Four weeks from Election Day, Jill Wine-Banks sits down with Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, chair of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, to ask the question keeping so many of us up at night: can the Trump administration interfere with our elections?

Aguilar's answer: elections belong to the states, and secretaries of state have been preparing since the last cycle. He explains how a group of Republican secretaries of state helped convince the Supreme Court to block the Postal Service's mail-ballot rule, and why Nevada won't run its voter rolls through the federal SAVE database despite pressure from the state's Republican governor.

LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE

Cisco Aguilar for Secretary of State:

https://voteforcisco.com

Democratic Association of Secretaries of State:

https://demsofstate.org

The Nevada Independent: 185 voters flagged by the Trump administration are likely citizens, state says

https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/185-noncitizen-voters-flagged-by-trump-admin-in-nevada-are-likely-citizens-state-says

Las Vegas Review-Journal: DOJ tells Nevada election chief he is under investigation

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/politics-and-government/nevada/doj-tells-nevada-election-chief-he-is-under-investigation-3884314/

SCOTUSblog: Supreme Court denies the administration's request to implement parts of the USPS mail-in voting rule

https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/09/supreme-court-denies-trump-administrations-request-to-implement-parts-of-usps-rule-on-mail-in-vo/

Defending Our Vote: the ACLU's poll monitor and election protection program:

https://www.aclu.org/campaigns-initiatives/election-safeguarding

Jill Wine-Banks:

https://www.jillwinebanks.com

CHAPTERS

0:00 Meet Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar

2:45 "They're not going to take control of our elections"

3:53 Working with Republican secretaries of state

4:46 The Supreme Court, the Postal Service and mail ballots

6:47 Why Nevada won't use the federal SAVE database

8:30 16,000 "noncitizen voters" … down to zero

11:20 Seven grand jury subpoenas and a DOJ investigation

12:11 Jill: Are the Watergate prosecutors next?

13:06 Should secretaries of state be partisan?

14:32 The 2026 races and the insurance policy for 2028

16:35 500 bills to restrict voting: how you can help

17:52 Become a poll worker or poll observer

18:48 Federal monitors at the polls?

20:41 Thank you, Secretary Aguilar

Jill talks with SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West president Dave Regan about Proposition 40, a California ballot measure that would impose a one-time 5% tax on residents worth more than $1 billion to help offset major federal healthcare cuts. Regan explains how the tax would work, responds to critics, and argues that the cuts could leave 3.5 million Californians without coverage and cost 150,000 healthcare jobs. They also discuss the billionaire-funded opposition, Governor Newsom’s stance, and the union campaign that put Prop 40 on the ballot.

Reparations and the Fight Against Historical Discrimination — An Interview with Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss

Join us as we explore Evanston’s groundbreaking reparations program, the legal challenges it faces, and how it sets a precedent for addressing historical injustices. Mayor Daniel Biss shares insights on city-led reparations, the role of government in repairing past harms, and the broader implications for society and democracy.

Key Topics:
The origin and scope of Evanston’s reparations program, focusing on housing equity.
Eligibility criteria: who can apply and under what circumstances.
The legal battles, including Department of Justice intervention and constitutional considerations.
How the program differentiates from reparations for slavery, emphasizing local accountability.
The international precedent for reparations and lessons from Germany’s post-Holocaust efforts.
The political climate, attempts to rewrite history, and the importance of acknowledging past injustices.
The broader significance of reparations in fostering racial justice and societal healing.