Moderated by Tom Verdin, Democracy News Editor, The Associated Press 

California, with the largest electorate of any U.S. state, is a laboratory for democracy. It has engaged citizens at the ballot box with its initiative system and expanded voting access, most recently with universal vote by mail and multi-day, multi-location in-person voting. But many Americans worry about election integrity, from voter fraud to interference. Some of the loudest allegations of stolen elections and phantom voters fall on the Golden State. 

As these claims spread, what would it take to build and maintain trust in elections across the political divide? What does evidence actually tell us? How are officials incorporating greater transparency into the mechanics of our democracy? And as California defends its voting model, can it separate legitimate election security concerns from myths that threaten faith in democracy itself?

Ahead of the midterm elections and on the day vote centers open, Zócalo heads to the Los Angeles County Ballot Processing Center in the City of Industry. A 144,000-square-foot former Fry’s Electronics store that traded Charley Chip for Uncle Sam, the space is equipped with automatic signature recognition machines and hundreds of personnel who process, secure, and count ballots, and it encourages public observation in person and online via a live video feed.

This limited-capacity program will include guided tours of the facility as the live election cycle unfolds and a panel featuring voting policy scholar Kevin T. Morris and political scientist and governance reformer Sara Sadhwani, who will discuss how California keeps elections free and fair.