Voting, No Fraud, Just Competence

00:00:00:04 – 00:00:03:30
David Martin
This is the good government show.

00:00:03:35 – 00:00:11:23
Hayley Rippel
I want people to come to the source, ask us questions. Let us show you the process and explain things to you.

00:00:11:28 – 00:00:16:49
Hayley Rippel
Well, I’ve been in the auditor’s office. I’m a 27th year.

00:00:16:54 – 00:00:26:39
Hayley Rippel
You know, when you’re in a county government using taxpayers dollars, you need to be conscious of what you’re spending those dollars on and always be transparent.

00:00:26:43 – 00:00:35:36
Hayley Rippel
The state might be cut in our funding, but yet they’re forcing us little counties to pay the difference on these unfunded mandates.

00:00:35:41 – 00:00:47:04
Hayley Rippel
You know, there’s always those keyboard warriors that are in the background just bash in the process or but they don’t do they really fully understand what what they’re bashing. You know.

00:00:47:09 – 00:01:06:43
David Martin
We hear a lot about stolen elections, rigged elections, but we don’t hear it from the people who actually run elections. On this episode, we’re talking with an election supervisor. Spoiler alert. Elections are fair and work just fine. Since this is election season, it’s a good time to talk about election security. Another spoiler alert they are secure. Welcome to the Good government show.

00:01:06:46 – 00:01:23:33
David Martin
I’m Dave Martin. First, help us show the message of good government by liking us and sharing us on your favorite social media. Make sure to leave a comment and join our good Government show community. Check out our website for the link. Hayley Ripple is the auditor for Benton County, Iowa. She essentially runs voting in her county, which is just outside of Cedar Rapids.

00:01:23:33 – 00:01:43:44
David Martin
With so much noise coming from one side of the political spectrum, it’s good to get a real insider’s view on elections. I got that with Hayley. Here’s what’s important to understand. We don’t have one national election. What we do have are 50 state elections, which are broken down to each state having local elections. While it’s not exactly done the same way everywhere, it’s pretty similar everywhere.

00:01:43:44 – 00:02:01:47
David Martin
When you’re talking about election fairness, election security, you have to go local. And on this show we do. For starters, they invite members of the public in to see the process. When they’re testing the system. You can come watch. That’s open government, which is, of course, good government. We spent a lot of time talking about the training election workers get and the support they get.

00:02:01:59 – 00:02:18:25
David Martin
Here’s the thing, dear listeners, if you’re truly worried about voting or voting fairness, become an election worker. While it varies, you can count on one full day of training and then election day if you voted. And if you’re listening to this podcast, I’m sure you have. But you see the workers there, your neighbors, teachers, retired reporters, a slice of your city.

00:02:18:25 – 00:02:35:55
David Martin
It’s a one day job, but there are primaries, local elections, national elections, and of course, big election days. And they all need poll workers help out. She also gives good details on the process and how Mail-In voting works. At a time when the entire voting process is in many ways under attack, or at least being subject to closer scrutiny.

00:02:35:57 – 00:02:46:45
David Martin
Talking to someone who actually does it as both instructive and enlightening. Coming up. Benton County, Iowa auditor Haley Ripley.

00:02:46:49 – 00:03:10:34
David Martin
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00:03:10:34 – 00:03:21:59
David Martin
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00:03:22:04 – 00:03:50:43
David Martin
After you get done with this episode. Hear more good government stories with our friends at How to Really Run a City for members Kasim Reed of Atlanta and Michael Nutter of Philadelphia, and their co-host, journalist and author Larry Platt talk with guests and other mayors about how to really get stuff done in cities around the nation. Check them out where you’re listening now or through their nonprofit news site, The Philadelphia Citizen.

00:03:50:48 – 00:04:11:22
David Martin
Welcome to the Good Government show. I have just met Haley Ripple. You are the auditor of Benton County, Iowa. We’re here at the National Association of Counties Legislative Conference here in Washington, DC. And you’re here. Welcome. Thank you. All right. As I mentioned, Iowa is a state sort of near and dear to my heart. Now, I also host a show called Leading Iowa Good Government in Iowa City.

00:04:11:23 – 00:04:21:27
David Martin
So I am immersed in all things Iowa. So it’s great to be another Iowan. Thank you. I’m not in Iowa, but you are. So I just visit. You’re the auditor. What does that job mean? What do you do?

00:04:21:29 – 00:04:43:28
Hayley Rippel
So in our county, in Iowa, the auditor is also the commissioner of elections. And by code of Iowa, we are also the clerk to the Board of Supervisors. So my role varies. We do all the payables in the county receivables. We do all the tax records apply the levies, certify the taxes to the treasurer. We do the portioning.

00:04:43:33 – 00:04:52:20
Hayley Rippel
We help townships set their budgets. We do annual financial reports. We were kind of just a sub hub of the county. I would say.

00:04:52:23 – 00:05:09:19
David Martin
Well, it sounds like a lot of accounting and a lot of paperwork. Yes. So let’s talk about voting. That’s a big topic of conversation here in America right now. Who can vote? Who can’t vote? There are some people that are saying, oh, there’s rampant voter fraud. Is there rapid voter fraud? What do you.

00:05:09:19 – 00:05:31:49
Hayley Rippel
See, say, in Iowa? We have the best system in place because we still have the paper ballots to trace back to. Okay. You know, even if the machines when I order a precinct ballots say I have 500 precincts for Vinton, for precinct at the end of the election, I can account for all 500 of those ballots. I know how many of them went as a test deck that we mark.

00:05:31:52 – 00:05:44:17
Hayley Rippel
We know how many went by mail. We know how many voted at the counter, and we know how many that went to the precinct. So when those all reconcile and come back, we can honestly account for 500 ballots and where they went.

00:05:44:20 – 00:05:50:26
David Martin
Is there any reason for anyone in Benton County, Iowa to be concerned about their voting integrity?

00:05:50:26 – 00:06:07:42
Hayley Rippel
I do not feel no, no, not at all. I get so frustrated with the I want people to come to the source, ask us questions, let us show you the process and explain things to you. You can come and visit and you can watch our public test. I don’t know in other states, but we advertise when we have our public test.

00:06:07:45 – 00:06:22:17
Hayley Rippel
What that is is every precinct ballot style has a test deck. So we we test under votes over votes. You know, we we just do all the races and we do a test system. And then we do a compilation of all the results too.

00:06:22:22 – 00:06:30:41
David Martin
That sounds like you are aggressively working on this. You know, whether there’s an election going on or not. This is a process that you that you do.

00:06:30:43 – 00:06:50:04
Hayley Rippel
There are so many things going on behind the scenes. Even right now, we’re gearing up for the primary election. You know, the candidates are starting to take their paperwork out and getting their signatures. But behind the scenes, we are already getting supplies ready for precincts. We’re ordering stock, you know, because every precinct, we have 19 precincts in my county.

00:06:50:04 – 00:06:56:32
Hayley Rippel
So the supplies that go out, we have to have pens. They have to have their forms. I mean.

00:06:56:35 – 00:07:02:13
David Martin
I should add, by the way, I’ve been in Election Day with poll worker. Yes. You understand the work I do. Yes, yes I do.

00:07:02:15 – 00:07:06:05
Hayley Rippel
And then we train those and you know, now we have to every election they have to be trained.

00:07:06:08 – 00:07:17:33
David Martin
Let’s talk about photo trading because I’ve gone through photo taking a couple of times. When you are a poll worker, what you tell, you know, well I’ll tell you my experience. But what do you what do people do? What do you put them through.

00:07:17:36 – 00:07:36:51
Hayley Rippel
They well, a lot of them get nervous because we always have a chairman and we also do a political. We have to keep it politically balanced if we can. So like if I have two Republicans, two Dems, we can have no parties. A lot of times we’re scurrying to get that balance. But, you know, do your due diligence, do the best we can with what we have.

00:07:36:54 – 00:07:37:30
David Martin
Right?

00:07:37:32 – 00:07:44:15
Hayley Rippel
A lot of them are your retired school teachers, your family, your friends. I mean, if you can’t trust them, who are you going to trust to run your election?

00:07:44:15 – 00:07:46:39
David Martin
Former former newspaper journalist. People like that.

00:07:46:39 – 00:08:08:04
Hayley Rippel
Yeah, we have some of those as well. And then, you know, not just the precincts on Election Day, but we also have our absentee team, we call it. Right. So they’re the ones that come in and all the the absentee ballots, they’re still sealed. And, you know, until the day before the election where we start that process and they are the ones that open the affidavit envelopes, they double check that it was signed by the voter.

00:08:08:11 – 00:08:12:49
Hayley Rippel
The label matches, you know, and then they’re the ones that compile those absentee votes.

00:08:12:49 – 00:08:38:00
David Martin
So in Brooklyn, New York, where I live, what happened was I, you know, submit that I want to be a poll worker. I go down and it’s it’s several hours. I don’t think it’s a full day, but it’s several hours where they run you through the entire process, what you’re doing, you know, you don’t know what your job is going to be until you get there, or you get your little letter in the mail and then but they make you do every job.

00:08:38:02 – 00:08:52:11
David Martin
Yes. So even if you’re not, for some reason, I’ve always done line management. Yeah. I’m the bouncer. Yes, but you have to practice having people sign in, checking in, filling out the forms, setting up the machines, turning it on, turning.

00:08:52:11 – 00:09:02:16
Hayley Rippel
It off. In Iowa, they have to show their I.D. as well. Right? And even if it’s not a valid driver’s license, it just has to be their ID. We do election day registration, too, right?

00:09:02:21 – 00:09:10:07
David Martin
But is that. But I’m getting back to the setup and the training. Is that what you guys do in Iowa? Is it the same for. And is that the same everywhere.

00:09:10:07 – 00:09:25:40
Hayley Rippel
It should be. I mean, it should be. I mean, you have to show them the process to practice. Like you go to a precinct, you’re going to check the voter in. Right. And if that voter had already voted by it, absentee ballot, the system will not let them issue another ballot to that person.

00:09:25:40 – 00:09:29:25
David Martin
So it’d be very hard, if not impossible, to vote to vote twice.

00:09:29:28 – 00:09:29:54
Hayley Rippel
Yes.

00:09:29:57 – 00:09:32:44
David Martin
At least in the state of Iowa, you could you could voucher Iowa.

00:09:32:47 – 00:09:45:32
Hayley Rippel
Correct. Because it’s like we have our voter system is all 99 counties in Iowa use the same I voter system. So even if somebody moved from one county to another and they voted in one county, that system is flagged and they cannot be issued enough.

00:09:45:34 – 00:09:57:33
David Martin
They cannot be issued their county. So the people who are working there, the people, the actual poll workers, the people who are in there that hand you your ballot and collect your ballot and sign you in, all know what they’re doing. Yes, yes.

00:09:57:33 – 00:10:14:51
Hayley Rippel
They have to be trained. We usually do it the week prior. When we do, we like to do it in a smaller group setting, but that way the the workers aren’t intimidating. And when you’re in a smaller group session, they can ask questions. Sure. And you get that I contact with them so they’re not like, oh shit, what am I doing?

00:10:14:54 – 00:10:23:41
Hayley Rippel
You know, we really take the time and and go through it all. We have a machine there. As an example, we check in voter like and we just go through the whole process.

00:10:23:41 – 00:10:33:41
David Martin
I know in the place the poll that I’ve worked at, the woman who runs it, she’s the one I’ve seen for several years now, so she knows what she’s doing. She’s been doing this for a while.

00:10:33:55 – 00:10:34:44
Hayley Rippel
We call on the Germans.

00:10:34:45 – 00:10:44:54
David Martin
Which I don’t remember what her title is, but you have people there in most of your probably all of your precincts. There is a boss there who’s been doing this for many, many years.

00:10:45:02 – 00:10:50:35
Hayley Rippel
And the chairman’s get paid a little bit more than the other ones, and we try to have them more seasoned ones that have done it.

00:10:50:37 – 00:11:05:32
David Martin
But my point is, and the reason I’m getting to all this and you’re answering these questions perfectly, is the people who are working there know what they’re doing. Yes, they know the process. They’ve been trained. And there’s someone there, probably several people there who’ve done it before.

00:11:05:34 – 00:11:06:46
Hayley Rippel
Correct. And if not.

00:11:06:49 – 00:11:07:31
David Martin
It’s really hard.

00:11:07:31 – 00:11:27:09
Hayley Rippel
To cheat. Call my office. My staff and I are always available through the whole process. We get there at like 530 in the morning on Election day. Sometimes we’re there till midnight. But those election workers at their precincts, they all have our cell phone and our office phone so they can call reach out some of them. We even FaceTime them, you know, if they need us to step through the process.

00:11:27:09 – 00:11:44:32
Hayley Rippel
There’s so many more capabilities now that we can the system, because a lot of them are in the older population. We even have the cords color coordinated to this cord goes into here with the printer. I mean, we we really just step it through. We have what we call the Bible. My office jokes. It’s our election Bible. Sure.

00:11:44:34 – 00:12:06:30
Hayley Rippel
And we have pictures too. So even after they go through the, you know, in person training, they have this binder. Here’s for opening the polls. Here’s the process. Here’s for Election Day troubleshooting. Like if somebody was they didn’t have a current address on their ID, what do we do? What kind of forms can they show to prove their address, like a utility bill or bank statement?

00:12:06:33 – 00:12:24:51
Hayley Rippel
You know, we just basically try to think of every scenario and step it through in a template book to book, you know, and then you get through the polls. Now, what did we do in its closing time? It steps them through, explains the process. And again, we also have a program that’s called ten x. So it’s like where the voters check in.

00:12:25:03 – 00:12:36:36
Hayley Rippel
It’s kind of like the database I voters. And so we can see like if they’re having printer issues or if they’re getting low on ballots back in my office, we can see that and kind of keep track.

00:12:36:40 – 00:12:38:55
David Martin
You’ve got a staff that runs around and delivers.

00:12:38:57 – 00:12:48:25
Hayley Rippel
If we need to, we can do that. But we try to, you know, it’s just sometimes it’s hard to guesstimate what kind of turnout you’re going to have in an election and how many ballot stocks to order and things.

00:12:48:28 – 00:13:10:49
David Martin
There are people, sadly, at high levels of the federal government and other people who are known as election deniers, who are claiming there is rampant voter fraud, that, you know, all the there have been a wild improprieties. You had someone down in people from the federal government and seizing ballots in Georgia. This has got to bother you on a personal level.

00:13:10:50 – 00:13:20:38
David Martin
It is. And what do you say to this? I mean, how do you how do you how do you combat. Someone must have come up to you and say, our ballots safe, our elections safe. So what do you say?

00:13:20:40 – 00:13:39:56
Hayley Rippel
And I, we we should tell them. Yes, they are. And, you know, like or some people say, well, our our absentee ballots aren’t going to count unless the race is close. Every ballot counts in Iowa. And what really gets me is when they say, oh, I’ve had three ballots mailed to me, so we can’t control some of the political parties will mail out the absentee ballot request forms.

00:13:39:58 – 00:14:07:09
Hayley Rippel
Those are forms. Those are no way, shape or form a ballot. What that does, sometimes it has their names and their addresses, but it’s not the ballot. They have to submit that to our office. We go through the verification process before we even mail a ballot to that individual. So when you hear those non believers say that all these ballots were lost or thrown away, or one household was compiling, you know, there’s just no way I can speak for Iowa.

00:14:07:09 – 00:14:12:54
Hayley Rippel
And I just would hope that all the other states would do the same due diligence and keep the processes working smooth.

00:14:12:54 – 00:14:19:18
David Martin
But you must talk with people in other states. I mean, have you is any state doing anything wildly unusual that you’ve never heard.

00:14:19:18 – 00:14:26:12
Hayley Rippel
Of States. We’re trying to have everybody vote by mail. Yeah. And I know that’s kind of been pushed and talked about a little bit.

00:14:26:17 – 00:14:31:55
David Martin
Are you seeing people? Are you seeing vote by mail on the upswing or is it declining or is it just.

00:14:31:59 – 00:14:46:23
Hayley Rippel
Honestly it’s it’s trend. It’s always been a trend to increase during the Covid. And during that it was unreal the amount we had. But I felt like it was a better turnout to people, were more in tune with it and paying attention.

00:14:46:35 – 00:14:52:25
David Martin
Does Iowa have early balloting? Does it have an extended window of of voting, or is it just one day?

00:14:52:28 – 00:15:17:55
Hayley Rippel
No. You can actually once that window is open, we can our window is shortened for mailing them out. But when the ballots are available up until the day before the election, they can come into the courthouse and vote early. Some some bigger counties have like satellite voting, they call it. So like Johnson County and some of those bigger cities with College Town, they might set up their satellite voting, like in a parking ramp at the, you know, by the college and make it more accessible for early voting.

00:15:17:55 – 00:15:22:55
Hayley Rippel
But in my smaller county, we just basically the early polling is in the courthouse.

00:15:22:57 – 00:15:25:57
David Martin
Okay. And how many days is it then you can vote?

00:15:26:02 – 00:15:35:35
Hayley Rippel
It’s usually now the window has changed with legislative. My blank. Yes. But the mailing, it’s usually like within the 20 day window okay.

00:15:35:39 – 00:15:39:34
David Martin
Is it. But it’s not just a one day show up and vote what you have one day to vote.

00:15:39:37 – 00:16:06:06
Hayley Rippel
And then we also do the early voter registration deadline. So and what that does for us, because we will send out a voter registration card by mail once they register. And if that mail would get returned to us that this undeliverable or not, then it’s a red flag. Like, you know, if they were to vote on Election Day, they could still come in and prove their residency or fix those issues for their ballots, because what we call them is at the precinct.

00:16:06:06 – 00:16:19:37
Hayley Rippel
If they go in there, they can vote a provisional ballot type of thing, because we cannot we can never deny a voter to vote. But what we can do is call it a provisional ballot. So say they come in from another precinct and they are just boundary permits.

00:16:19:37 – 00:16:19:56
David Martin
Wrong.

00:16:19:58 – 00:16:39:12
Hayley Rippel
They’re going to vote here no matter what because they don’t have time. So we can’t deny them to vote. So you issue them ballot whatever you put it in the sealed envelope, it does not go through the tabulator. Those are treated separately. And again those would come back to the courthouse. And then those ballots are kept secure until the absentee team can reconvene.

00:16:39:12 – 00:16:46:54
Hayley Rippel
And then those people have enough time. So say they might just have to come and prove their residency. Then it’s resolved and they they can run that ballot.

00:16:46:59 – 00:16:55:03
David Martin
So the good government process I’m hearing here is that everybody who wants to vote does vote. And you got a plan for if it’s wrong.

00:16:55:06 – 00:16:57:18
Hayley Rippel
There’s lots of checks and balances with voting.

00:16:57:20 – 00:17:06:15
David Martin
Okay. What is the advantage to having a larger window of time to vote and different options of ways to vote?

00:17:06:17 – 00:17:25:40
Hayley Rippel
Well, it’s so hard because you have those deadlines to for withdrawing the candidates. So for like all 99 counties, what if we have one vendor that’s printing all of our ballots? That shortened window does kind of put a restraint sometimes just for ordering our ballot stock. But yet the larger window two would be to chaotic because you’re going to have.

00:17:25:42 – 00:17:29:15
David Martin
But isn’t the whole point of this to try to get more people to vote? It is. Yes, yes.

00:17:29:21 – 00:17:45:44
Hayley Rippel
And we do have some they they get their ballot issued by mail and they have two days and they haven’t got their ballot. Then they come in to the office and they want to vote in person. Right. So then what we do is you can issue them a ballot, but then they have to return that other ballot that went by mail.

00:17:45:44 – 00:18:02:52
Hayley Rippel
So it’s a lot of confusion and ballot waste to me. So I mean we still count don’t say waste ballot but we account for every one of those. Yeah. Every voter like say you spoil about at the precinct. You’re voting and you’re like, oh no, I did not want to do that. You can have the election worker come over.

00:18:02:52 – 00:18:12:58
Hayley Rippel
You can write spoiled on that ballot, spoil it, put it in a envelope. But again, that that ballot is counted for as a spoiled ballot so they can be reissued. Another one to run it through the time.

00:18:13:08 – 00:18:22:37
David Martin
But isn’t the overall idea to get everyone who should vote, or could vote, or is eligible to vote to vote in the easiest way possible? Yes, right.

00:18:22:37 – 00:18:27:48
Hayley Rippel
That’s what our goal is. We want voter turnout. We want we want everybody vote count.

00:18:27:51 – 00:18:44:50
David Martin
So to encourage voter turnout, you have more than a one day vote. You have options like Mail-In voting. You have assistance programs for people who might have a hard time voting. But all of this is not to do anything other than to make sure every citizen who wants to vote can vote.

00:18:45:02 – 00:18:46:09
Hayley Rippel
And we also.

00:18:46:14 – 00:18:48:06
David Martin
Safely yeah, carefully.

00:18:48:09 – 00:18:48:57
Hayley Rippel
People in health care.

00:18:48:57 – 00:18:49:37
David Martin
Facility.

00:18:49:47 – 00:19:07:46
Hayley Rippel
The elderly. We have a team that goes around. They know ahead of time these people at the care centers tell the people that they want to vote. So we get that package ready for them. And then we have a bipartisan team that goes and sits with these elderly in a system to vote, because some people are shaky and they need somebody to help fill it out for them.

00:19:07:46 – 00:19:09:34
Hayley Rippel
So you can also.

00:19:09:39 – 00:19:21:33
David Martin
Remember in Brooklyn, and maybe this is the same thing is if you’re a caretaker, you have to start a sort of a care of some kind of form and say, yes, I’m a caretaker. I’m here to help this person vote, right?

00:19:21:35 – 00:19:39:25
Hayley Rippel
We can have a mission. Yeah, but that voter still has to sign the test for it. Doesn’t matter if they can’t. Right. Yeah. It has to bid their signatures. You can’t have a power of attorney and sign their ballot or anything. That’s another thing we get. Sometimes people come in. Well, I’m their power of attorney I can request.

00:19:39:27 – 00:19:49:48
Hayley Rippel
No, you still have to. We have to talk to that voter over the phone to, like, when they call in and ask questions on their particular voter status. We have to talk to that individual.

00:19:49:58 – 00:19:54:38
David Martin
And does your office have anything to do with the the Iowa caucuses?

00:19:54:43 – 00:19:58:57
Hayley Rippel
No. Nope. The auditor’s office does not. The political parties, they set up.

00:19:58:57 – 00:19:59:35
David Martin
Their own separate.

00:19:59:43 – 00:20:01:40
Hayley Rippel
Yep, yep. We all we have involved.

00:20:01:43 – 00:20:04:28
David Martin
Because every four years the whole world is looking at Iowa.

00:20:04:30 – 00:20:23:46
Hayley Rippel
We do get a lot of voter registration change changes a lot of political parties. They might want to go caucus for the opposite party, so they’ll change their voter status to Democrat versus Republican and then change parties back so that that’s where the work in our office comes involved, because then we change the political status on their voter registration.

00:20:23:48 – 00:20:28:24
David Martin
In your county, in your state is voting safe, secure and trouble free?

00:20:28:27 – 00:20:30:36
Hayley Rippel
Absolutely. 100%.

00:20:30:38 – 00:20:34:57
David Martin
100%. Nothing to worry about, nothing to see here. Right? Good.

00:20:35:00 – 00:20:56:44
Hayley Rippel
And like I said, go to the sources. Go visit your county auditors. Go watch the process, watch the public test, see the results come out. And also in Iowa, Paul Pate, our secretary of state, started this a couple of years ago after every election, regardless of what election, even if it’s a special, they randomly pick a precinct and we call it the post-election audit.

00:20:56:44 – 00:21:18:33
Hayley Rippel
So what that does is say there was 720 ballots cast at Eden Harrison Township precinct. We know that there’s that many ballots sealed up in the box voted ballots. So when that post audit comes, we have again, a bipartisan team come in. They have to go through all those ballots and hand count. And that hand count matches the machine count.

00:21:18:33 – 00:21:20:50
Hayley Rippel
And we verify that they’ve always matched.

00:21:20:52 – 00:21:25:26
David Martin
So we always spot check and it always works out. How how long you been doing this?

00:21:25:28 – 00:21:28:21
Hayley Rippel
Well, I’ve been in the auditor’s office. I’m a 27th year.

00:21:28:21 – 00:21:29:21
David Martin
27 years.

00:21:29:23 – 00:21:30:56
Hayley Rippel
The auditor. This is my ninth.

00:21:30:56 – 00:21:31:56
David Martin
Year, okay.

00:21:32:08 – 00:21:38:58
Hayley Rippel
You know, and our duties are very wide range in the office. But when it comes to big elections, everybody has a hands on deck.

00:21:39:01 – 00:21:42:20
David Martin
Like, why on earth did you stay in this job for 27 years?

00:21:42:22 – 00:21:47:17
Hayley Rippel
I know I always often ask myself that. And a few more gray hairs at every election.

00:21:47:19 – 00:21:48:46
David Martin
Know you’re a natural blond. I’m looking at.

00:21:48:58 – 00:21:50:55
Hayley Rippel
Yeah, yeah. Oh, there’s some disguise.

00:21:50:58 – 00:21:54:07
David Martin
No no no no. Has it gotten harder in the last couple of years.

00:21:54:09 – 00:21:54:41
Hayley Rippel
Yes.

00:21:54:43 – 00:22:03:38
Hayley Rippel
There I would say. Yeah. And because of the scrutiny, because of those nonbelievers, it does make our jobs harder and harder to enforce that we are doing the right thing.

00:22:03:40 – 00:22:07:15
David Martin
And how do you tell people that you’re doing the right thing, or how do you reinforce the fact that you’re doing?

00:22:07:23 – 00:22:21:22
Hayley Rippel
Just try to show them, like, explain this. I take the time and explain to them, you know, just like the safe act like we have people coming in asking about that. So we explain the early voting process or the early voter registration, you know, and sometimes that’s all it takes.

00:22:21:34 – 00:22:23:15
David Martin
Come on and come on. The good government.

00:22:23:20 – 00:22:31:41
Hayley Rippel
Sometimes that’s all it takes. Is that extra five minutes with that voter or, you know, to assure them that their vote counted and we have their ballots securely in place.

00:22:31:48 – 00:22:40:35
David Martin
All right. Before we get into the questions that we always ask, any other good government projects that you have a hand in down in in Benton County in Benton, Iowa?

00:22:40:38 – 00:22:52:01
Hayley Rippel
Well, we recently just did our we finished our E911 radio tower project. So that was a huge undertaking. Over $8 million project. All right. So that was our debt service.

00:22:52:08 – 00:22:57:42
David Martin
We had better we have better emergency 911 operations now. Smoother, better faster, slicker.

00:22:57:44 – 00:23:16:00
Hayley Rippel
You know you can commingle with the State Patrol like sometimes if those didn’t mix with one another, it’s going much better. We recently passed the EMS emergency Levy service. So the ambulance services, first responders, we had that extra money coming in to help them. So that was voted on by the voters.

00:23:16:02 – 00:23:16:40
David Martin
Okay.

00:23:16:45 – 00:23:17:00
Hayley Rippel
You know.

00:23:17:00 – 00:23:23:28
David Martin
And so 27 years, that’s a long career in public service. You know what made you stick around?

00:23:23:33 – 00:23:29:47
Hayley Rippel
I feel like you’re dedicated and you feel like you’re doing your good job. You’re I don’t know.

00:23:29:52 – 00:23:34:37
David Martin
Are you an accountant by by trade. Are. You know, I have some business background.

00:23:34:42 – 00:23:50:58
Hayley Rippel
You know, even if it was accountant by trade, government accounting is not something you learn in college, I will tell you that. So there’s so many funds, line items, restricted uses. And when you look at a county budget and yes, and all the different funds and line items that we put into place that the public.

00:23:51:00 – 00:23:55:57
David Martin
Sees 27 years, you must have a PhD and it hands on the job training.

00:23:55:57 – 00:23:56:52
Hayley Rippel
Yes, we’ll call.

00:23:56:52 – 00:24:02:38
David Martin
It that. All right. Good. We’re going to come back and we’re going to ask you the questionnaire that we ask everyone in government. So. Oh, boy.

00:24:02:40 – 00:24:03:26
Hayley Rippel
So here we go.

00:24:03:28 – 00:24:06:54
David Martin
Yeah.

00:24:06:59 – 00:24:32:17
Narrator
Across America, there is a growing demand for leadership that delivers results over rhetoric. The Good Government Institute brings together proven ideas, principled leaders and real world solutions to strengthen how we govern not by reinventing the system, but by advancing what already works. On our flagship podcast, The Good Government Show, we highlight the leaders behind that progress, demonstrating how effective governance begins with listening, respect and a commitment to serve.

00:24:32:19 – 00:24:36:57
Narrator
Visit Good Governance to learn more.

00:24:37:02 – 00:24:54:56
David Martin
Want to hear more about good government? Check out another show I host leading Iowa Good Government in Iowa cities. I host the show with Brad Cavanaugh, mayor of Dubuque, Iowa, and the immediate past president of the Iowa League of Cities. Together, we talked to leaders in Iowa cities. We talk about what works and what good government looks like in Iowa.

00:24:54:59 – 00:25:11:36
David Martin
Join us right here. We’re listening. Now that’s leading Iowa, good government in Iowa cities. So this is the fun part. That was the hard part. This is the fun part okay. All right. Few questions for you. You’re the auditor and election supervisor. What is your definition of good government.

00:25:11:38 – 00:25:27:47
Hayley Rippel
Transparency, honesty, integrity I would say, you know, when you’re in a county government using taxpayers dollars, you need to be conscious of what you’re spending those dollars on and always be transparent because you’re using every, you know, public dollars. So everybody should have a right to see where that money is going.

00:25:27:49 – 00:25:33:13
David Martin
If people are frustrated with government, if they don’t like what they’re seeing in your county, in your city, what should they do?

00:25:33:16 – 00:25:53:55
Hayley Rippel
Come ask questions. Come to a Board of Supervisors meeting. Ask questions. Get on the agenda. Discuss topics. Come. Come see my office. And you know, like one of the big topics right now we are you know, we have unfunded mandates that come down to the local level. So the state might be cutting our funding, but yet they’re forcing us little counties to pay the difference on these unfunded mandates.

00:25:53:55 – 00:26:01:52
Hayley Rippel
For example, we had one juvenile in detention center the last couple of years. Take a guess at what we spent on one juvenile just in the last couple of years.

00:26:01:52 – 00:26:03:45
David Martin
I probably millions.

00:26:03:54 – 00:26:06:18
Hayley Rippel
369,000. But out.

00:26:06:18 – 00:26:07:13
David Martin
Of that, a little less.

00:26:07:13 – 00:26:07:25
Hayley Rippel
Than.

00:26:07:25 – 00:26:08:21
David Martin
That is about.

00:26:08:25 – 00:26:15:32
Hayley Rippel
127,000 of that was just for medical issues. So we know this individual has title 19 coverage.

00:26:15:35 – 00:26:15:56
David Martin
Yeah.

00:26:15:59 – 00:26:44:57
Hayley Rippel
But when they’re incarcerated or in detention, guess who pays that. The county. So it is things like that. When you’re putting together a big budget and you can’t change your levees throughout the year. We need that fund balance because I might have to amend for spending authority for these big expenses that we incur. And so when the state keeps saying they’re going to cut us or, you know, hold us to the levy, we can’t increase by 2% our insurance, our taxes, our gas and utilities, just like everybody else is at their households.

00:26:44:59 – 00:26:53:56
Hayley Rippel
Our expenses go up to, you know, and so taxpayers need to realize they still want the services that we provide and they still have to help us fund those services.

00:26:53:59 – 00:27:01:25
David Martin
So I hate pay my taxes as well. Would you like to drive on the road? Would you like to? Would you like the water to be clean when you turn the tap on?

00:27:01:27 – 00:27:04:41
Hayley Rippel
Enbridge is safe. Infrastructure is a huge part of the county.

00:27:04:41 – 00:27:08:46
David Martin
To what drew you to public service? What made you decide to come work for the government?

00:27:08:51 – 00:27:24:50
Hayley Rippel
You know, years ago when I was in high school, I was asked to go to Girls State because my dad was a veteran. So he was a big part of the Legion. So I still joke about that because who would have thought I’d be in this position? But. But we learned so much about local government at that week long state.

00:27:24:52 – 00:27:28:23
David Martin
When you went to Girl State, did you think that eventually you would go into public service?

00:27:28:30 – 00:27:34:11
Hayley Rippel
Heck no. Or be on a ballot? No way. I hated public speaking. Absolutely hated it.

00:27:34:25 – 00:27:42:23
David Martin
Well, you’re doing pretty well now. Did you ever think about running for office? Ever? Were you president of your student council? No, no no.

00:27:42:23 – 00:28:02:16
Hayley Rippel
No, I joke. I just told this story not too long ago. So the first time I was on the ballot, I had an opponent. And I just remember being, like, calm and reserved on election night. And somebody asked me, why are you so calm? And I said, well, my grandfather was a huge Republican when I was a deputy order.

00:28:02:16 – 00:28:05:26
Hayley Rippel
And he said, oh, you’re going to be the auditor someday. I know it. And so.

00:28:05:28 – 00:28:05:50
David Martin
Really.

00:28:05:52 – 00:28:09:52
Hayley Rippel
That that just always stood out to me. And I was like, oh, he’s right.

00:28:09:54 – 00:28:22:01
David Martin
Maybe he’s right. So you’re the auditor. You know, you’ve been in 27 years in Benton County. What would you like people to know about government and about your county that they don’t know?

00:28:22:05 – 00:28:48:21
Hayley Rippel
Get involved, understand the process. You know, just the things like take a look at like a county budget report. Just look at all the expenses, line items, you know, I mean, we like to like mental health is a huge crisis in the county right now. You know, we’re always trying to find ways to to improve on, you know, old policies, procedures, update that, look at it, just really be involved.

00:28:48:21 – 00:29:05:51
Hayley Rippel
I feel like, you know, there’s always those keyboard warriors that are in the background just bash in the process or but they don’t. Do they really fully understand what what they’re bashing, you know, ask questions, get go learn about the subject before you start being the naysayers, naysayers. And just.

00:29:05:53 – 00:29:13:36
David Martin
So, what do you do for those people who are skeptical? How do you how do you turn them around and let them know that no government does do a good.

00:29:13:36 – 00:29:44:56
Hayley Rippel
Job, just kind of like I’m doing right now. Just explain to them. Talk to them calmly. You know, usually taxpayers are not happy when they’re counter to complain. You just go through the process. All right? You know, and a lot of times the county level, we get the bad part because that’s where they pay their taxes. But do they realize out of that pie chart it’s counties, it’s township, it’s city schools, fire districts, AG extension, E911 all those entities make up those total tax dollars.

00:29:44:56 – 00:29:52:10
Hayley Rippel
It’s not just the county, you know, but we’re the bad guys because we still we send out the tax statements, we do the collections. And.

00:29:52:22 – 00:30:02:04
David Martin
All right. Well on leading Iowa, good government Iowa City is the podcast I co-host with the Dubuque mayor, Brad Cavanaugh. We ask a few questions. I’ve got to ask you two of them. Okay. What’s your favorite place in Iowa?

00:30:02:11 – 00:30:09:57
Hayley Rippel
Oh, that’s a toss up. There’s a lot of good places in Iowa, Des Moines. We’re usually the county conferences. A lot of times.

00:30:10:00 – 00:30:10:54
David Martin
That’s the big city.

00:30:10:56 – 00:30:11:44
Hayley Rippel
Yeah.

00:30:11:49 – 00:30:13:06
David Martin
Have you the high life lounge?

00:30:13:08 – 00:30:13:39
Hayley Rippel
Oh, gosh.

00:30:13:39 – 00:30:14:06
David Martin
Yes. Good.

00:30:14:20 – 00:30:15:32
Hayley Rippel
Yeah. Good beer there.

00:30:15:42 – 00:30:18:06
David Martin
Yes. Yes. Excellent. Excellent. Spot. And devoid.

00:30:18:13 – 00:30:23:34
Hayley Rippel
Yes. Pong. Pizza. That was a good one. Downtown. Okay. Court Avenue was always a great place.

00:30:23:39 – 00:30:25:27
David Martin
Right. So Des Moines, des Moines is your place to go?

00:30:25:29 – 00:30:46:42
Hayley Rippel
Yeah. Des Moines clear Lake was good. Okay. We’ve had conferences. We’re going to Okoboji this summer for our auditor summer conference. I’m looking forward to that. It’s going to been a few years since I’ve been there. I’ll be actually planning our summer conference and summer of 27 because I’m the vice president of our auditor’s association, so I’ve already kind of gotten the works in place.

00:30:46:42 – 00:30:52:52
Hayley Rippel
I’m thinking of having it in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. I know they’re working on a new casino. That might even be done by then. We’ll see.

00:30:53:04 – 00:30:55:23
David Martin
All right. I’ll be going to bet DAF this summer.

00:30:55:25 – 00:30:57:00
Hayley Rippel
Oh, I’ve been there for a conference two.

00:30:57:06 – 00:31:07:12
David Martin
Exactly. So I have not been to Vinton, Iowa or Benton County, Iowa. I’ve been in other places. What is the one dish? What is the cuisine that I must try when I’m in Benton County?

00:31:07:15 – 00:31:10:55
Hayley Rippel
High sweet corn swap in the summer. All right. We’re known for sweet corn.

00:31:10:58 – 00:31:11:24
David Martin
There’s, you.

00:31:11:24 – 00:31:13:07
Hayley Rippel
Know, my family. Grill some good one.

00:31:13:07 – 00:31:16:29
David Martin
There’s lots and lots. Lots of cornfields. I saw.

00:31:16:29 – 00:31:16:35
Hayley Rippel
It.

00:31:16:36 – 00:31:17:31
David Martin
I know, yes.

00:31:17:33 – 00:31:22:57
Hayley Rippel
I would say the farmers markets and stuff. The fresh produce in Iowa is it’s hard to beat.

00:31:22:59 – 00:31:30:42
David Martin
What do you think is the one thing you’d like people to know about the auditor’s office and about the Board of Elections? What’s the one thing you’d like everyone to know?

00:31:30:44 – 00:31:52:36
Hayley Rippel
We work hard. We feel like we’re dedicated to our jobs. I mean, most, most people that come into the office, they’re they’re long term, you know, they’re committed. They learn the duties. We cross train. We like for auditors in Iowa, we get state election administration training, so we get certified. You know, you like I like to let my staff go and get trained.

00:31:52:36 – 00:32:16:32
Hayley Rippel
But we also have to be very important and segregate our duties for reasons for accounting reasons and audit purposes. I just feel like we are a great, great team. You know, I work well with all the other offices. They love their elected officials in the county. You know, I work with the Board of Supervisors daily. Okay. So yeah, I think government is just it’s hard to be it’s hard to compete with the private sector.

00:32:16:32 – 00:32:19:25
Hayley Rippel
But you know, because we’re tax paid. But but we do work.

00:32:19:27 – 00:32:20:53
David Martin
It’s hard to beat. It’s hard to beat.

00:32:20:56 – 00:32:21:41
Hayley Rippel
It’s hard to beat.

00:32:21:44 – 00:32:28:51
David Martin
So this is the good government show. We always try to bring it back to good government. Tell me about a good government project that you’ve been involved in that you’re excited about currently?

00:32:28:51 – 00:32:49:25
Hayley Rippel
I don’t know if you some of the other states, we have the opioid crisis. So we started an opioid committee with our funds. So those are income coming in that’s not levied funds. But we we started like a care navigator position in our county through ACC because there is a lot of people that need like the care in the rural areas like us.

00:32:49:28 – 00:33:18:33
Hayley Rippel
They some of them don’t have transportation to go to Cedar Rapids for the care they need. So we’ve started up using some of that funds in our local community at the Virginia Hospital in Vinton, and with Ace so those people can get their treatments and stay right here in town. And it’s not tax dollars. So I’m that’s kind of important to spend some of that money, you know, carefully and utilize what we have so that we’re not like overstepping and duplicating something that’s already in place.

00:33:18:33 – 00:33:19:16
Hayley Rippel
So we’re.

00:33:19:28 – 00:33:30:56
David Martin
So good fiscal management good programs. Good good good good. Haley, the auditor of Benton County, Iowa, Vinton, Iowa, central Iowa, it is always a pleasure to talk to someone from Iowa. Thank you for coming on.

00:33:30:59 – 00:33:33:56
Hayley Rippel
Well, thanks for having me. This was fun just to walk by and.

00:33:33:59 – 00:33:45:00
David Martin
Good. No. Great. And I think, if nothing else, elections in in Benton County are perfectly safe. There’s no voter fraud, nothing to worry about. Good. Keep up the good work.

00:33:45:03 – 00:33:45:44
Hayley Rippel
Well. Thank you.

00:33:45:46 – 00:33:46:29
David Martin
Thanks for coming on.

00:33:46:41 – 00:33:50:43
Hayley Rippel
Thank you. Bye bye.

00:33:50:48 – 00:34:12:18
David Martin
The Good Government Institute has a new partner, the Charles F Kettering Foundation. I really like their podcast to context, and I bet you will too. They have a new series called Democracy Under Construction. The show is hosted by historian Alex Lovett, and he looks back at the first 250 years of U.S. history. Alex digs into the moments that have pushed us towards an inclusive democracy.

00:34:12:20 – 00:34:19:20
David Martin
You can find it where you’re listening right now, or visit Kettering and give them a follow.

00:34:19:25 – 00:34:39:24
David Martin
What if Lincoln hadn’t been shot? What if World War One hadn’t happened? Jim Ludlow. Good Government Show executive producer, explores both those ideas in two books in Lincoln Beyond the Bullet, he imagines that Lincoln lives and royal cousins. He imagines what would have happened if three kings, all cousins, hadn’t blundered their way into war. What if. Think about it.

00:34:39:26 – 00:34:46:33
David Martin
Go to Good Govt Institute and order a copy.

00:34:46:38 – 00:35:11:10
David Martin
I hope you learned something I did. Here’s one thing. Benton County Auditor Haley Ripley said there’s a lot of checks and balances of voting. There is not playing by the rules or bending the rules. Well, it’s not impossible, but it’s not easy and it’s pretty much not happening. And that’s not just me saying that many government watchdogs say that to the fallout from all of this is, Haley explained, is it’s gotten harder to do her job, as she says it’s because of the nonbelievers.

00:35:11:10 – 00:35:30:42
David Martin
So take the advice of the auditor. Go visit. Go see for yourself. When you do, you’ll know what everyone should know. Elections are safe and fair and open 100%, as auditor Haley Ripley says. Oh, and that’s sweet corn. What’s more Iowa than fresh sweet corn? It can’t miss it in Iowa. Well, that’s our show. Thanks for listening. Please like us and share with friends and review us right here where you’re listening.

00:35:30:42 – 00:35:46:27
David Martin
And check out our website. Good government show for extras. Help us keep telling stories of good government and action everywhere. Join us again for another episode right here. I’m Dave Martin and this is the Good Government show.

00:35:46:32 – 00:36:08:21
David Martin
The Good Government show is a Valley Park production. Jim Ludlow, Dave Martin, that’s me and David Snyder are the executive producers. Our show is edited and produced by Jason Stershic. Please subscribe, then share and like us and review us. That’s the best way to make sure we’re able to keep telling these stories of our government working for all of us.

00:36:08:23 – 00:36:21:25
David Martin
Then listen to the next episode of The Good Government Show.

00:36:21:29 – 00:36:24:32
Narrator
This podcast is part of the democracy Group.

**This transcription was created using digital tools and has not been edited by a live person. We apologize for any discrepancies or errors.