The David Rutherford Show: The Voter Roll Scandal Nobody Wants You To Understand

Date: February 9, 2026
Podcast: The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show (iHeartPodcasts)
Host: David Rutherford
Guest: Chris Jersky (Voter Rolls Expert, ThePeoplesAudit.org)

Episode Overview

This episode features David Rutherford in conversation with Chris Jersky, an elections data expert and founder of The People's Audit. The discussion centers on ongoing controversies and suspected corruption in U.S. voter rolls, particularly in the context of the SAVE Act and the digitization of election management. Jersky draws on his background in fraud detection and his organization’s broad state-by-state analysis, laying out a dense narrative on problems in voter roll maintenance, oversight loopholes, and perceived avenues for election fraud.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Why Voter Rolls Matter – The Foundation of Election Integrity

• Voter rolls list eligible voters; they determine who can receive ballots and where.
• Overflowing, inaccurate, or opaque rolls create avenues for voter fraud and undermine trust.
• Jersky: “Voter rolls are really… the fuel for this steal.” (15:36)

2. Changing from Local Control to Black Box Vendors

• Historically, counties managed their own (paper-based) voter rolls; transparency was inherent.
• Post-2000, third-party private vendors now manage voter rolls digitally, controlling registration, mail-in requests, and even publication of election results. States often cannot audit or investigate these private systems.
• Jersky: “Most people are thinking that this… is run by our states. These are third-party private vendors. You’re not allowed to see what they do… They control the voter rolls, they control all the mail-in ballot requests, they show all the reports for what comes in and out…” (06:16)

3. Lack of Oversight and Accountability

• While state constitutions and statutes assign oversight to various officials, the reality is much murkier.
• Local officials are heavily pressured to comply with state directives; those seeking transparency face serious reprisals.
• Jersky: “The state essentially has a noose around every supervisor of elections neck… fully accountable per the law… If the state wants to throw that lever, they can throw… Jail, not fines. Jail.” (11:32)
• Rutherford: “These are all criminal violations.” (12:00)

4. How Voter Rolls Are Inflated or Manipulated

• Multiple ways to add questionable/illegitimate voters:
  • Bulk registrations at shelters or vacant lots.
  • Registration forms processed with minimal or no ID.
  • Inadequate removal of the dead, movers, or non-citizens (sometimes incentivized by budget concerns).
  • "Vote brokers" sell blocks of phantom voters.
• Examples: In Okaloosa County, FL, a courthouse as the residence for 10,000 registrants; a shut-down homeless shelter in Georgia still associated with 75 voters; 1,900 voters listed at a single family home in another state.
• Jersky: “There’s hardly anything that stops somebody from just filling out a form. And there’s no ID involved.” (23:47)

5. Incentives to Keep Rolls Dirty

• Some supervisors’ budgets (and thus compensation) are pegged to the total number of registered voters—creating a perverse incentive to maintain bloated, inaccurate rolls.
• Jersky: “They get paid by the size of their voter rolls. So they're incentivized to essentially keep the rolls dirty.” (25:51)
• Rutherford: “I can’t even wrap my mind around this right now.” (26:25)

6. Patterns in Voter Registration and Ballot Delivery

• Data show routine "pump and dump" patterns: large spikes in new voters just before elections, followed by mass deletions afterwards.
• 2020: Florida saw 115,000 registrations in one week (vs a norm of 15-20,000), “coincidentally” aligning with COVID policy changes and mail-in ballot surges.
• Jersky: “50,000 people registered in a single day in that extension period.” (27:19)
• Patterns exist nationwide and often correlate with mail-in ballot surges and algorithmic distribution matching expected outcomes (e.g. mail-in ballots disproportionately favoring Democrats, regardless of state registration).
• Jersky: “It’s perfectly proportional so there’s like an algorithm working…” (41:57)

7. Barriers to Transparency

• Access to voter roll data is often both expensive and heavily restricted ($40,000 for a single snapshot in Alabama; Texas delayed for months).
• States are removing key identity fields (like birthdates) from public access, further hindering independent audits.
• Jersky: “They’re purposely hiding…” (35:29)

8. The SAVE Act and Proposals for Reform

• SAVE Act push: Requires voter ID, proof of citizenship, and regular roll audits, but Jersky is skeptical of the effectiveness without physical, auditable artifacts.
• Core Reforms Needed:
  • Paper voter registration with wet signature.
  • Hand-marked paper ballots.
  • Audits using physical documents—not digital-only records.
• Jersky: “If you go to the bank… they make you physically show up… You need to have me represented physically.” (48:05)
  • “There is no way to audit with any veracity a digital artifact… You can create as many as you want.” (50:56)

9. Local Corruption and the Broader Picture

• Jersky and Rutherford trace “the why” of voter roll manipulation to broader issues in local politics—such as developer influence, property tax hikes, and rural county corruption.
• “Follow the money,” they agree, is key.
• Jersky: “…all getting rubber stamped and approved for these big developments and swamps… it’s mind boggling the corruption we have here.” (31:34)

10. Urgency and the 2026 Election Risks

• Despite calls for reform, Jersky warns the system remains highly vulnerable:
• Jersky: “Oh yeah, without doubt… nothing’s been fixed.” (51:55)
• Florida moving toward all-digital audits—a significant threat, since original paper is becoming moot.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Trust:
  “Trust is built on proof… When you prove that you’re trustworthy, then you’re trustworthy. But you have to prove through transparency.”
  —Chris Jersky (04:57)

• On Private Vendors:
  “They control the voter rolls, they control all the mail and ballot requests, they show all the reports for what comes in and out… and they publish all of the results.”
  —Chris Jersky (06:16)

• On Voter Roll Inflation:
  "There's people all over every state that I've been to, there's reports of people walking into a polling station and being told they've already voted—and it's never investigated."
  —Chris Jersky (15:54)

• On Bureaucratic Barriers:
  “If the state wants to throw that lever, they can throw… Jail, not fines. Jail.”
  —Chris Jersky (11:32)

• On Data Access & Secrecy:
  “They're purposely hiding and you can see it, the more pressure we put on them, the more they basically conceal…”
  —Chris Jersky (35:29)

• On the Quantitative “Steal”:
  “If you start seeing 60-70% turnouts in these elections, you know something’s up… everything else is being pushed into a digital fabrication.”
  —Chris Jersky (16:36)

• On Statistical Anomalies:
  "There were examples up in the panhandle that Biden got way more votes than what Obama got in his previous election. No one understood it..."
  —Chris Jersky (45:39)

Suggested Action & How to Get Involved

• Support ongoing legislation—both pro- and anti-reform—by engaging with local and state governments.
• Join organizations such as ThePeopleAudit.org or allied groups to volunteer, audit voter rolls, and present evidence to local officials.
• The latest from Jersky includes rolling out a new platform, The Elector List, offering advanced tracking and evidence-gathering for county leaders and activists. (54:29)

Core Takeaway

The digital transformation of election management, according to Jersky, has made voter rolls highly susceptible to manipulation and largely un-auditable for the public. He challenges citizens to demand physical documentation—a return to “zero trust” principles and a restoration of election legitimacy rooted in tangible evidence. Until then, both local elections and national contests may remain at risk.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Importance of Voter Rolls: 03:54
• Private Vendor Control: 06:16
• How Voter Rolls Are Manipulated: 22:57–26:20
• Budget Incentives for Dirty Rolls: 26:11–26:20
• Pump and Dump Pattern: 26:55–27:19
• Barriers to Transparency: 35:29
• Algorithms and Statistical Anomalies: 41:57, 45:39
• Skepticism of SAVE Act without Physical Audit Trails: 47:15–51:39
• Action Steps for Listeners: 54:29
• Warning from Venezuela: 57:29

Summary prepared for those seeking an in-depth, structured understanding of the episode's core themes, arguments, and actionable points.