257

:

All of us are together,

and it's lifetime fitness.

258

:

And these are the high end, yeah.

259

:

Bougie gyms.

260

:

So we're going in there and I fill

out I spend 13 minutes filling

261

:

out all this paperwork, all this

registration, all these forms.

262

:

And then they say, okay, cool.

263

:

We need your ID now.

264

:

I'm like, yeah, cool.

265

:

I got on my phone.

266

:

They're like no, we need your physical id.

267

:

Dave: Wow.

268

:

Jerremy: I'm like, you need for my why?

269

:

They're like, we need to scan it.

270

:

I'm like, scan this digital

ID that I have on my phone.

271

:

Like it's the same thing.

272

:

It's a picture of my id.

273

:

You can scan the barcode.

274

:

It will register.

275

:

Everything works fine.

276

:

Yeah.

277

:

But we need our, your physical one.

278

:

And this was like a 15 minute fight.

279

:

Dave: Really?

280

:

Jerremy: never got into this gym,

281

:

Dave: You're kidding.

282

:

Jerremy: No, I'm not kidding.

283

:

Dave: They're like,

284

:

Jerremy: story.

285

:

13 of my bros are all around me.

286

:

They all have their

287

:

physical IDs.

288

:

Dave: this is Jerremy.

289

:

No, I'm

290

:

Jerremy: I'm the moron.

291

:

I didn't bring in physical id 'cause I

don't bring physical IDs almost anywhere.

292

:

But

293

:

Dave: you get on a plane?

294

:

Jerremy: No.

295

:

Dave: Okay, so you weren't on a plane.

296

:

Alright.

297

:

Jerremy: Yeah I had my physical

ID in my possession in my hotel.

298

:

I didn't have it

299

:

in my physical

300

:

In this gym.

301

:

Now here's the thing though, the

point of the story is this gym

302

:

said you don't have physical id.

303

:

Dave: out.

304

:

Jerremy: You're out.

305

:

Dave: Yeah.

306

:

Jerremy: Oh, okay.

307

:

If I'm going to a, if I am voting, it

seems like that also should be relatively

308

:

the same level of criticism or scrutiny

or structure in place where listen, if

309

:

you do not have the appropriate physical

id, if a gym's gonna uphold this thing,

310

:

Dave: Yeah.

311

:

Jerremy: we should for voting.

312

:

Dave: Okay.

313

:

I'll start this by saying I'm with you.

314

:

Jerremy: Yep.

315

:

Dave: I did my research, right?

316

:

Jerremy: Yeah.

317

:

We

318

:

Dave: I researched this, and so the

other side of this is disenfranchises

319

:

people, and I'm like, oh, come on.

320

:

We need ID for so many things.

321

:

We need it for bank accounts welfare

and Medicaid, social security,

322

:

renting housing, buying booze.

323

:

Go to the gym and we do live in a

different world because we're not poor.

324

:

Like we're not unhoused, we're not

homeless and we're older and it

325

:

estimates are that 11% now blew my mind.

326

:

11% have no id, and they cite the expense

of it because it can cost a couple of

327

:

hundred dollars to get a driver's license,

which I'm like what state is that?

328

:

It can you might not have the documents.

329

:

And I'm down with that.

330

:

Like, when I moved, I couldn't

find my birth certificate.

331

:

I couldn't find anything.

332

:

I couldn't get my passport.

333

:

Like I had to like contact

everybody and have it sent to me,

334

:

but it wasn't that big a deal.

335

:

If you're young, it's

18, 18, 19 year olds.

336

:

40% of 'em don't have a driver's license.

337

:

If you're black and Hispanic, it's 6.2%

338

:

and all of this represents 20 to 21

million people that don't have an id.

339

:

And I'm like, that's crazy talk.

340

:

I feel like we're solving for one thing

and that's broken on the other side.

341

:

Like, everybody should be able

to get a, an ID for nothing.

342

:

And if it's like an at, like you

should be able to attest to it and

343

:

be like, this is who I am, this is my

signature, this is my utility bill.

344

:

You get your, I feel like if there

was a push to just get people IDs,

345

:

then it wouldn't matter, you know?

346

:

So the other side of this is that

like, there's plenty of people

347

:

who don't, and I'm like, well,

that's a little bit on them.

348

:

Jerremy: You can't argue for them.

349

:

Dave, you already argued for them.

350

:

you're you're like, listen, I don't

wanna disenfranchise you, but.

351

:

Dave: Lower income, 10 to 15%

represents 10 million people.

352

:

So if you aren't making money, you

don't have an id I don't get it.

353

:

It doesn't make sense to

me yet they are there.

354

:

So if we are a representative,

democracy, should it be tied to that?

355

:

It turns out that not a lot

of countries actually require

356

:

id, I was shocked at that.

357

:

It's really?

358

:

It's yeah.

359

:

Countries that have higher voter

participation, they don't have it.

360

:

They

361

:

Jerremy: of

362

:

Dave: have, they, they have like voter ID

363

:

Jerremy: can vote.

364

:

Dave: Huh?

365

:

Jerremy: You can drive over there, fly

over there, and just go vote in their

366

:

elections because they don't need any IDs.

367

:

Dave: You, there are other ways to do it.

368

:

Like when I lived in California,

you did have to sign a form.

369

:

You did have to say,

Hey, this is who I am.

370

:

You did register to an address.

371

:

And when they go back and audit that

the fraud in there is minuscule.

372

:

Like it's a fraction of a fraction

of a percent and none of it

373

:

changes an outcome of an election.

374

:

I'm like, okay, I get it.

375

:

So there's a, there's one part of

me is like, okay, if the ID doesn't

376

:

actually solve anything, and it is a

huge barrier to people going and voting

377

:

but I have a tough time with this.

378

:

Yeah, you should just have an id.

379

:

Jerremy: Here's the one

thing I didn't research.

380

:

What IDs are valid?

381

:

For voting,

382

:

Dave: Okay.

383

:

Jerremy: Okay, so you

have a driver's license?

384

:

Dave: A Costco membership.

385

:

Jerremy: A, a driver's license passport.

386

:

But you can get an ID card

without a driver's license.

387

:

You can go, here's who I am.

388

:

And it doesn't have to

be a driver's license.

389

:

Dave: Yeah.

390

:

Jerremy: I don't know how much

those costs never had to get one.

391

:

I am assuming dollars, tens of dollars.

392

:

Maybe like very small amount of money.

393

:

Like this is who I am.

394

:

Card.

395

:

That's not a passport.

396

:

Passports, they do cost

a hundred and like $20.

397

:

And I do know people that

don't have their passport.

398

:

I can, you know what, that's fine.

399

:

Okay.

400

:

So you don't need a passport.

401

:

Got it.

402

:

Driver's license.

403

:

I don't drive.

404

:

I live in New York City and

I don't have a lot of money.

405

:

Got it.

406

:

I take the subway everywhere I go.

407

:

Okay.

408

:

Your subway.

409

:

In order to ride a subway, you

had to have some type of right,

410

:

and then you paid for that thing

and that card is now yours.

411

:

I don't know what the,

like I go get an id.

412

:

That's, that seems like you should be,

413

:

because the thing is the reason that

the fear is there, I think from one of

414

:

whatever, here all, we have so many,

we already had a discussion, right?

415

:

We have so many legal immigrants in this

country that they're all gonna come and

416

:

flood the gates with bad voter shit.

417

:

I don't think that's gonna happen at all.

418

:

That's really not even what I'm saying.

419

:

I have, I don't even have

that fear whatsoever.

420

:

I just truly think for

validation purposes, you

421

:

should have some measure of ID

422

:

now.

423

:

Dave: I feel like we can solve this with

solving the ID part, which is okay, like

424

:

we have blood mobiles, like, why don't

we have ID mobiles that go to low income

425

:

areas and be like, okay, here's your

free, id just bring a birth certificate.

426

:

And it's oh, I don't

have a birth certificate.

427

:

Fine, then we will take care of

you getting a birth certificate.

428

:

Where were you born?

429

:

It was like I was born overseas.

430

:

It's oh fine, we will, work with the

embassy and we'll get what you need.

431

:

I'm like, ah, like I feel like

let's just solve the ID part and

432

:

be like, of course you need an id.

433

:

You need an ID for other stuff.

434

:

So let's make sure you have an id.

435

:

Jerremy: It, boom.

436

:

Precisely.

437

:

That's easy enough.

438

:

Now, from that standpoint biometrics

is becoming extremely effective.

439

:

And apparently the C-I-A-F-B-I they

all have biometric scanners and these

440

:

cameras all over the world, they're

441

:

scanning people's faces.

442

:

You've seen Jason Bourne

443

:

Dave: Hate it.

444

:

Jerremy: so I'm assuming

that's already happening.

445

:

But every, like 95% of people use face ID

446

:

on their Apple or their Google device.

447

:

The reason I'm bringing

that up is because.

448

:

I actually do think that we

should make voting easier,

449

:

faster, and simpler.

450

:

Alex: "We've cracked open voting's

foundations—from gerrymandered maps

451

:

that twist like abstract art to ID

rules tougher than gym memberships.

452

:

But could tech seal those

cracks, or shatter everything?

453

:

Next, biometric scans meet hacker

horrors, and why data breaches

454

:

make us question it all."

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

Listen for free

Show artwork for Solving America's Problems

About the Podcast

Solving America's Problems
Solving America’s Problems isn’t just a podcast—it’s a journey. Co-host Jerremy Newsome, a successful entrepreneur and educator, is pursuing his lifelong dream of running for president. Along the way, he and co-host Dave Conley bring together experts, advocates, and everyday Americans to explore the real, actionable solutions our country needs.

With dynamic formats—one-on-one interviews, panel discussions, and more—we cut through the noise of divisive rhetoric to uncover practical ideas that unite instead of divide. If you’re ready to think differently, act boldly, and join a movement for meaningful change, subscribe now.