Transcripts For CSPAN House Hearing On Voting Rights COVID-19 20240712

Congress has an option, many workers do not. You can do our work remotely in a safe, secure online format. The highest levels of the federal government have all recognize the unique circumstances of the covid19 pandemic by holding remote or virtual hearings. It includes the house and senate which have held virtual hearings like this one. It even close the Supreme Court which is modified how it conducts its oral arguments. It includes the executive agencies which are recognizing the legitimacy and the need for remote proceedings by participating in those conducted by congress and the Supreme Court. As we begin, i want to remind our members and participants of a few things that will help us navigate this new platform. We are holding this hearing and compliance of the regulations for Remote Committee proceedings , pursuant to house revolution resolution 955. Our rules are unchanged. Generally, the committee will keep microphones muted to limit background noise. Members will need to unmute themselves while speaking or when recognized for their five minutes. Witnesses will need to unmute themselves as they are recognized for them five minutes or when answering a question, not unlike our Committee Hearing room. On at keep your camera all times. Even if you need to step away for a moment during the proceeding, do not leave the meeting. At this time, i ask unanimous consents that all members have five days to revise and extend their remarks and that any written statements be made part of the record. Soring no objections, ordered. Now we turn to todays important topic. Today, we will examine the impact of covid19 endemic on Election Administration and voters ability to freely and safely access the ballot. It has become clear that it across the access to the ballot in november, its in jeopardy we do not make substantial investments in our election infrastructure and remove the longstanding barriers that continue to keep virtue made from exercising the right to vote. Covid19 is tragically claimed the lives of nearly 113,000 americans and there are more than 2 million confirmed cases nationwide. Our response must address the severity of this emergency. The general election is less than five months away and Many Public Health experts warn we could see a resurgence of the virus in the fall. In fact, the number of covid cases is still increasing in 19 states according to the latest information. In the interim, states continue to hold primary elections, change election procedures to respond to the changing landscape and prepare for the prospect of conducting a National Election during a glowing during a Global Pandemic. Many states have postponed their primaries well others, voters were forced to go to the polls. It risks their health and the right to vote. Including states georgia, the number of polling slashed,s been subjecting voters to harolds long lines in the middle of a pandemic. The choices made by states have varied widely. For example, california will send a mailin ballot to every registered voter for the november election while the ohio state house recently advanced a bill that would make it harder or citizens to vote november. 12 states and d. C. Mailed or for mail absentee ballots at least the primary election. States expanded eligibility requirements to qualify for an absentee ballot post others have fought expansion of mail in ballot access. Election officials are making decisions now that will govern how millions of americans ultimately cast their ballot. During all of this confusion and uncertainty, the president is waging an insidious campaign to so distrust by spreading false ripes that vote by mail is for fraud and threatening states expanding access to safe voting options. Voting by mail is not new. Crewons of americans and including the president and members of his administration cast the ballot by mail every election cycle with exceedingly rare instances of fraud. Five states already conduct vote by mail elections according to the National Voter coalition. 100 million ballots have been mailed in since 200,000. Since 2000. They only have a dozen cases of proven fraud. Congress must not abdicate its responsibility. We must assure every eligible american can access the ballot box without endangering their faith and with steadfast in our democratic process. During the many hearings held by the committee and subcommittee throughout the 116 congress, we have explored issues of Election Security, Voting Rights and access and protecting the integrity of our democracy. They all take on new and complex dimensions as the americans cast their ballots during a Public Health crisis. Most communities vulnerable to Voter Suppression are also disproportionately bear the impact of covid19. Todays hearing will expand upon these issues. We will hear from colleagues represent districts into states that have held primaries during the pandemic as well as experts in Voting Rights and Voter Protection litigation, election reform and from the secretary of the state charged with carrying out elections. Americas postal workers are also represented today. Willse of mail and balance increase in postal workers on the Postal Service have a vital role in ensuring all voters receive their ballots and that ballots are securely and timely return. In march, the cares act include the muchneeded down payment of 400 Million Dollars 400 billion for the response to covid19. However, much more is urgently needed. The house passed the heroes act which includes a comprehensive all of the above plan to improve access to the ballots and ensure no voter is forced to choose between their health and voting. 3. 6 billion dollars in additional funding for voting for the member for the november general election. Absentee voting, expanded early voting, prepaid return postage and selfsealing envelopes, mailing all voters a ballot in a time of urgency. Voting should be safe and accessible whether you choose to vote at home or in person. States need adequate resources and planning to prepare for november. There is much work to be done. I now recognize the Ranking Member for any Opening Statement he would wish to make. Thank you, madam chair. Its great to work with you as the lone member of the Minority Party on this sub committee. I am pleased to be joined by Barry Loudermilk who is my partner here. Thank you to all of our colleagues and to those witnesses who are joining us today. As a nation, we are facing a number of crises and not just related to coronavirus and elections. It is more critical than ever that our Electoral Systems are efficient, trustworthy and secure. As a subcommittee, we have the opportunity today to do the work the American People demand of us. I am committed as ive always been to ensuring that every eligible american is able to freely vote. Dilute therrender or sanctity of a single vote for changes in our laws that risk undermining the integrity of our elections. I believe many of the changes proposed by the majorities during this congress would do just that. We must note that many things proposed by the majority were proposed prior to the coronavirus. Hr1 included sameday reservation and vote by mail expansion and required the county to have provisional ballots, all items that Speaker Pelosi has once again put forward. The proposals recently put forth have nothing to do with limiting the spread of the virus like on allowing by like harvesting of votes. Iher ideas may have merit and welcome the opportunity to explore them. When it comes to issues of Election Administration, delete i have proven to be a pragmatic and willing person to listen. Association ofal secretaries and state raised concerns over over federally appropriated funds, i sent a letter expressing my willingness. I have put forward my own ideas about how to reform the elections process. I have introduced four separate pieces of legislation along with my colleagues on this call. I have introduced with them, this is meant meant to strike to strengthen our elections as well as the public faith in them. If we can strengthen our forrnment i would be off it. Our policy orders are informed by the power of this community of this committee over the last nine months. Mailin ballot should not be mailed to those who did not request one. Voter registration lists have not been maintained in states like california, leading to situations like in Los Angeles County were potentially 1. 5 million in eligible voters sit on the rolls. Second, we must not allow nationwide unlimited ballot harvesting. We must now allow ballots returned after election day to be counted nor must we allow ballots returning before election day to become to early. These proposals risk the integrity of our process and are frankly irresponsible. If we can move past these items and you will find a willing partner in me, the question is, where do we begin . Have three priorities this year. All voters who choose to vote in person must be able to do so safely. I believe the funds including the cares act have and will go a long way in this effort. States who wish to expand their vote by mail, must do so without sacrificing the security of the vote. This must include voter list maintenance. This one requirement if enforced could dramatically reduce the time many voters have to spend in line and significantly reduce the number of personnel needed to administer an election and three, states and the federal government must Work Together to views the American Public the 2020 election with legitimacy. Critical to these is vote by mail. I support states increasing their capacity but to presume that every state should or can dramatically increases the capacity is ridiculous. Many states including two represented today had less than 4 of voters participate in the last election in casting an absentee ballot. They moved to a vote by mail system and it ignores the reality of a of elections termination. Some of the transitions take months to deliver. The department of homeland secured as one states against reducing and pursing voting locations in favor of vote by mail is a cabin general effect on voter access, lines inc. Injections. In person voting locations in milwaukee were reduced from 100 to five. Many never voted by mail and to suddenly do so with little to no Public Education would diss in for an franchise these voters. I do not have the time to discuss every policy proposal but i want to reiterate our effort will not end here today. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses and the yield back. Thank you, mr. Davis. Testimony. Begin our i want to make sure that the that they willds be recognized for five minutes and i will remind every witness that their entire written statements will be made part of the record and that the record will remain open for at least five days for additional material to be submitted. A reminder to all of our witnesses, there is a timer on the screen. Please be sure you can see the timer and are mindful of the five minute time limit. Our first panel, we will hear from two of our colleagues who represent just except states that have held primaries since the pandemic began. As is our custom, we will not ask our colleagues any questions. First is representative marcy kaptur from the ninth Congressional District of ohio. It stretches 141 miles along lake eries coastline from toledo to the west side of cleveland. The congresswoman is currently the longestserving woman in the history of the u. S. House of representatives. She currently serves as a Senior Member of a House Appropriations committee where she chaired the subcommittee on energy. Grantl have congresswoman gwen moore from wisconsin. The first africanamerican elected to congress from the state of wisconsin. Prior to becoming a member of congress, congresswoman moore represented the people in the state house of representatives state9891992 and the senate from 19932004. She is currently a member of the house ways and means committee. Please proceed. Thank you very much. You for the opportunity to address your important subcommittee who have taken a leadership role among the covid19 epidemic including authoring the heroes act with key provisions to streamline Election Administration. Your subcommittee. Thats conducted a thoughtprovoking overnight oversight hearing which i had the pleasure of participating in. Thank you for your strong, continuing leadership. Voting is a right, not a privilege. Womens suffrage, civil rights and lgbtq movements have made closerhave made us get to our constitutions aspirations. , our franchise is in danger. President trump and his allies are trying to undermine confidence in absentee voting and by association, our electoral system. Let me be clear, there is a transparent attempt to use every conceivable ploy to delegitimize elections and distort the results. Everyt ensure that american has equal access to the ballot in those ballots are able to be filed and counted in a. Ime the ohio election was in suspended animation. Armoire 17 primary election was days after the president declared a National Emergency on march 13. The scale of the epidemic became apparent, Ohio Governor mike dewine acted to postpone in voting. Unfortunately, this set off a chaotic series of events jeopardizing our fundamental right to the franchise. Voter turnout plummeted. Absentee ballots in early Voting Results were held in abeyance. The Legal Process to change and cancel in person voting was right with his order. Chaos ensued as litigation stretched into the night. Voters and poll workers did not know whether the poles would be open or closed when they awoke on primary election day. Eventually, the primary was rescheduled to april 28 with nearly 2 million voters requesting absence absentee ballots. Unfortunately, despite an unprecedented surge in the number of requests, it was compiled and indicated voter turnout april 28 reached just over 20 . That was well below the historic average. In 2016, the primary turned out voters with 43 point 66 . This was likely due to the additional steps required to request a ballot. I ballot process and the failure to automatically send ballots to people with prepaid return postage had fewer voters and less participation. This is disenfranchisement, plain and simple. Logistical to the challenges, ohios underwater as a result of the increased cost. With unnecessarily restrictive voting was an republican oneparty rule and a resistant legislature, ohio purposely designed to make voting more restrictive. For example, the Ohio Legislature is debating 8v680 which would rollback early mail votes for the november election. A recent study by the brennan ohio and itstes localities would now bear as much is 82 million in unfound election cost before november. The cares act allocated 400 Million Dollars for election grants to the state. 12. 8 million goes to ohio. Unfortunately, these funds are inadequate for what is required a state and local budgets face major budget cuts. Mitch mcconnell must get the heroes act over the legislative finish line with 3. 6 billion dollars for state and local government. We cannot have any cutting of corners that will place the franchise at a greater risk. There is a Factfinding Mission to ensure the fall election is conducted with rigor and congress has the tools to avoid the disastrous turnout. We must meet this real challenge. Do those in charge have the will . I know you do, madam chair and i hope your Ranking Member does so with tens of millions of newly unemployed with more people take to the streets, too Many Americans are having their votes suppressed. We therefore have an even greater obligation to use every tool in our arsenal to safeister accessible and and fair fall elections. Thank you very much. Thank you for holding this critical hearing. All we ask for here in ohio is a fair system but not one that is jerryrigged by a oneparty rule. Thank you so much. ,mooore, you are recognized for five minutes. Unmute yourself. Thank you so much. I want to thank you and the members of the subcommittee on elections. Youre one of the first people i reached out to after the catastrophic election that happened and i want to thank you in the Ranking Members to handle to have this important hearing on those concerns during the primaries. I heard the Opening Statement of you in the Ranking Member so i that i dont think its an either or situation whether we have in person voting ,r whether we have voting absentee ballots. In the case of the past election, we sought to have billing by mail. Heard that by april 7, we all knew that the pandemic was upon us and our governor was frantically trying to reschedule the election but was foiled from doing that by various Supreme Court decisions. Covid19 surged around april 7 and conditions were predicted and too many voters had to make a serious choice between exercising their franchise and risking their health. It was the ultimate poll tax. The day before our primary election, the Supreme Court of wisconsin and joined the democratic governors executive order to reschedule the election. [inaudible] it was the only state to carry out its schedule election at a actedhen all other states to stay at home or shift to mailin ballot thing. The United States Supreme Court locked a District Court order extending the deadline for absentee balance. They tried to implement necessary measures. Folks were waiting hours in the i fear my vote may have been counted because i am a big fan of in person voting but decided at the last minute to cast an absentee vote. I heard reports of the pandemic put my ballot in the post office. My time is limited so i want to that a primary election is a true test of democracy. Enough to say local governments do this. We need resources where we can quit her open and he provide [inaudible] thank you. Thank you both very much. We appreciate your testimony today. We know we have work to do clearly. Thank you again. Moved to introduce the second panel. We would begin with the president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for civil rights under law. They seek to ensure equal justice for all through the rule of law. They target the inequities confronting africanamericans and other racial and ethnic minorities. Civilark served as the Rights Bureau for the new York State Attorney generals office. She spent several years at the where she helped lead the organizations work in the areas of Voting Rights and election law. And worked as the u. S. Department of at the u. S. Department of justice and the civil rights division. Next we have the president and director council of naacp Legal Defense and educational fund. Lds seek structural changes to expand democracy, eliminate disparities and achieve racial justice. She is the second woman to lead the organization. She began her career as a fellow at the American Civil Liberties union before joining the staff of lds. Left lds to join the faculty at the university of Maryland School of law in baltimore where she spent more than 20 years. In 2013, she was invited back to the lds, this time to leave the organization as its director council. The direction of the National Election Reform Program at the Brennan Center for justice. Ensure that u. S. Election infrastructure is secure and accessible to every voter. And to protect election from foreign interference. Of thelso a member Election Assistance Commission, board of advisors where he currently serves as the vice chair of the Election Security committee. We also have the president of the American Postal Workers Union which represents more than 200,000 ploys of the u. S. Postal service and approximately 1500 employees in the private sector mailing industry. He began his first three year term in november of 2013. Inbegan his postal career 1983. We also have the 44th secretary for the state of louisiana. He was elected secretary of state on december of 2018. He brings to the office, more than 30 years of experience working in the private and public sector. Serves as thell 53rd secretary of state for alabama. Elected in 2014 and was reelected in 2018. Thes also a member of United States Election Assistance Commission standards board and currently serves as the chair of the Republican Association of secretaries of state. You will all be given five minutes for your testimony and we will then follow with questions. Miss clark, you are recognized for five minutes. You need to unmute. Chairwoman, Ranking Member ,nd members of the subcommittee my name is Kristen Clark and i serve as the president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for civil rights under law. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on how we can ensure states hold safe and Fair Elections during the covid19 pandemic. The Lawyers Committee for civil rights under law in the organization i lead is at the forefront of the battle for equal rights since it was created in 1963 at the request of president kennedy. Provides resources in combating racial discrimination. Simply put khmer mission is to secure equal justice under law. We have been a leader in many of the most important Voting Rights cases in our nation and we also lead Election Protection which is the largest and longest running nonpartisan Voter Protection program in the country. I am here today to sound the alarm on what we have seen in recent primaries including two days ago when voters went to the polls in georgia, South Carolina, nevada, north dakota and west virginia. Many states and local counties are simply unprepared to safely handle people voting in person and several states have failed to provide requested mailin ballots to voters in time for them to be cast. Georgia is the poster child for this dysfunction and disenfranchisement of africanAmerican Voters. As it has been repeatedly. We were flooded with thousands of calls by way of our vote hotline. Particular from black voters in georgia. There were complaints that raise concerns about long lines, some that went beyond midnight, sites that opened late, lastminute polling place changes, malfunctioning equipment, backup paper ballot shortages and more. We also heard from voters who never received their absentee ballot despite the election being delayed twice. Pollingto ensure that place hours were extended in Gwinnett County so no eligible voter would be denied their fundamental right and with partners, we advocated for extensions in several counties. To put it bluntly, this is one of the most chaotic collections we have seen this season. As a nation, we are facing one of the greatest challenges to our democracy in the midst of a pandemic and a recession that is different that is disproportionally affecting African Americans and people of color. People are taken to the streets to protest the killing of george floyd, Breonna Taylor and ahmad arbery, the president sadly has repeatedly attempted to send the military into communities over the wishes of state governors and local mayors. It is critical for congress to step into to ensure that neither federal action nor veiled threats interview with her most fundamental right, the right to vote. Protecting the right to vote is vital to our democracy because it is the right preservative of all rights. It empowers people to elect candidates of their choice who will govern and legislate to advance other fundamental rights. However, that right was threatened long before the pandemic. In the words of congressman john lewis, the Supreme Court stuck a dagger into the heart of the Voting Rights act when it issued a 54 decision. If we had section five in place now, it would ask as a check on the 11th hour discriminatory voting changes that we have seen this season. Without section five and in the absence of any meaningful intervention by the justice department, voters across the country and especially people of color, or vulnerable to being disenfranchised during the pandemic. No one should ever have to choose between risking their health and life and voting. As i explain in greater detail in my written testimony, its critical for congress to vote to expand options for in person voting and vote by mail. Preserving our democracy hinges on providing funding to states for the safe and Fair Administration of an election. That requires an appropriation onadditional 3. 6 billion top of the 400 Million Dollars allocated in the cares act. We strongly recommend that congress mandate no excuse absentee balloting for federal elections this year so that any voter with conditions or concerns about covid19 can choose to vote by mail. Expanded access to vote by mail depends on the u. S. Postal service being up and running so its Critical Congress provide the full 89 billion in recip or requested by Postal Service leadership. Vote by mail is not an option for every voter. We know there are native American Voters that live in remote areas or on reservations that do not receive regular Postal Service. For voters who must or prefer to vote in person, congress should mandate that states provide at least two weeks of early voting which will provide people i need you to wrap up if you would. The opportunity to participate and reduce the risk of crowding at polling places and enable coworkers to have more time to sanitize equipment. I thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Thank you so very much. Ifel you are recognized for five minutes. Unmute yourself. Can you hear me now . Yes, we can. , i amtastic, good morning the president and director counsel at the end of the naacp Legal Defense counsel. Thank you for allowing me to testify this afternoon. Lds was founded in 1940 by Thurgood Marshall and his been a separate organization from the naacp since 1957. Beginning with smith versus albright, her successful Supreme Court case challenging the use of whites only primary elections in 1944, lds has been fighting to overcome obstacles to ensure the full, equal and actual participation a black voters in the political process. Recent reports indicate that there has been almost 2 million confirmed cases of covid19 infection in the United States and more than 112,000 deaths. The country faces not only a Public Health crisis but also an economic crisis comparable to the Great Depression in severity. More than 40 Million People have filed for unemployment since the start of the pandemic. The pandemic is disproportionally impacting black people. The centers for Disease Control and prevention report that while black people are only 13 of the u. S. Population, we constitute nearly 30 of all u. S. Coronavirus deaths. Unfortunately, this pandemic is not only a Public Health emergency and economic crisis, it is also a threat to the very foundation of our democracy and the most important part of expression, free and Fair Elections. We must never forget the images we saw in wisconsin in april and yesterday in georgia. Thousands of mask wearing americans standing in staggered lines extended over city blocks as they waited to vote amid the most dangerous pandemic this country has seen in a century. None of them could be certainly could avoid contracting the deadly coronavirus and carrying it home yet they stood in line, some for hours to exercise the fundamental right that supreme prescribed 140 four years ago. It has been reported that lee 71 people contracted covid19 after voting in person or working at the polls during the wisconsin election and at least one study included that those counties with more inperson voters for voting location had significantly higher rates of covid19 transmission after the election. It was a shameful, disgraceful site that we can have People Choose between voting and health but i am compelled to see the powerful nobility of those people standing, separated from each other as best they could in wisconsin and yesterday in georgia, for hours on end determined to participate in the political process. Voters wasfor black especially agonizing. Lds has filed for cases seeking to remove onerous absentee voting requirements in Southern States which includes requirements such as those in alabama were voters voting absentee must secure the signature of two thirdparty witnesses or have the ballot notarized and include a copy of their government issued photo id when they mail in their blouse that ballot. We are still currently in litigation in alabama and louisiana, where blacks constitute 20 of the population, they have constituted 70 of the covid related deaths. We scored an important victory two weeks ago when a Federal District judge found the requirement in South Carolina that absentee voters have a thirdparty witness on the ballot, is an unconstitutional burden ewing the scope of the pandemic. We are stressing the importance of protecting those who choose to vote in person. Absentee voting cannot fully yesterday ore saw come at the expense of secure in person voting. Congress must ensure a strategy for voting in this pandemic. Its guaranteed that voters have the option to vote by mail and save in person voting. Congress must approach us with a thorough, urgent and unrelenting determination to protect the right to vote and we should remember there is a critical need for Robust Community education to ensure people are fully informed about the variety of voting options as well as the details of how each option works. These necessary changes and modifications to voting practices in elections coupled with the fear and confusion surrounding the covid pandemic creates the circumstances that are right for disinformation and manipulation and we have already seen our president contribute to that confusion with some of his tweets. Those Public Education campaigns must combat this information. That is why we are gratified that the heroes act includes an additional 316 billion dollars to implement measure that will facilitate a sensible absentee voting and safe in person voting. The act also calls for the extension of early in person voting, expanded online resin registration and requires the removal of onerous conditions for absentee voting. This election is a test for our democracy, one we cannot fail to stop this is one we know we cannot leave to local county officials. We need congress to demonstrate the leadership by providing resources. Everyvide access for eligible voter at the ballot. Mr. Norton, you are recognized for five minutes. Please unmute yourself. How is that . Thats good. Thank you. The opportunity to testify today. Millions of americans are asking when their voices will be heard. Obviously, covid19 presents a real challenge to free and Fair Elections this year. In primaries from wisconsin to georgia, we have seen closed polling places, sick poll workers, mail ballots never delivered and long lines lasting six or seven or eight hours. These are unacceptable and serious barriers to the franchise. Aree is no question they being made worse by covid this year. The good news i have to share is that since the outbreak in the United States, the Brennan Center has spoken to many dozens of Election Officials of both parties around the country and the vast majority are working to take steps to ensure that we can have elections this fall. The overwhelming consensus on those elections we have spoken to is that they need more resources. Works with center Election Officials to institute the alliance for securing democracy and election bettors has estimated the additional cost to running free and fair and safe elections this year will be around 4 billion. Address voter to registration. There has been a severe disruption in Voter Registration in the United States in 2020 because of covid19. The center for election innovation and research how to report out today showing how much registration activity has plummeted this year. Government offices are closed, registration drives are not happening. Certainly, one result will be that we are going to see a huge move in the coming months to. Oters moving online many systems around the country were not built for such high use of dish of registration activity. Pennsylvania is currently building more capacity but many others will require more resources to be able to do that. They will probably have to work to make those systems more secure. This year, we have seen Voting Systems overwhelmed. The problem will only get worse as we approach registration deadlines around the country. We need to adjust for that now. There will be an increase in male voting. The arguments and d. C. About whether or not we should be expanding male voting or detached from reality, i agree her devisee maybe but its a its happening, its expanded. In the midst of the pandemic, millions of americans are choosing this option. In pennsylvania, we saw 16 times increase in the number of people asking for mailin ballots. In georgia on tuesday, more than 25 times increase in male voting. We are seeing these increases everywhere for the biggest question is whether or not it will happen, the biggest question is will we provide the support jurisdictions need to make sure they can handle this . If not, we will see a repeat of georgia, overwhelmed offices, tens of thousands of voters not receiving their ballots, we cannot allow this to happen. We must provide a safe in person voting. Georgia has demonstrated that we need in person voting as a failsafe and there are people who will want to vote by now. That will be their choice and others will have no choice out of necessity because they need assistance. We need to take steps to reduce crowding i make her poll workers and voters alike are safe in the poll workers have protective equipment, that we have more of them and have things like disposable hands to mark their ballots. Must make sure infrastructures kept secure. The changes we talked about today need more investment to make sure we are keeping systems secure. Other hostile nationstates will not stop attacking our elections merely because we have a pandemic in this country. These problems are not insurmountable. Election officials know what they need to do in Congress Needs to make sure it provides the resources to do so as soon as possible. You very much. You are recognized for five minutes. Good afternoon. My name is mark demonstrate in, theemenstein, head of postal union. Postal workers are externally dedicated and proud public servants. We are serious about our oath to protect the privacy and sanctity of the mail. We treat your mail as if it was our own. We are trusted by the public with a 91 favorability rating equal among democrats, republicans and independents. We carry out the mission to bind the nation together. We collected sort and deliver medicine and Health Information and financial and legal transactions, census forms, greeting cards, purity articles periodicals and yes, tens of ballots. Of mailed vote by mail is nothing new for us. We have been handling the task well for generations, serving overseas military personnel and states demanding vote by mail for the tens of millions who choose to do it. The current president of the United States whom ive mother voted for by absentee ballot from a hospital bed. No doubt the presence ballot my mothers vote were safely and timely delivered and counted. As vote by mail has been thrust into the forefront on this ongoing pandemic, i urge you to take into code account a proven experiment. Voting by mail works and increase participation and avoids Voter Suppression and creates a paper trail and canopy hat, saves money is private and secure in his absence of any increaseed voter fraud. Many will continue to be sheltered in place and quarantined in seniors and those with Health Conditions in most people are less likely to gather in public settings. Coworkers are often unavailable. The threat of the further spread of this deadly disease is still ever present. Robust plans for vote by mail will literally make the difference on whether tens of millions of people will have access to a ballot. In the last several primary states, we see the difference vote by mail can make in terms of safe and timely. The facts underscore that we must ensure that our national treasure, the public Postal Service, is on solid footing. The covid related economic crisis is deeply affected the Postal Service. Mail volume support is severely reduced and while packages have temporarily increased, this spike will not continue. As an institution that traditionally receive no text , the fallen projected revenue means the Postal Service may soon be unable to carry out its mandate of universal service to all 160 million addresses including when it comes to ballots. The Postal Service testified to the House Oversight committee that the United States Postal Service is anticipating a 13 billion revenue loss directly related to covid19 this fiscal year and 54 billion dollars additional losses over 10 years. It says the Postal Service will wind up without money at the end of the fiscal year without appropriations. The first condition of successful expansion of vote by mail to protect our Voting Rights during the pandemic is to make sure [inaudible] the finances of the Postal Service of at least 25 billion proposed in the heroes act. That represents only part of the proposal and the bipartisan and republican majority postal board of governors. Our countrys founders recognized the importance of the to workervice by trying it into the u. S. Constitution itself. There is no better contribution to civic life than to maintain hard fund with blood, sweat, and tears and cherish the right to vote. I thank the committee for allowing me to testify at this important hearing and when the time is right, would welcome any questions. Thank you, chairwoman. Thank you so much. You are recognized for five minutes. Please unmute yourself. , madame you chairwoman. We appreciate this opportunity to testify to you. I am the louisiana secretary of state and is our opportunity to discuss the important work we are doing in louisiana in these unprecedented times, to ensure all voters have the opportunity to both safely in a fair and honest election. Unfortunately, louisianas no stranger to Natural Disaster and we have faced crises around election time before such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 or when hurricane gustav hits out these followed by hurricane ike in the southwest in 2008. Never before have we had to deal with the perfect storm of election issues with cyber threats, election meddling attempt from foreign adversaries and now covid19. Our experience with Natural Disaster has better prepared louisiana to adjust the election processes and procedures in ways other states may not be able to. Louisiana law allows for me as secretary of state to certify that an emergency exists and requested to became the first state to change our election dates and further postponed to july and august. Louisiana law allows the secretary of state to submit an emergency election plan to the legislature where it must be approved by both house and Senate Oversight committees, the full legislature, and agreed to by the governor. Immediately following our decision to delay our spring elections, my staff began working on an emergency plan that would provide for safe elections in the midst of a Global Pandemic. The emergency election plan agreed to by a democratic governor and approved by a Majority Republican Legislature establishes the following. First, an additional six days of inperson early voting. While in person early voting happens over seven days, we added an additional six days to provide for the necessary social distancing measures. Second, we created an emergency covid19 absentee ballot application. Currently, louisiana allows 11 different ways to request an absentee ballot. This application covers those at higher risk for covid19, though subject to quarantine, to experiencing symptoms, or those caring for an individual that is subject to quarantine. Personal protective equipment that every polling site will be available. Hand sanitizer will be provided to voters. Voting machines and other equipment will be regularly sanitized. And poll workers will be given masks and gloves. Our emergency election plan is a temporary response to a Global Pandemic. This plan would be applicable only for the july and august elections. Any changes to the process for the election would require the same process of submitting an emergency election plan with legislative and gubernatorial approval. Our state has benefited greatly from flexibility. Having the ability to adapt to whatever crisis our state faces has allowed us to tailor our response to the situation at hand. In our states legislative session, we recently killed legislation that would hamper our ability to respond to crises. In a similar way, we must fight against federal attempts to mandate how we run our elections under the guise of charitable appropriations. Receiving onetime funds to run elections during an unprecedented crisis at the expense of radically changing our election system is a tradeoff we are not willing to make. Federalgladly accept dollars with no strings of political motivations attached and we would prefer not to have to come up with state matching dollars and a time of such economic turmoil. As the chief election officer for the state of louisiana, im tasked with overseeing elections and i cannot seek control of our elections to publicis politicias thousands of miles away. Im accountable to louisiana and they expect me to run elections in a safe, fair, honest manner that works best for all in our state. Thank you, madam chairman, for this opportunity. Chair fudge thank you. Last but not least, mr. Omalley, you are now recognized for five minutes. Rickymalley chair fudge, member davis, thank you for the opportunity to address you today and discussed the importance of Election Administration and how we can Work Together to protect the 2020 election cycle and beyond. I have the privilege to serve the alabama secretary of state. In 2015, we change the paradigm for voting in the state of alabama. My team and i have shattered every record in the state for Voter Registration and Voter Participation. Through countless voter id visits and registration campaigns. Working with noble alabamians, local officials, and community leaders, we have worked to register more than 1,532,617 new voters since january 19, 2015. And now have a state record of 3,597,060 registered voters as of today. Additionally, we have broken every record in the history of the state for Voter Participation in the last five major elections. 2016, more than 1. 2 5 million alabamians voting broke the record in the history of the state for participation in a president ial primary. In november 2016, 2. 1 million voted. Jonesember 12, 2017, doug was elected to the senate, 1. 3 million alabamians. 2018, 1. 7 million alabamians. Saturday state record by more than 500,000 voters. Million 3, almost 1. 2 alabamians went to the polls in spite of the nationwide covid19 operate and Severe Weather conditions, coming close to breaking a record for our state primary. These numbers are important these numbers prove the importance of participating in the electoral process to alabamians which have had a long history of voting laws which o limit minority participation completely in the election process. We have worked to see that it is easier than ever to vote in alabama by providing electronic Voter Registration through the mobile app. Annualt our website and visits to all 67 counties which you can see behind me on the chart to ensure each and every eligible u. S. Citizen that is a resident our state is given the opportunity to obtain a photo id. The Political Climate in alabama is much different than new york, california and colorado. It is important that states are given the opportunity to run their own election, free from federal interference. What works in one state may not work in all. We have enjoyed the opportunity to visit polls on election day. We want to continue to do so. We vote in person on the average of 96 of people that vote. Our office is appreciative of the recent funds that have been given to us by the congress, but all 1980 polling sites in the state of alabama will be open on election day. Those funds will be used for different purposes. We can talk about those during the question and answer time if you would like to. We made it easier for people to vote. The state of alabama gives me ae opportunity to assign reason to vote absentee. We have done that so it made it easier for all voters to be able to exercise that right. We want to continue to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat. I also want to note that having significant opportunities for fraud increased through mailin voting have been increased, we have seen that most recently in california in 2016 where 83,000 were mailed to one california address werhere two people lived there. Prior to the implementation of the reform, we witnessed 109 absentee ballots being mailed to the mother of a mayoral candidate in 2016. Another instance in the same year where 119 absentee ballots were mailed to an abandoned home. Of theld be noted that six voter fraud convictions we have had an alabama, five of them related to absentee voting. It also should be noted that between 2012 and 2018, 28. 3 million mailin ballots went unaccounted for. I ask you to consider what the cost could be for states to adopt this. Ours would increase from basically 16 million per election to more than 60 million per election. Only 4 of our voters actually vote absentee. I want to thank you for your time today, the work you do for our people in the great work you do for this greatest country in the history of the world. Chair fudge thank you. I think all of our witnesses for their testimony today. It is now time for our members to ask questions. I will begin with mr. Butterfield. Will recognize for five minutes. Recognized for five minutes. Unmute yourself. Rep. Butterfield there we go. Let me thank you very much, chair fudge, for convening this hearing today. Thank you to the witnesses for your testimony. I know it is awkward to testify in this virtual environment, but it is also awkward for us as well. We are making this work and hopefully we will have a good hearing today. Goal must be to guarantee the absolute right of every voter to vote. Whether they are democrat, republican, independent, libertarian, green, constitution. Our charge is to ensure every voter has the absolute right to vote. Madam chair, i am so disappointed that many of our republican colleagues cannot embrace a vote by mail idea or vote from home idea. I think it is absolutely necessary in this environment. I think some of our colleagues may be to prevent a large turnout in november. I hope that is not the case. I was looking at a pole this poll, whichallup said that 64 of those polls favor a vote by mail system. 64 . That is almost two out of three. 83 democrats, 60 of independents want it, 40 of republicans want it. I think we ought to begin to reconsider any opposition to vote by mail and really consider how we can get it done. Thank you to the witnesses for your testimony. The Lawyers Committee for civil rights is a very special organization to meet. Many years ago when i was a lawyer in my hometown, there was a Lawyers Committee that came in and filed a lawsuit that challenged the city for having 23 miles of streets in the Africanamerican Community unpaved. They are now paved. I always like to have reference to that. There were virtually no africanamerican elected officials in my community or in my Congressional District. It was the naacp Legal Defense fund that filed a Voting Rights lawsuit and now we have dozens and dozens of officials. Thank you to those two witnesses and the other witnesses as well. To the secretary of state from louisiana, he made a statement a few moments ago that we cannot see Election Authority to d. C. Politicians. Im an elected official of 750,000 people. I would like to get more clarity about the meaning of that statement. Please, if you would help me. Yes, congressman. Thank you for that question. In a previous testimony that i had with senator klobuchar and other woods with regards to this very issue, during a normal louisiana election, less than 4 of all ballots are cast by absentee by mail balloting. It is neither prudent or practical for us. If we were forced to do them, as secretary merrill, was stating, we would have a 6 million election cost to over 12. 6 million. Mr. Ardoin suppose the federal government provided 100 of that cost. With that be helpful . Mr. Ardoin if it covered 100 of the cost . I dont know if it ever has. Rep. Butterfield that is our legislation, to provide 100 of the cost for every state in the country. If you have more financial concerns, i think we need to set that aside because we proposed to pay 100 of the cost. Let me go to the secretary of alabama. You in essence said that the states need to run their own elections free from federal interference. Words during the Voting Rights movement. Code words for states rights. Is that your meaning . Let me just finish. Do you feel the federal government has no right under any circumstances to get involved in state elections . I agree with that unless you see that someone is violating the trust and confidence of the process or they are intentionally trying to reduce participation efforts of any one individual or any group of individuals. Thats not happening in our state. As a matter of fact, i have shared with you Empirical Data with you that it is not happening. We want to continue to do what we are doing. Rep. Butterfield under some circumstances, the federal government would have some role in the states if Voting Rights were being denied or affected . Mr. Merrill yes, if that were necessary. Just like in the shelti case, the Supreme Court realized that is not necessary at this time to continue that oversight. That is the reason why they ruled the way they did and that is the reason why we were able to change rep. Butterfield you do know case was not dismantled by the Supreme Court. What the Supreme Court did was invite the congress to update the formula to give light to section five. There is a role for the federal government. Chair fudge mr. Butterfield, your time is up. Yourl say, mr. Merrill, interpretation of shelby is not accurate. I will now move to mr. Davis. You are recognized for five minutes. Mr. Davis thank you, madam chair. Thank you to all the witnesses. I am sorry to the two secretaries and my colleague, mr. Butterfield, is a good friend of mine. We know theres a role the federal government can play, obviously. We want to make sure every single person, as republicans, democrats, but most of all because we are americans, lets make sure everybody gets a chance to cast that vote. I commend whats happening in your state based on your statistics, secretary merrill. Your continued increase of voter turnout. We had record voter turnout in the states, in wisconsin in particular and georgia. Two states mentioned during this testimony. I want to see continued record turnout. I hope we have it in 2020. What we are saying here once again is we want to make sure that our states are able to address those turnout issues and make sure we get everybody a chance to vote. A role for the federal government to play. Or you guys would not be here today talking to representatives in the federal government. I appreciate your participation. I got a couple of yes or no questions for both secretaries. I will go through a few yrees or nos and i will give you a chance to expand at the s. End. Do either of your states have in place infrastructure to support federal election entirely by mail . Mr. Ardoin no, sir. Mr. Merrill no, sir. Mr. Davis do you think it is possible for all 50 states to convert by november . Mr. Ardoin absolutely not. Mr. Merrill there is no doubt it is impossible and that is based on experts. Mr. Davis what percentage of the ballots cast were through the mail in 2018 . Mr. Ardoin . 9 . Mr. Merrill almost 4 . Mr. Davis both of your states allow those with disability or illness to vote absentee, correct . Mr. Merrill yes, sir. We passed a law in 19 to give them permanent access. Mr. Davis you could also vote in person if they feel it is easier for them . Mr. Ardoin correct. Mr. Merrill yes, sir. Mr. Davis do both of your states have in place protections against the limited balloting . Mr. Ardoin it was just past this legislative session unanimously with lots of bipartisan support. Mr. Merrill yes, that law has been on the books for several years. Mr. Davis have both of you received your 2020 supplemental federal funds . Mr. Ardoin yes, sir. Mr. Davis i heard you answer already. You said yes. Are you putting these funds to use to help administer elections in light of the covid 19 panic . Mr. Ardoin . Mr. Merrill . Mr. Merrill yes, we are exclusively we have a detailed plan we would like to share with the members if they would like to see it. Mr. Davis ok, if you would like to submit that for the record, we will take that. Any documentation, too. Secretary ardoin, you are welcome to have it for the record, too. Believe you you need any more federal mandates to administer your elections ahead of the november elections . Mr. Ardoin absolutely not. Mr. Merrill no, sir, i do not think so. Mr. Davis my understanding is you have put in place an emergency plan for your own elections. Can you tell us what that plan looks like in a quick manner so i can get one more question to mr. Merrill . Mr. Ardoin we extend an voting from seven days to an additional six days. We created a separate absentee by mail application process for several reasons that you might have. The Covid Concerns that you have. Quarantine, taking care of a Family Member who is susceptible, and for the most susceptible population. Additionally, we have made certain we will have all the protective, personal protective equipment available to voters and to the poll workers. Merrill, how do you see covid19 impacting elections in the future . Mr. Merrill it is difficult to say. That would call for conjecture in my part. I think it is important that we take those factors that have been instituted in this cycle and make sure they are considered whenever we are developing any plan for the future. To say exactly what will happen or what should happen would be inappropriate. Mr. Davis as i have one second left, mr. Dimondstein, thank you very much for the hard work you do every year to make our elections fair and and to make sure every vote is counted. I yield back. Chair fudge thank you. Mr. Aguilar, you are recognized for five minutes. Thankegulaaguilar t you. It should be the goal of this committee to prevent the barriers to prevent americans from voting. It is to make sure voting is safe in the midst of a Global Pandemic that has killed more than 110,000 in our country. Despite the claims made by the minority on this committee, there is no significant risk of voter fraud associated with valid systems. Instead, we know these methods allow more communities to safely participate in our democracy. The minority crafted a 12 page report that goes from logical leap to logical leap to conflate a small possibility of voter fraud. I find this to be untrue and unsupported. This 12 page report does not give a single example of the ballot return fraud, yet they keep coming back to this issue. We know the examples of voter fraud are exceedingly rare, especially compared to the tens of millions of those that are tasked each year. Something we dont hear a lot about especially from the president even though he does vote by mail, i would like to direct this to ms. Clark and mr. Norden. I would love to hear the process to ensure the integrity of the ballot process. Ms. Clark thank you for that question, congressman. Alreadyiew, there safe mechanisms in place that safely,allots are cast securely and with integrity. The rules very statebystate. There are some states that have been placed absentee ballot registration requirements. We are concerned those rules are not administered in a fair manner. There are penalties on the books that serve as a deterrent to fraud. As you note, the instances of andd are exceedingly rare used as a pretext to impose burdens that prove unfair to voters. In our view to that opening up aspect, that is a challenge we are up against and fraud is indeed exceedingly rare in our democracy. For ilar thank you mr. Norden thank you for the question. I agree that it is exceptionally fair. The rate of mail balloting fraud is lower than the rate of americans to be struck by lightning. That is true for mail ballot and trooper in person voting. We know how to do mail balloting securely. We have had mail battling since this balloting since the civil war. States have a variety of steps that they take to prevent fraud and to detect and capture any kind of attack on the system. One very common step that every state has is they have a secrecy envelope for mail ballots. Election officials use that secrecy envelope to verify the identity of a voter. They do that with personal information or a signature often. States have adopted ballot tracking. Same way you can track a package from amazon. States have software now that allows the voter and the election official to track that ballot every step of the way. And to prevent any kind of tampering or discarding of the ballot. It also allows to the extent any ballot has been called into question an official to remove that ballot if they have concerns about it. Finally, one of the real benefits of mail ballots is that they are hand marked paper ballots. We are dealing with very real Cyber Security threats that the intelligence agencies have warned us about. With the paper ballot, we can do an audit afterwards to make sure the machines that are counting those votes are doing so accurately. I think theres a lot of opportunity for ensuring our systems are as secure as possible. Mr. Aguilar i think we would all agree, those instances where there is voter fraud, we need to do everything we can. Recently i would put this on the radar for the chair and Ranking Member it has been reported that Police Officer thek chauvin voted in florida election while being a minnesota Police Officer. I think in all of these cases where there is voter fraud, even though it is rare, we need to do everything we can to call attention to it and to prosecute those individuals who are committing those crimes. With that, thanks to the chair. Chair fudge thank you very much. Mr. Loudermill, you are recognized. Mr. Loudermilk thank you for this opportunity to participate in this form, especially right after georges election which clearly did have some issues. Which was brought up. I dont think its constructive though to immediately cast blame on Voter Suppression or there was ill intent on what went on in georgia, because first of all, there is no evidence of that. Second of all, if we are going to fix problems for other states in coming elections, this is a good time to look at what problems were faced in georgia. A little background. Georgia has 159 counties. Our state law requires that each county has their own Election Officials, which runs the election in every county. Sending outing absentee ballots that were requested to running polling places and recruiting poll workers. The secretary of state provides the tools to do that. 159 counties in georgia, yesterday 150 of those counties reported no significant problems whatsoever across the state. Seven counties did encounter problems. Seven of those counties rectified their problems very early on and were able to produce the lines that were quite long and continued on and reported it worked very well. Of the two counties, 80 of the counties we saw were in one county. As we go through what happened in the county was a series of events. There was nothing nefarious that went on. If there was any Voter Suppression in that county, then it would have been done by the local county officials which are all democrats at this point. There was no Voter Suppression involved that we could tell. The state is investigating to see what happened so we can rectify the problem. We note the county Election Officials did not get the absentee ballot to the vendor in did notget out and notify the voters affected they were not going to receive absentee ballots. There were lastminute changes to polling precincts. Why were those changed . Because the county officials and the Fire Department made the decision they could to use certain Fire Departments as polling places because of a fear of covid19 spreading to the firemen. Churches which were traditionally voting precincts decided they could not have their churches open as voting precincts because of the fear of covid19. These are things that should have been addressed early on and they werent. Poll workers were brought in at the last minute because, quite frankly, and most of our counties, the poll workers which are elderly which is a critical class. They did not feel comfortable coming in to work. The problem was the county tried to do all the poll worker Training Online instead of facetoface training to where they can ensure there was efficiency. The Voting Machines work fine. We had Voting Machines that do produce a paper ballot. I voted in person early voting. You get to verify that so you do have a paper ballot as they audit trail. The issues we must address, both in georgia, being a primary election before we get to the november that we can actually rectify these problems. The Legislature May look at giving more problem to the secretary of state to intervene and rectify problems if the local officials are not able to resolve them themselves. Productive to immediately jump on the idea that there was something nefarious that went on in the election system. We will not fix the problems that way. I do appreciate something that was just said. We have been doing voting by mail for many years and it has worked well. I will agree with that. The reason has worked well is because it has run at the state level in every state is different. What im objecting to and what the two secretaries of state, most of the secretaries of state are objecting to is the federal takeover of the election system and the mandate. One question i have for secretary you have mentioned you have made changes to the able to handle your elections better during the covid crisis, and there are still changes in georgia we will have to make. Are there adjustments you plan to make for election day in louisiana based on some of the information you have seen of what happened in georgia . Basically, what we are trying to do is increase our number of commissioners available to assist voters with social distancing and to be able to ofess the ballot in terms inperson voting, especially during the extended early voting days. On election day, with the absentee ballot Expansion Program that we have put forth, and for our 65 and older absentee program, we have seen a large increase in applications for absentee voting. We feel comfortable with that process because we are able to verify signatures and addresses. Our concern is if we do not have that process in place, then we will be mailin ballots to addresses that people no longer live at. I think you can take that quote m chairperson fudge could you please wrap it up. Flow,reased voting increasing staff use, who moved frequently or like a mailing address. That is the process of making sure the voter is at that location where the ballot is being sent. Thank you for having me for this pam of today. Said iny merrill, he your testimony you have encouraged anyone who is concerned about spreading an absentee ballot over ae runoff physical excuse. Experts acknowledge there is a good chance we will see a resurgence of covid19 in thou fall. Wondering, what would success in this area look like for you, and what are you looking for, if you are giving people they still have to go through a number of hoops what would that look like to you . Mr. Merrill they just have to continue to do what they have been doing for years as far as applying for an absentee ballot, and then successively submitted that, of course, with their qualified photo id. In doing that, i would say success would mean we did not have issues related to people attempting to do that and being able to do so successfully. So far our numbers have indicated that is exactly what is happening. 20,500esterday more than absentee ballot applications had , not and ated roared and that number, but is higher than you would see in a normal runoff. E still where we are today, that we need to provide this type o service for our voters in november. Can you commit to expanding absenteesion of e eligibility . Mr. Merrill yes, and the reason i am able to designate that particular excuse provision for our voters is because the governor has declared a state of emergency in alabama. That will expire sometime in the next month or so, and if she extends that, i will be in a position to do that as well based on her. What about the reasons that you have a lot of specification in terms of excuses, as i understand it . You want the elections to be but what is the difference between someone who works 10 hours as an excuse and somebody who works nine hours not having an excuse . And how much time do you have to have people spending to be able to slice and dice exactly the excuses that people are presenting . How do you know that people might be mr. Merrill the answer is we do not. One of the things i think it is time for our legislature to do is to revisit the excuse provisions that are a part of the absentee ballot process. We provided support for a bill that we wrote in 2017 that was carried by an africanamerican toator from birmingham change and enhance the absentee process, which resulted in a successful passage of the legislation in 2019. But in 2017, as we started that process, part of the bill was to illuminate the provisions for excuses to be offered. Doing away with those, because in addition to allowing for covid19, you are also requiring that people find a notary is that correct . Mr. Merrill they could have two witnesses. So social distancing now why would you put people in a position to be in close contact with another two people, having to look at a signature together with that person, as well as a notary . It sounds to me like you are adding steps for people mr. Merrill no, maam. As a matter of fact, people have not had a difficult time testing things that were important to them last few days, so if they are interested in voting they can contact a neighbor. And you need a number of people to be able to check all these things, so perhaps you should put that effort in another way. I wanted to ask you because you have a lot of numbers in front of you in your head. I appreciate that. He said there were six convictions for voter fraud in alabama. How many ballots were cast during that time . The last election you are talking about . No, that is since january 2015. How many ballots . Mr. Merrill millions. What percentage of those ballots were cast . What percentage did you have convictions for voter fraud . Mr. Merrill we have had six convictions on front fraud, two elections overturned, and one official removed because of what happened in those processes. This is the point i wanted to make sure we made. It is very important to remember that whether there was one or whether there were 10000 and one convictions, it is like refusing to write to allow somebody to register to vote, if you are making it difficult for them to do is made in the process. That should never be tolerated. And voter fraud should never be tolerated. Of course. I can assure you nobody on this panel believes in having fraud, but you need to look that percentage. Also, what is different between an uncashed ballot and accounted ballot. A lot of People Choose not to vote for a variety of reasons. Thank you, sir. Chairperson fudge your recognized for five minutes. Unmute yourself. Thank you. You. Hank i am very concerned about what i saw in georgia. There has been a a lot of chaos there. I would hope we would not consider high turnout a problem. That is what we are seeking. Today i have heard a lot of criticism of vote by mail. And is vote by mail uniquely susceptible to fraud . And i thinkcularly, it is quite alarming. The conversation in which we have talked about money, about how much things might cost, we have talked about fraud, and we have not actually really focused in terms appearing the secretaries of states have two states that are in litigation at the moment talk about people and particularly talk about the large africanamerican relations in each of their states who are susceptible to covid and particularly africanamericans from otherfering conditions including disabled populations. When we talk about absentee convictions that secretary merrill talked about, six convictions he said, and i do not know the nature of those, but that is very few as has been pointed out in comparison to votes cast, and both secretaries have talked about how few in their states tend to vote absent he. We are having this conversation because we are in the midst of a Global Pandemic. Any more people will want to vote absentee, and we saw that in georgia, how many people did not receive the balance, how many people came up to vote but found that their polling places were change. Peoplerstand that many who work at polling places are willly and will call up i not work on election day, and i have not heard what are the comprehensive plans to deal with that and to protect the population that is most vulnerable and who want to participate fully in the political process . Voter fraud convictions over a number of years this does not cancel that out. So i understand that Voter Registration rates have plummeted because of covid19. I consider that alarming. What could be done to deal with that problem . Clean thewanted to record because secretary merrill talked about the increase of better razors station in alabama. I also wanted to talk about the federal role but the state of alabama has entered into memorandas of agreement with the department of justice and fornaacp in 2014 and 2015, failure to comply with radvision data with with provisions of that Voter Registrations act. We should be clear that it requires intervention to make sure that in public and of its they are doing registration they need to do between needmore online registration. We do not want people to have to engage in person in any of these offices if they do not have to come and if they are disabled and if they are particularly vulnerable to covid infection. We want to increase the possibility of people being able to register online. We want to increase the possibility of people being able to absentee vote. We want to increase the possibilities of them being able to absentee vote without having to engage in physical contact with a notary. We have elderly people who are separated from children. Their children to not want to wan tom because they make sure they aret also in the. Eason appeare we believe in the right of every citizen to vote and have their vote counted and be part of selfgovernment through the system of elections. And yet at the same time when you look at it historically, there has always been tremendous opposition to letting everybody vote and there have been a series of. Rationales put up that you need to own property where you need certain levels of literacy efore you could vote. How do you explain this paradox that we believe strongly, yet there are always people sending up some justification for trying to keep other people from casting their ballots . I would say the opposition we are seeing absentee balloting is illogical and difficult to understand, because this has been a feature of our Voting System that extends back to the 1800s, when people in the military were allowed to vote by mail. We send ballots overseas to those who serve the United States proudly, overseas to citizens who may be living temporarily abroad without issue or concerns about fraud. So we can send ballots down the street to ensure that people in the middle of a Global Pandemic butey disproportionately people of color. [indiscernible] thank you very much. Chairperson fudge thank you, all, very, very much. I really think i have heard everything i need to hear today. I want to thank all the witnesses. Do you have any closing comments . [indiscernible] rodney, unmutdge e yourself. Thank you, everyone. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. You have heard from our witnesses. Thank you for your testimony. For ideal back, a madam chair, i ask unanimous consent to enter into the record three items. The letter from 14 secretaries of state regarding federal funding, and letter from a center and a statement from milk. Sentative louder i yield back. Chairperson fudge without objection. Let me close by saying this. I have listened to this hearing, and i am so disappointed. There is a little thing, this or secretary, called the constitution of the United States that allows us to do what we are doing to do today, whether you like it or not. That is law. Secondly, it is misleading to continually talk about fraud. It is foolishness. You would punish the many to catch one. That is not the american way for anyone. 83 balanced going to want to address. If your office did not catch this, i think your office some point we have to all do what is right for the people of this country, and we cannot continue to spread these misleading and false statements about this widespread fraud. It does not exist. You have no proof of it. You talk about it, and you have not one iota of proof to support it. The georgia thing, in law we have a saying that speech were itself, and the georgia situation does speak for itself. So i would say nothing more about it, but say that if we want for every american to exercise their unfettered, unabridged right to vote, we need to stop this foolishness now and do whatever it takes to make sure every american has a right to vote. Panelist, i think you for being with us today. I hope you continue to do the good work that the people of this nation expect you to do. Ben includes the secretaries as well. I am sure they are wellmeaning people, but i think we need to be honest with ourselves and honest with the people you represent. At this point, at this hearing is closed. Have a great day, everybody. Floyd with protests unfolded, watch our live coverage of the governments response with briefings from the white house, congress, governors, and mayors from across the nation updating the situation. Plus effort addressing the Ongoing Court of ours campaign 2020. Join in the conversation every day on our live Program Washington journal. If you missed it live coverage, watch anytime on demand at www. Cspan. Org or listen on the go with the free cspan radio app. John fremont brought the Pacific Coast into the United States. At the beginning of the story, the United States did not have a Pacific Coast. Belonged to mexico. Fremont encouraged the american settlement of oregon and took part in the american conquest of california just in time for the gold rush. So he played a real role in changing the math of the United States. His booknscape on imperfect union. Sunday night at 8 00 eastern on q a. Cspan has unfiltered coverage of congress, of the white house, the Supreme Court, and Public Policy events. Cspansatch all of Public Affairs programming on television or on the free radio at and be part of the National Conversation through washington journal or through social media feeds