The Empty Chair, the Sacred Ballot, and Broken Trust

Peter Vazquez:
Mira la izquierda, mira la derecha, ¿qué ves?

In a world that seems to change daily, what will you do next?

Welcome to The Next Steps Show with Peter Vazquez, a starting point for discussion and unboxing.

Father’s Day was just the other day. I did not take time to stop and talk about it yesterday because we had so much going on, pero today we are definitely going to take un segundo, at least the next twenty-seven minutes or so, and have a conversation.

I remember growing up. I remember raising my children. I remember being a dad and having a dad and thinking to myself, “Wow, I am a lucky guy.”

But the missing father, as we know, because we can look here in our own backyard at the numbers, is not some mere private family wound, amigos. This is a crisis. I call it the Vanbōōlzalness Crisis because it consumes. It is a public crisis, a school crisis, a crime crisis, a spiritual crisis, and a national crisis.

We are seeing it. Teens are losing their cabezas. Why? Where is the direction? Where is the God-driven purpose that mom and dad establish from the time they are little?

When politicians say, “Do not worry about it, we have your back,” what ends up happening is that our children get the bill in the form of a broken adult, or maybe even prison before they are thirteen.

Let me read a quote from our guest coming up here, because he is not only a Project 21 ambassador, he is a leader within that organization. He said:

“If the father is not in the home, then the boy will find a father in the street.”

Is that not what we are seeing out our windows every day?

Ladies and gentlemen, the honorable Terris E. Todd, Director of Coalitions and Outreach for Project 21.

Terris, thank you again for joining us on The Next Steps Show, sir.

Interview with Terris E. Todd

Terris E. Todd:
Yes, sir. My friend, my brother in Christ, I thank you for having me on this call. It is always a blessing to be with you.

Peter Vazquez:
The honor and privilege are ours, sir. The work that you are doing is phenomenal.

The issue of fatherless homes, Terris, I do not understand why politicians do not deal with it seriously. Here in Rochester, almost the entire city is run by black Americans, and the issue of fatherlessness is treated like a talking point.

Terris E. Todd:
You are absolutely right. What they are proving over time is that anytime government interferes in our lives as a family, or even in what God already put in place to be our government, which is father, mother, and family, everything else goes south from there.

It also proves there is another agenda at work to keep it that way. They have ignored the spiritual implications of what is happening and the spiritual decline that now accepts immorality.

I have said before that, especially with the left, lawlessness and failure get rewarded. That is exactly what they have done, and that is how the family was divided in the first place back in the sixties.

Peter Vazquez:
You worked on a project, and I believe it is published now, called What Fatherhood Means for Black America. You point out that the black out-of-wedlock birth rate rose from nearly twenty-five percent in 1965, the Moynihan era, to about seventy percent today.

What changed, sir, other than government saying, “If you are black, we owe you something, so there is no accountability”?

Terris E. Todd:
You are absolutely right. What changed is that they incentivized the family not to be together. They told women during that time that they would fund or support them financially if they did not have the father of their children in the house.

They incentivized it, but there was also a decline in morality. Our moral compass is decaying because the further we get from God, that is what happens.

There have been multiple assaults. We cannot let the entertainment industry off the hook. During the sixties and seventies, it was unheard of to see people doing ungodly or immoral things openly on television. Now, what was once unheard of has become the norm in entertainment, movies, and music.

Those are multiple things that have happened. They have made it normal not to have a family, which was one of the first institutions God gave us to live here on earth.

Peter Vazquez:
Terris Todd, ladies and gentlemen, Director of Coalitions and Outreach for Project 21. Visit project21.org and nationalcenter.org.

Sir, I want to step back and tie this conversation to elections, because I think your report came out at the right time.

The National Fatherhood Initiative reports that 18.2 million children, roughly one in four, live without a biological, step, or adoptive father in the home. Pew Research has reported that twenty-three percent of U.S. children under eighteen live with one parent, more than three times the global share of seven percent.

Election integrity is real. I believe part of the demise of the black and brown family, and really now all American families, is tied to the same mantra coming after everyone.

Terris E. Todd:
You are absolutely right. That is another difference between then and now. Then, black Americans were portrayed as the targets. But now, because of global elitism and people who believe they are superior to the rest of us, everyone is free game now.

This is truly an anti-God agenda. It is also a population-control agenda by elites. They know exactly what they are doing. It is intentional.

If you look at groups that are more financially stable today, you often find the father and mother at the helm of the family. Indian American families and Asian American families are examples. They have intact families. They did not abandon the morals and values their ancestors gave them just because they are here in America.

That is what we have to do. We need to return to that, and our churches need to do a better job pointing this out. If we truly want to save America and the world, we have to follow God’s plan. God’s plan was perfect when He put the family in position.

Peter Vazquez:
The narrative was rewritten at one point, which is why I bring up election integrity.

There was a local issue that I covered yesterday. We will talk about it after this interview. Basically, it involved an elected official who, right, wrong, or indifferent, is still being looked at. From my perspective, it was wrong. This elected official was on the ballot and was bringing people to vote behind the curtain, calling it assistance, which New York Election Law allows.

That is fine and dandy, but the fact that this person is an elected official, and then claims racism because she says she represents the Jamaican community, is where we start seeing the Vanbōōlzalness.

Black families survived what almost no other group survived, maybe with the exception of the Jewish community. Slavery did not destroy the black community. Jim Crow did not destroy it. Poverty did not destroy it. Your report notes that in 1960, two-thirds of black children lived in two-parent households, even though the poverty rate in 1959 was fifty-five percent.

That says today’s excuse that you are a victim because you are black or brown is a lazy modern leftist excuse.

Terris E. Todd:
You are absolutely right. It is an excuse. Even freshly out of slavery, men and fathers were putting ads in newspapers in search of their families.

Being in poverty does not necessarily mean families were divided. Our families were more intact while they were in poverty. I am not suggesting anyone should live in poverty, but the moral and spiritual decline of a nation or people is real.

You mentioned politicians. They care nothing about our families. They only care about remaining in power. There is an agenda that pays them or supports them financially to keep pushing the same thing. It is sad, because we can right this wrong ourselves, and I think we can do that through the church.

Peter Vazquez:
Terris Todd, Director of Coalitions and Outreach for Project 21. He worked on What Fatherhood Means for Black America. You can find that at project21.org and nationalcenter.org/project-21.

Sir, your report mentions that in 1985, black Americans were about twelve percent of the population, while black families made up forty-two percent of AFDC families. What does that mean?

Terris E. Todd:
It means that even though we were a smaller population, it was not by accident that black Americans became among the most impoverished and the most dependent on government assistance.

Our ancestors understood, even before the sixties, that they built communities without government help. They did not have government grants or programs. They knew they could not trust the government.

Why that changed today is beyond me. The same government that many black Americans and others say is against us, why did that suddenly change? They can do it themselves if the father and mother are at the helm of the family.

Peter Vazquez:
Project 21, project21.org. We are here on The Next Steps Show on the Voice of Liberty with Peter Vazquez. No te vayas.

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Fathers to your children, the providers of all their daily needs. Like a sovereign Lord protector, be their destiny director, and pave the way to follow where you lead.

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Station Voice:
Peter Vazquez, The Next Steps Show on the Voice of Liberty. You are listening to WYSL, WLEA, the Voice of Liberty. Here is Peter.

Peter Vazquez:
Let me say this again, ladies and gentlemen. Slavery did not destroy it. Jim Crow did not erase it. Poverty did not make it vanish.

What am I talking about? Americans who happen to have darker skin than others, maybe even than me un poquito.

If you listen to these politicians, you would believe they are being erased by everyone except by policies of their own. They will not admit that. When you look at numbers like twelve percent of the population but thirty-nine and a half percent of reported abortions, there is no wonder why a culture of death has been established.

I believe that serves as one reason why out-of-wedlock birth rates are over seventy percent today. I grew up as a minority. I am Puerto Rican. When you look up that definition and think about it, words have meaning. You ask, “I am less than what?” Population-wise, I am really not. When kids see numbers like that, what does that tell them?

Terris E. Todd:
It is interesting. It is a culture now that wants to push victimhood. They want our children, even those who are ethnic minorities, and really all Americans, to hate the very nation that black Americans say their ancestors helped build.

They want us to hate the nation our ancestors helped build and fought to defend in every war. Ultimately, they are saying, “Hate everything about yourself.” That all happened during the age of help.

Peter Vazquez:
Yes, sir. It seems that help became first.

Sir, in an interview I watched, you said while discussing What Fatherhood Means for Black America, “When you remove the father, the body is sure to die.” What body are you referring to, and what kind of death are we talking about? Are we talking about a bullet in the head? Because that is what we see every day.

Terris E. Todd:
I used that analogy for a reason. If you remove the head from a natural body, it is going to die. If you remove the head of the family from the body of the family itself, that also holds true.

So goes the family, so goes the neighborhood, so goes the city, so goes the nation, so goes the world.

If you take God as our head, or Christ as our head, because the Bible says the head of a woman is the man and the head of man is Christ, then if we walk away from Christ or remove Him from our lives, the body is sure to die.

That is why I use that analogy. When they remove the father, children grow up without him, and they may see God as someone who will abandon them too. It is all by design. If you remove the head, the body is sure to die spiritually, physically, emotionally, and in every other way. That is why we see the numbers we see with fathers not engaged in their children’s lives and families being dismantled.

Peter Vazquez:
A lot of what you described, that design, almost seems like an extension of Margaret Sanger’s Negro Project under the language of family planning.

Terris E. Todd:
Yes. Absolutely. That is exactly it. To continue Margaret Sanger’s agenda, you cannot have the father in the house. If the father is in the house, the woman is less likely to end the life of her unborn child.

Again, if you remove the head, the body is sure to die, and the next generation is sure not to exist. This is all by design of an anti-God agenda.

Peter Vazquez:
It is not just abortion. There is also financial struggle, not just through welfare replacing dads in the home. Your study shows that a 2025 Center for Immigration Studies analysis found that 11.2 percent of U.S.-born prime-age men were not in the labor force in April 2025, up from four percent in 1960.

Sir, that is huge. When you strap a man financially, when he cannot provide, what happens?

Terris E. Todd:
That is biblical. The Bible says a man who does not work does not eat. If a man cannot eat, he is going to find other ways to make sure he does.

It is like what Denzel said: he will find that father, mentor, or identity in the streets. We know the streets are not legal or lawful. If you remove a man’s ability to provide, and that is one of the things God wired him to do, to affirm, provide, and protect his family, then he becomes unhinged.

Peter Vazquez:
That is not even based on skin color anymore. Universal basic income has become the replacement for that stress within broken families. What do you say about that?

Terris E. Todd:
I say it is foolishness. It is another way for the government to put its hands into family affairs.

The Bible says a man who does not work does not eat. Universal basic income assumes we are all alike and on the same level. We are not.

If you work harder than me, universal basic income still says everyone should be paid the same. Think of the parable of the talents. One was given five, one was given two, and one was given one. The one with one talent buried it. The others multiplied theirs. The one who did nothing had his talent taken from him and given to the one who was productive.

When government gives something for nothing, it is a recipe for failure and disaster. Universal basic income makes no sense because it assumes we are all the same. That is socialism. It is redistribution of wealth, and that is not biblical.

Peter Vazquez:
In 2024, the poverty rate for married-couple families with children under eighteen was 4.7 percent, compared with 30.6 percent for female-householder families with children and no spouse present. I think that wraps up everything you just said.

Richard Reeves, cited in the Project 21 report What Fatherhood Means for Black America, said father-child separation is bad for men, bad for women, and bad for children. Who is Richard Reeves and why is he cited in this Project 21 report that all men and women should read?

Terris E. Todd:
Richard Reeves is a brilliant mind in that regard. He does research and provides data in this space. We used information from him and many others, including Denzel Washington.

Richard Reeves is one of those trusted minds behind what is going on. He is absolutely right that it is not good for anybody if a father is not interacting with his children, because that is where children get identity. They come from the father.

When feminist groups say, “I do not need a man,” I say that is a lie because you are the seed of a man. Look at the data. Your children are on a path of destruction when the man is absent.

Peter Vazquez:
Terris, just about every woman listening might say, “I do not need a man.” How do we qualify and quantify that without offending people, while showing the value of what you are talking about? How can people learn more about you?

Terris E. Todd:
I qualify and quantify it by sticking to the facts. When there is no man present, we see destruction. All the negative statistics that come with that are apparent.

I also qualify it through the Word of God. If you did not need a man, why did God create it that way in the beginning? You actually need each other. He said, “Be fruitful and multiply.” He blessed them together as a couple, the man and the woman, because they make up the image of God.

People can go to nationalcenter.org and look at this work. They can send us a message if they want a hard copy of the monograph.

Peter Vazquez:
I appreciate you, sir. Terris Todd, ladies and gentlemen. We will be right back with lines open. Do not go anywhere.

Return With Phone Lines Open

Station Voice:
Peter Vazquez and The Next Steps Show on the Voice of Liberty.

To join the conversation on Next Steps, call 585-346-3000.

Peter Vazquez:
Por seguro, Jamaica, I want to hear from you because dialogue is important.

As I told Terris, his report could not have come at a better time, in my humble opinion, because we are in the middle of a primary and funky things are happening, como siempre.

Let me remind you of Proverbs 29:2, which says that when the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people mourn. We see that today, ladies and gentlemen, and we see it happening with our children.

Yesterday, we brought up a situation that I said was clearly a violation of election integrity and needed discussion. It is all allegations. Nothing is proven. In fact, it is my privilege to say that the BOE provided a response.

I invited them to respond yesterday. I asked them these questions: Was the voter-assistance process properly followed? Were the required Oath for Persons Assisting Voters records completed? What guidance was given to site chairs and election inspectors? Are elected officials, candidates, campaign representatives, or politically connected individuals permitted to bring voters to the poll site to assist them? What corrective guidance, if any, has been issued to polling locations ahead of Primary Day?

Bob:
Some of those requirements are all very well and good. Somebody swears an oath and is instructed on the proper procedures for helping bring people to the polling place. Notice the language: bring people to the polling place, not go into the polling booth with them, where nobody can witness what is taking place.

Peter Vazquez:
I am glad you said that. I want to read the BOE response. Yesterday, around three o’clock, I received the email. This is what the BOE said in response to the questions I asked.

They said:

“Based on allegations presented relating to providing assistance and electioneering, the Board of Elections is confident that election inspectors followed the procedures required by New York State Election Law.

Under New York State Election Law, a voter who requires assistance in casting a ballot may choose a person of their choice to provide that assistance, subject to limited statutory exceptions.

The Board of Elections voter check-in system is configured so that voters who request assistance must swear in writing that they require assistance and that the assistant swears that they will not try to influence the voter’s selections.”

Bob:
What evidence do we have that those steps were followed?

Peter Vazquez:
Let me finish reading the response.

“A ballot cannot be issued until these requirements have been met. Our review indicates that these procedures were followed.”

That is the Board of Elections stating this, both Commissioners Jackie Ortiz and Peter Elder. So that is what justifies it: their review.

“Electioneering is specifically defined and prohibited under New York State Election Law, and a central element of electioneering is an attempt to influence a voter’s choice. The Election Law does not expressly address the allegations.

However, the Board of Elections discourages candidates from these kinds of interactions precisely because it creates the appearance that something improper may have happened. The Board of Elections reminds all election participants of the importance of maintaining both the integrity of the electoral process and public confidence in it.”

Bob:
That is the problem. Can a reasonable person listening believe that a candidate for elected office can accompany a voter into a private voting booth and not influence that person’s choice? Even one time?

Peter Vazquez:
Right. Mercedes said to me, “Peter, if it was once, I would get it.” Like helping Aunt May. I get it. But nine times, probably more.

June 16 at 6:26 PM. June 19, three times between 4:32 and 4:44. June 21, five times.

Again, the BOE did make an appropriate reference to instilling confidence in voting integrity. But this kind of activity does exactly the opposite. When there are repeated instances of an elected official who is also a candidate and whose name appears on the ballot going into the polling place where activity cannot be monitored with a person requesting assistance, that is a problem.

Bob:
Do we have records showing that these voters who requested assistance made the necessary sworn statement?

Peter Vazquez:
I have a copy of some of those reports from one location, the Staybridge location we covered yesterday. Remember, we talked about the law saying assistance can be provided for disability, blindness, or inability to read and write.

The records showed the reasons why Legislator Rose Bonnick put down and swore to. One was “New Voter.”

Bob:
Was that on the list? Is “New Voter” a disability?

Peter Vazquez:
That is what they wrote down. That is what the Board of Elections says it reviewed and found correct.

Many were marked as “Translation.” Rose Bonnick put out her own statement on social media. She basically said, as I mentioned to Terris, that she is representing the Jamaican community and that is her focus.

Bob:
Do they not speak English in Jamaica?

Peter Vazquez:
I was there recently, and they all seemed to speak English.

There were three reasons on the records I saw. The first was “New Voter.” The second was “Translation.” The third was “Instruction/Explanation,” signed and sworn to by both the person she helped and the legislator.

Bob:
Why is that necessary to go into the confidential polling place with the voter? That can be explained outside in full view of election inspectors.

What is electioneering? Electioneering is using the polling place as a location for campaigning. If you have to explain or instruct inside the curtain, saying, “Let me explain what Democrats stand for, and by the way, I am doing this because I am Jamaican and need to make sure all you Jamaicans come in and do this,” then that sounds like the kind of explanation that could be given.

Peter Vazquez:
There were forty-six total assistance-related records countywide. Twelve assistance-related records at Staybridge. Nine of those twelve were Rose Bonnick. That means seventy-five percent of those assisted at Staybridge involved the same assistant.

Bob, I agree with you. I disagree wholeheartedly with the commissioners’ conclusion, even though I respect them. Gary Stout says, “This is more BOE BS.”

We will be right back on The Next Steps Show on the Voice of Liberty, WYSL and WLEA. Keep your eyes peeled. We will give you the number to call when we come back.

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Station Voice:
Peter Vazquez and The Next Steps Show on the Voice of Liberty.

Bob:
All right, folks, grab a pencil. This is important. Do not miss this number. Jot this number down if you see shenanigans going on in polling places. This is the number you need to call if you see something that is not right: 866-390-2992.

That is 866-390-2992. Make sure you call and report anything fishy going on in these polling places. Do not be shy.

Peter Vazquez:
Absolutely. Today is Tuesday, June 23. It is Primary Day until 9 PM. Polls have been open since 6 AM.

This is where winners advance to November 3. Regardless of your party affiliation, know that there is one Republican primary in Assembly District 130, which is Webster and part of Wayne County, and everything else is a Democratic primary. If you are a Democrat listening, get out and vote.

Gary, thanks for calling The Next Steps Show, brother.

Caller: Gary Stout

Gary Stout:
Good to talk to you. I was going to give you that phone number, but Bob beat me to it.

What we are going to witness in the next few weeks is evidence of this nonsense coming out. The good side of DOJ and FBI have been monitoring elections across the country. They have already documented problems in Bexar, Texas, where votes were added and subtracted using machines.

The problem is that everyone has their own pet issue. Some people think it is the machines. Some think voter rolls are the problem. Some think mail-in ballots are the issue. The truth is, it is all of it.

It is a whole system built so it does not look like anything is happening all the time everywhere. That is the genius of it. They have fourteen ways to influence the vote count. If we do not wake up to that fact, we are never going to get our republic restored.

Here is the kicker: not voting because the system has been compromised does not fix it. That is the equivalent of taking a knee and giving up. The only way Trump got back in was because so many people went out and voted anyway. They brought friends with them, but they did not accompany them into the voting booth. There are employees there who are paid to help if a voter needs help with the machine, understanding something, or even translation.

There is no reason for one person to walk in with multiple people and help them vote.

Peter Vazquez:
Nine people total, and forty-six countywide in the records we saw.

It goes back to policy. The problem is not that there is assistance. The voter can choose their assistant, which makes sense. My mother would feel more comfortable with me. The problem is that the catch, “you can choose who you want,” is being exploited by politicians on the left and right.

Gary Stout:
You are right. It is left and right because they built a system that works well to keep them all in power.

As an outsider who is not one of the darlings of a political party, you know how hard it is to get in. Every year they change requirements for petitions and ballot lines. These changes are not made to help We the People become more involved.

Motor voter laws put people on lists before they can vote, and the county board of elections is supposed to screen out duplicates. That sounds good in theory, but it has not happened. They have extra ID numbers in voter rolls, and we have proved that over and over again.

Peter Vazquez:
Trump said it in an interview. He told the host, “Of course there is evidence. You people are just choosing not to look at it.”

Gary Stout:
They still do that locally and nationally. Every time they announce anything about voting, they say “unfounded claims of voter fraud.” But it is not just voter fraud. It is election fraud. It was not primarily people voting six times with six ballots, though there may have been some of that.

Look up Gary Berntsen and R.D. Martin. Look up the book Stolen Elections. You do not even have to read the book. Listen to a two-hour interview and you will understand it.

As Trump said, you are either part of the corruption, or you are stupid.

Peter Vazquez:
Gary Stout, ladies and gentlemen, from the Second Amendment Show. Appreciate the call.

Now, Gary, if you are still listening, check this out. All the Democrats talk about race, Bob. New York ranked number 44 overall, making it the seventh-worst state in the nation for racial equality in education.

Bob:
How can that be with the education bureaucracy we have and the obscene amounts of money dumped into government education?

Peter Vazquez:
WalletHub’s 2026 report says promoting racial equality in education can significantly impact equality in the overall economy. New York ranked number 44 overall, seventh worst. The score was 31.63 out of 100.

Bob:
Once again, folks, here is the phone number if you see shenanigans or funny business at polling places: 866-390-2992. That is 866-390-2992.

Peter Vazquez:
WalletHub’s analysis compared all fifty states across six education equality metrics. It also cited research finding that districts serving fewer black and Hispanic students receive roughly $900 to $1,000 more per student than districts serving larger shares of those populations.

If people cannot see the problem with the Vanbōōlzalness Crisis, then I do not know what to tell them.

There was a legislator years ago who lost an election and said, “The community gets what they deserve.” I wonder, are we getting what we deserve? The Bible warns us to be careful what we ask for because there are consequences.

New York State says it cares about equality, opportunity, democracy, and education. Yet this survey shows we are near the bottom for racial equality in education. What does that tell you?

Bob:
Give that number again. It is important.

Peter Vazquez:
New York scored 31.63 out of 100.

This election cycle, on November 3, all 435 U.S. House seats are on the ballot. Bob, that is a change-agent opportunity.

Bob:
It can be for the good. In 2016 and again in 2024, we were able to outrun the cheating by massive turnout. Do not give me the equivalency argument that Republicans are just as bad. No. This is a Democrat thing. There may be isolated pockets, but not enough to make a difference in an election. We were able to outrun the cheating by massive turnout, and it has to happen again.

Peter Vazquez:
Trump said that the only way to beat it is to come out in masses. If you believe in God, country, and family, forget the labels for a minute. You need to vote. It does make a difference.

More than thirty governorships are on the line. Be a leader. Be a voice for liberty. God bless these United States of America.