Politics and views in the United States

A candidate for governor of California seizes ballots, as U.S. Senate continues its marathon debate on the SAVE Act, and questions arise about Schumer's future as leader of the Senate Democrats.

Transcript

Welcome to 2026 Talks, where we're following our democracy in historic times.

Physically count the ballots and compare that result with the total votes reported.

A.G. Bonta, in his direction, claims that an investigation into the elections sows mistrust in our system.

That is absolutely ridiculous.

Riverside County, California Sheriff Chad Bianco has seized more than 600,000 ballots from last year's vote approving California redistricting.

Bianco says a group of citizens who say they, quote, did their own audit found 45,000 excess votes.

Local election officials describe that as detached from reality.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta calls the ballot seizure a threat to democracy, not based on facts or evidence.

The state's redistricting ballot measure won by a landslide of more than 3 million votes.

Bianco is a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump and a leading Republican candidate for governor.

A recent poll found him and conservative commentator Steve Hilton narrowly leading in a crowded primary field for the June 2nd primary.

Democratic votes are split among multiple candidates.

In the state's jungle primary, the top two candidates will advance to a runoff.

The U.S. Senate is entering the second week of a marathon debate on the SAVE Act, a long-shot effort to pass a Trump priority that would require strict proof of citizenship to register or vote.

Voter ID is broadly popular, but few know about or support what's in the specific bill.

A new CBS poll finds a little more than a quarter of ordinary voters approve of it.

Just short of a third oppose it, and half of Republicans polled say they know little to nothing about it.

Democrats like Vermont Senator Peter Welch say Republicans are unpopular and are trying to win by suppressing votes.

You couldn't use a military ID to qualify under the SAVE Act.

You'd have to get like a passport.

There's 69 million women who have taken the name of their husband, and they wouldn't be able to vote without enormous hassles.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer may face a rebellion in next year's leadership race.

The party's popularity is at historic lows, driven by liberal and progressive voters who view Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as ineffective in opposing Trump in his second term.

On NBC, Connecticut Democratic Senator Chris Murphy would not say whether he'd support Schumer, saying only the caucus is united in opposing many Trump policies.

We are united as a caucus right now.

We are united in ending this war.

We are united in reigning in the lawlessness of ICE, and we're going to be united in winning the election this November.

Anti-Schumer Democratic Senate candidates like State Senator Mallory McMorrow in Michigan and Maine Oysterman Graham Plattner have support.

Last week, Progressive Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton won her Senate primary after saying she would oppose again electing Schumer as leader.

Several U.S. House members are calling on Colorado Democratic Governor Jared Polis to resist calls to grant clemency to former Mesa County clerk and election denier, Tina Peters.

Peters was convicted on seven counts related to voter fraud conspiracy theories, including granting unauthorized access to voting machines.

I'm Zamone Perez for Pacifica Network and Public News Service.

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