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

Subcommittee on how selections will come to order. I welcome my fellow colleagues and members of the committee, thank you for joining us for the subcommittees First Official virtual hearing. It has impacted how we are holding todays hearing. People are putting themselves at risk every day, from doctors and nurses to first responders, postal workers and many others, including poll workers. Congress, however has an option. Any do not. We can do our work in a safe, secure, online format. The highest levels of the federal government have already decided the circumstances of the covid19 pandemic by Holding Virtual hearings, that includes a house and senate, which of Health Virtual hearings like this one. It includes the Supreme Court, which has modified how it conducts its oral arguments. And it includes executive agencies which have recognize need forimacy and the remote proceedings by participating in those conducted by conference 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 in compliance with the regulations of Committee Meetings pursuant to House Resolution 955. The rules of the hearing are unchanged. Generally, the committee will keep microphones muted to limit background noise. Members will need to unmute themselves when seeking recognition or when recognize for their five minutes. Witnesses will need to unmute themselves when recognize for their five minutes, or when the answer question, not unlike when we are in our committee hearings. Members and witnesses, please keep your camera on at all times, even if you need to step away for moment during the proceedings, do not leave the meeting. At this time, i ask unanimous consent that all members have five legislative days to revise and extend the remarks and that any written statements be made part of the record. Hearing no objections, so ordered. And we turn to todays important topic. Today we will examine the impact election19 pandemic on administration and voters ability to freely and safely access the ballot. It has become clear that across that access to the ballot in november is in jeopardy if we do not make substantial investments in our election infrastructure and improve remove longstanding barriers that continue to keep far too many from exercising their right to vote. Over 19 has tragically claimed the lives of nearly 113,000 americans. 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 Health Experts warm we could see a resurgence of the virus in the fall. In fact, the number of covered 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 Global Pandemic. A number states postpone their primaries, while others come a voters were forced to go to the polls, risking their health for their right to vote. Are still come in several states, including most recently, georgia, the number polling places have been slashed, subjecting voters to hours long lines in the midst of a pandemic. Choices made by states have varied widely would for example, california it 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 for its citizens to vote in november. Mailed orand d. C. Will mail absentee ballot applications to voters for at least the primary election. At least six states have expanded eligibility requirements to qualify for absentee ballots. Others have fought expansion of absentee ballot access, exacerbating the landscape. Decisions made now will govern castillions of americans their ballots. During all this confusion and uncertainty, the president is waging an insidious campaign to so distrust by spreading false hope that vote by mail is rife for fraud. Voting by mail by mailin ballot is not new. The truth is, millions of americans, including the president and members of his administration, cast a ballot by , withvery election cycle exceedingly rare instances of fraud. Five states already conduct vote by mail elections, according to the National Vote at home coalition. What than one million balance have been mailed out since 2000 with less than a dozen cases of proven fraud. States and localities undeniably have a significant role in carrying out elections, but Congress Must not abdicate its responsibility. We must assure every eligible american can access the ballot box without endangering their health and with the steadfast faith in our democratic process. During the many hearings held by the committee and subcommittee throughout the 160 is congress, we have explored issues that affect the ministration, Election Security, Voting Rights and access, and protected the integrity of our democracy. New and complex dimensions as americans cast their ballot during a Public Health crisis. Thesecommittees communities most vulnerable to Voter Suppression now also disproportionately bear the impact of covid19. Todays hearing will expand upon these issues. We will hear from colleagues who represent districts into states that of hell primaries during the pandemic, as well as experts in Voting Rights, election reform, and from secretaries of state charged with carrying out elections. Americas postal workers are also represented in todays hearing. As the use of mailin ballots increases, postal workers and the Postal Service have a vital role in ensuring all voters receive their ballots and that ballots are securely and timely returned. In march, the cares act included a muchneeded down payment of 400 billion to help states and local Election Officials prepare for and respond to covid19. However, much more is urgently needed. And heroes act includes the plan to improve access to the ballot and ensure no voter is forced to choose between their health and voting. No excuse absentee voting, expanded early voting, prepaid return postage and selfsealing voterpes, mail and all ballots and a time of emergency. 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. Quick thank you, madam chair. Its great to work with you, as a long member of the Minority Party on this subcommittee, really proud to be joined by my me ongue who is also with the house and ministration committee. Think you to all of our colleagues in those witnesses who are joining us today. As a nation, we are facing a number of crises and not just related to the coronavirus in elections. Evermore critical than that our Electoral Systems are efficient, trustworthy, and secure. As a subcommittee we had the opportunity today to do the work that the American People demand of us. I am committed, as ive always been, to ensuring that every eligible american is able to freely vote. I cannot surrender or dilute the sanctity of a single vote and risk undermining the integrity of our elections. I believe many of the changes proposed by the majority during this congress would do just that. Today, as we explore how the coronavirus has and will continue to impact the ministration, many conditions proposed by the majority were proposed prior to the coronavirus. One included sameday registration, required early voting, and required the counting of provisional ballots, all items Speaker Pelosi has once again put forward. Put forthers recently have nothing to do with limiting the spread of the virus. For example, allowing us to do ballot harvesting would likely have the opposite effect. Other ideas may have merit and i welcome the opportunity to explore them at this hearing. When it comes to issues of Election Administration, i the National Association of secretaries of state raise concerns over federally appropriated funds in letteres act, i sent a expressing my willingness to explore this, but also put forward my own ideas about how to reform the elections process. There have been four separate pieces of legislation along with my colleagues along with my colleagues, mr. Walker and others. Legislationced meant to strengthen not only our elections but also if theres a way to strengthen our democracy at the federal level without trampling on the rights of our states, we are on board. However, i want to be very clear about our policy priorities, which are informed by the work of this committee over the last 18 months. First, live ballot should not be mailed to those who did not request one. This is especially true in states like california, where Voter Registration lists have not been maintained, leading to situations like in Los Angeles County where potentially 1. 5 million ineligible voters sit on the rolls. Second, we must not allow nationwide unlimited ballot harvesting. Finally, we must not allow ballots returned or postmarked after election day to be counted, nor must we allow ballots returned before election day to be counted early. These proposals risk the integrity of our elections process and are frankly irresponsible. If we can move past these items, madam chair, you will find a willing partner in me. The question then is, where do we begin . We have three priorities. All voters who choose to vote in person must be able to do so safely. States that wish to expand their vote by mail in absentee operations must do so without sacrificing the security of the vote. This must include voter list maintenance, this one requirement if enforced could dramatically introduce the time many voters have to spend in line to significantly reduce the number of personnel needed to administer an election. And three, states and the federal government must Work Together to ensure the American Public viewed the 2020 election with legitimacy. Critical to all three of these priorities is vote by mail. I support states that are taking steps to increase their capacity for mailin voting, but to presume that every state should or even can dramatically increase this capacity is ridiculous. Two states include represented today had less than 4 of voters participate in the last election to cast an absentee ballot. It would be two more the realities of election Day Administration and the very real lack of equipment to make such a transition. Some of which takes months to manufacture and deliver. Initially the department of Homeland Security has worn states against reducing in person voting locations in favor of vote by mail as it could have a dramatic effect on voter access, lines, and congestion. This is exactly what happened in milwaukee where in person voting locations were reduced from over 100 to just five. Further, you have state populations who have never voted by mail before that suddenly do so with little to no Public Education would disenfranchise these voters. Election officials reject almost 2 of ballots cast by mail for a variety of reasons. This is double the rate of in person voting. That is also a Voting Rights issue. I do not have the time to discuss every policy proposal or to reiterate that our effort cannot and will not in here today. Look forward to hearing from our witnesses. I yield back. Thank you, mr. Davis. Now we will begin our testimony. I just want to make sure the panel understands that they will be recognized for five minutes. I will ride 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 materials to be submitted. A reminder to all our witnesses, there 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 districts and states that have held primary 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. Further, we will have congresswoman gwen moore from the fourth Congressional District of wisconsin. She is the first africanamerican elected to congress from the state of wisconsin. Prior to becoming a member of congress, congresswoman moore represented the people of wisconsin in the state house of representatives from 1989 to 1992 and in the state senate from 1993 to 2004. She is currently a member of the house ways and means committee. Please proceed. Thank you very much. Thank 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 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 us get closer to our constitutions aspirations. At this time, 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. We must rise above their partisan antics to ensure that every american has equal access to the ballot in those ballots are able to be filed and counted with precision. Ohiosing places election in suspended animation. Our 17 primary election was days march 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 person voting. Unfortunately, this set off a chaotic series of events jeopardizing our fundamental right to the franchise. Voter turnout plummeted. Absentee ballots and early Voting Results were held in advance. The Legal Process to change and cancel in person voting was rife with disorder. Chaos ensued as litigation stretched into the night. Voters and poll workers did not know whether the polls would be open or closed when they awoke on primary election day. Eventually, the primary was rescheduled to april 28 with nearly two million voters requesting absentee ballots in a very confusing process. Unfortunately, despite an unprecedented surge in the number of requests, voter turnout april 28 reached just over 20 . Well below the historic average. In 2016, the primary turned out voters with 43. 66 . This was likely due to the additional steps required to request a ballot. Delays. Arriving late, [inaudible] cumbersome absentee belt request process, and the failure to automatically send ballots to people with prepaid return postage led to fewer voters and less participation. This is disenfranchisement, plain and simple. In addition to the logistical challenges, ohios underwater as a result of the increased cost. With unnecessarily restrictive voting laws and republican oneparty rule and a resistant ensnaredre, and hyo is in laws purposely designed to make voting more restrictive. For example, the Ohio Legislature is debating 8b680, which would rollback early voting and not mail votes for the november election. This will suppress the vote. A recent study by the Brennan Center estimates ohio and its localities would now bear as much is 82 million in unfound election cost before november. The cares act allocated 400 million for election grants to the state. 12. 8 million goes to ohio. Unfortunately, these funds are inadequate for what is required as state and local budgets face major budget cuts. Mitch mcconnell must get the heroes act over the legislative finish line with its 3. 6 billion for state and local government. We cannot have any cutting of corners that will place the franchise at even greater risk. I applaud them for initiating a Factfinding Mission to ensure the fall election is conducted with rigor. The challenge is great, and congress has the tools to avoid a disastrous turnout. We must meet this real challenge to our democracy. The question is do those in charge have the will . I know you do, madam chair. I hope your Ranking Member does. 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 administer universal, free, accessible, and safe 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 fight, not one that should be rigged by one rules in ohio. Chair fudge thank you so much. Ms. Moore, you are recognized for five minutes. Unmute yourself. Ms. Moore thank you so much. I want to thank you, madam chair, and the members of the subcommittee on elections. As you know, youre one of the first people i reached out to after the catastrophic election in wisconsin. I want to thank you and the Ranking Member for continue to having this important hearing on those concerns during the primaries. I heard the Opening Statement of you and the Ranking Member, so i want to say that i dont think its an either or situation whether we have in person voting or whether we have voting with no excuse absentee ballots. By mail. In the case of the wisconsin election, we sought to have mail, because as you by aprilm our workers, 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 was right at its surge around april 7. Dangerous conditions were predicted, and too many voters had to make a series of choices between exercising their franchise and risking their health. I would say that that is the ultimate polling tax. The day before our primary election, the Supreme Court of wisconsin and joined the democratic governors executive order to reschedule the election. [inaudible] despite the risk to voters and poll workers, it was the epicenter of the covid19 surge. It was the only state to carry out its scheduled election at a time when all other states acted topostpone or to shift mailin balloting. Just hours before election day, the United States Supreme Court blocked a District Court order extending the deadline for absentee balance. Decisions denied states and local leaders to implement necessary measures to conduct the election safely. It created mass confusion for voters. Wisconsins largest newspaper called the most undemocratic election our states history. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] [inaudible] reduced to a mere five sites due of poll workers. Blocks ofeveral voters winning hours in the rain to exercise their constitutional right to vote. Rural polling site, dressed head to toe in a surgical mask, layered in ppe. People unfounded reassurances that everyone was safe. I, too, feared my vote my not ame been counted, since i extremely fond of in person voting decided at the lesson it to cast an absentee vote after reports of the pandemic. My ballot to the post office, and i later heard people who do not have the appropriate postal mark, they were not counted. Youll close by saying to in the primary elections the chief tenants of our democracy and having it without discrimination is important to us. We need in person voting and opportunities to vote by mail. That does require resources. Its not enough to say that states and local governments we need to keep polls open, sameday voting options, as well as to equip our local county boards with the opportunities to invide ballots, mail ballots. Thank you. [inaudible] chair fudge thank you both very much. We appreciate your testimony today. We know we have work to do, clearly. We are happy you could join us today. I move to introduce the second panel. We will begin with Kristin Clark, who is the president and executive director of the Lawyers Committee for civil rights under law. The Lawyers Committee seeks to ensure equal justice for all through the rule of law. Targeting in particular the inequities confronting africanamericans and other racial and ethnic minorities. Ms. Clark previously served as the Civil Rights Bureau for the new York State Attorney generals office. She spent several years at the naacp, where she helped lead the organizations work in the areas of Voting Rights and election law. And worked as the u. S. Department of justice worked at the u. S. Department of justice in the civil rights division. Next we have the president and director council of naacp Legal Defense and educational fund. The lds seeks 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. In 1993, she 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 lead the organization as its director council. Lawrence norden is the direction of the National Election Reform Program at the Brennan Center for justice. He is there to ensure that u. S. Election infrastructure is secure and accessible to every voter. And to protect election from foreign interference. He is also a member of the Election Assistance Commissions board of advisors where he currently serves as the vice chair of the Election Security committee. Market demonstrate Mark Dimondstein is the president of the American Postal Workers Union which represents more than 200,000 employees 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. He began his postal career in 1983. Kyle r dolan kyle ardoin served as 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 both the private and public sector. Mr. John merrill serves as the 53rd secretary of state for the state of alabama. He was elected in 2014 and was reelected in 2018. He is also a member of the United States Election Assistance Commission standards board, and currently serves as the chair of the Republican Association of secretaries of state. Again, you will all be given five minutes for your testimony and we will then follow with questions. Ms. Clark, you are recognized for five minutes. You need to unmute. Ms. Clark charwoman fudge, Ranking Member davis, 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 that states hold safe and Fair Elections during the covid19 pandemic. The Lawyers Committee for civil rights under law, 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. It provides resources in combating racial discrimination. Simply put, our 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 866ourvote hotline. Particular from black voters in georgia. There were complaints that raised 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. We sued to ensure that polling place hours were extended in Gwinnett County so that no eligible voter would be denied their fundamental right, and with partners, we advocated for hour extensions in several counties. To put it bluntly, this was one of the most chaotic elections 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 disproportionately impacting 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 most recent Victims Police brutality. 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 in to to ensure that neither federal action nor veiled threats interfere with our 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 in Shelby County vs. Holder. If we had section five in place now, it would act 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 enforcement from the justice department, voters across the especially africanamericans and other people of color, are vulnerable to being disenfranchised during the pandemic. Quite simply, 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 sufficient funding to states for the safe and Fair Administration of an election. Which requires an appropriation of an additional 3. 6 billion on top of the 400 million 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 preexisting conditions or concerns about covid19 exposure 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 support requested by Postal Service leadership. But 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 chair fudge i need you to wrap up if you would. Ms. Clarke the opportunity to participate and reduce the risk of crowding at polling places and enable poll workers to have more time to sanitize equipment. I thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Chair fudge thank you so very much. Ms. Ifill, you are recognized for five minutes. Unmute yourself. Ms. Ifill can you hear me now . Chair fudge yes, we can. Ms. Ifill fantastic. Good morning. I am the president and director counsel at the end of the naacp Legal Defense counsel, or ldf. Thank you for allowing me to testify this afternoon. Lds was founded in 1940 by Thurgood Marshall and has been a separate organization from the naacp since 1957. Beginning with smith versus albright, our successful Supreme Court case challenging the use of whites only primary elections in 1944, ldf has been fighting to overcome obstacles to ensure the full, equal, and active participation a black voters in the political process. Recent reports indicate that there has been almost two 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 reports 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 its most important part of expression, free and Fair Elections. I will never, and we must never forget the images we saw in wisconsin in april and yesterday in georgia. Thousands of maskwearing americans standing in staggered lines, extended over city blocks as they waited to vote amid the most dangerous pandemic this country has faced in a century. None of them could be certain they would avoid contracting the deadly coronavirus and carrying it home to the loved ones, yet they stood in line, some for hours, to exercise the fundamental right that Supreme Courts prescribed 140 four years ago. It has been reported that least 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 prr voting location had significantly higher rates of covid19 transmission after the election than counties with lower voting density. It was a shameful, disgraceful sight that we consigned 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. The choice facing black voters was especially agonizing. Often been theoo consequence for africanamericans who exercise their full rights as american citizens by voting. Months, ldft four has filed for cases seeking to remove onerous absentee voting requirements in Southern States which include 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 i. D. When they mail in their that ballot. We are still currently still in litigation in alabama and louisiana, where although blacks constitute 28 of the population, they have constituted 70 of the covidrelated deaths. We scored an important victory two weeks ago when a federal District Court found the requirement in South Carolina that absentee voters have a thirdparty witness on the ballot, is an unconstitutional burden given the threat of the covid19 pandemic. Our claim was specifically focused on black voters. We are also stressing the importance of protecting those who choose to vote in person. Absentee voting cannot fully replace, as we saw yesterday, or come at the expense of safe, accessible, and secure in person voting. Congress must ensure a strategy for voting in this pandemic. It must guarantee that voters have the option to vote by mail and safe in person voting. Congress must approach this 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 that 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 and Election Administration coupled with the fear and confusion surrounding the covid pandemic creates circumstances that are right for disinformation and manipulation and we have already seen our president contribute to that confusion with some of his tweets. So, Public Education campaigns must also plan to combat this information. That is why we are gratified that the heroes act includes an additional 316 billion needed for states to implement measure that will facilitate a sensible accessible absentee voting and safe in person voting. The act also calls for the extension of early in person voting, expanded online registration, and requires the removal of onerous conditions for absentee voting. This election is a test for our democracy, one we cannot fail. One we know that we cannot leave to local county officials. We need congress to demonstrate leadership by providing resources and direction required in the heroes act as soon as possible to ensure access to the ballot with every eligible voter in november. Thank you. Chair fudge thank you. Mr. Norden, you are recognized for five minutes. Please unmute yourself. Mr. Norden how is that . Great. Thank you chairwoman fudge, Ranking Member davis, members of the committee and subcommittee for this opportunity to testify today. It has been two days since the funeral of george floyd and millions of americans are asking when their voices will be heard. Obviously, covid19 presents a real challenge to free and Fair Elections this year. As Kristin Clark noted, in primaries from wisconsin to georgia two days ago, we have seen closed polling places, sick poll workers, mail ballots never delivered, and long lines lasting six, seven, eight hours. These are unacceptable and serious barriers to the franchise. And there is no question they have been made worse by covid this year. The small bit of 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 free, fair, and safe elections this fall. The overwhelming consensus from those elections we have spoken to is that they need more resources. The Brennan Center based on work with Election Officials, institute the alliance for securing democracy and election vendors, has estimated the additional cost to running free and fair and safe elections this year will be around 4 billion. Why is this money needed . First, to address Voter Registration. There has been a severe disruption in Voter Registration in the United States in 2020 because of covid. In fact, the center for election innovation and Research Just had a report out today showing how much registration activity has plummeted this year. Government offices are closed, registration drives are not happening. Certainly, one result of this is going to be that we are going to see a huge move in the coming months to voters moving online. Many systems around the country were not built for such high use of registration activity. Some states like pennsylvania are currently building more capacity, but many others will require more resources to be able to do that. And they are all going to have to work to make those systems more secure. I note that already this year, we have seen online systems overwhelmed in georgia, florida, and wisconsin, often leading to the failure of those systems. 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 mail voting. The arguments in d. C. About whether or not we should be expanding mail voting are detached from reality. I agree with the Ranking Member that it is happening, its expanded. In the midst of the pandemic, millions of americans are choosing this option. Most recently in pennsylvania, we saw a 16 times increase in the number of people asking for mailin ballots. In georgia on the election completed on tuesday, more than 25 time increase in mail voting. We are seeing these increases everywhere. The big question is not will it 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 what we just saw in georgia. Yesterday, overwhelmed offices, tens of thousands of voters not receiving their ballots, we cannot allow this to happen this fall. Third, we must provide a safe in person voting. Georgia has demonstrated that we need in person voting as a failsafe, and of course there are people who are going to want to vote by mail. That will be their choice. There will be others who have no choice out of the subsidy because they need assistance. Necessity because they need assistance. We need to take steps to reduce crowding. We need to make sure that poll workers and voters alike are safe and that poll workers have protective equipment, that we have more of them and have things like disposable pens to mark their ballots. Finally, we must make sure infrastructure is kept secure. The changes we talked about today need more investment to make sure we are keeping systems secure. Russia, other hostile nationstates will not stop attacking our elections merely because we have a pandemic in this country. In conclusion, what i want to say is, yes, these are Serious Problems we are facing, but they are not insurmountable. Election officials know what they need to do and Congress Needs to make sure it provides the resources to do so as soon as possible. Chair fudge thank you very much. You are recognized for five minutes. Mr. Dimondstein good afternoon. My name is Mark Dimondstein, im president of the American Postal Workers Union. They00 postal workers, serve every community in the country, including frontline workers during this dangerous time. 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 quote, bind the nation together. Collecting, sorting, delivering medicine, health information, financial and legal transactions, census forms, greeting cards, periodicals, and yes, tens of millions of mailed ballots. Vote by mail is nothing new for us. We have been handling the task well for generations, serving overseas military personnel, and states that mandate vote by mail for the tens of millions who choose to do it. The current president of the United States, to my mother who voted for by absentee ballot from a hospital bed. No doubt the president s 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 account a proven experiment. Voting by mail works, increases participation, avoids Voter Suppression, avoids a paper trail, saves money, is private absenture, and has been of any increased 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. Poll workers are often unavailable. The threat of the further spread of this deadly disease is still everpresent. 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, timely, and universal access for our most sacred number credit right, the right to vote. Right, theemocratic right to vote. 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 is severely reduced and while packages have temporarily increased, this spike will not continue. As an institution that traditionally receives no tax dollars, a deep fall in 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 additional losses over 10 years. The Postal Service will run out of cash without appropriate relief from congress and the administration. The first condition of successful expansion of vote by mail to protect our Voting Rights during the pandemic is to make sure that we stabilize the finances of the Postal Service with at least 25 billion proposed in the heroes act. That represents only part of the proposal from the bipartisan and republican majority postal board of governors. Our countrys founders recognized the importance of the Postal Service by enshrining it into the u. S. Constitution itself. There is no better contribution to civic life than to maintain and enhance our hard fund with blood, sweat, and tears and our hardfought and cherished 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. Chair fudge thank you. Thank you so much. Ardoin, you are recognized for five minutes. Please unmute yourself. Mr. Ardoin thank you, madame chairwoman, Ranking Member davis, and members. We appreciate this opportunity to testify to you. I am the louisiana secretary of state. This 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 vote safely in a fair and honest election. Unfortunately, louisiana is no stranger to Natural Disaster and we have faced crises around election time before such as in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated new orleans and the surrounding area, or when hurricane gustav hits Southeastern Louisiana followed by hurricane ike in 2008. However, 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 precious 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 request to the governor that our elections be postponed. In march, we became the first state to change our election dates from april and may to july and june and later postponed further 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 with bipartisan support establishes the following. First, an additional six days of inperson early voting. While inperson early voting militates place over a sevenday period, 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 emergency application covers those at higher risk for covid19, those subject to quarantine, those experiencing symptoms, or those caring for an individual that is subject to quarantine. And third, personal protective equipment at 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 fall 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 as states 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. We will gladly accept federal dollars with no strings or political motivations attached, and we would prefer not to have to come up with state matching dollars in a time of such economic turmoil. As the chief election officer for the state of louisiana, im tasked with overseeing elections, and i cannot seed control of our elections to politicians thousands of miles away. Im accountable to louisianans, 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. And last but not least, mr. Merrill, you are now recognized for five minutes. Mr. Merrill madam chair fudge, Ranking Member davis, thank you for the opportunity to address you today and discuss the importance of Election Administration and how we can Work Together to protect the 2020 election cycle and beyond. I am john merrill, i have the privilege to serve the alabama secretary of state. Since i took office on january 19, 2015, we changed 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 photo id visits and Voter Registration campaigns. Working with noble alabamians, local officials, and community leaders, we have worked to register more than 1,523,617 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. March 1, 2016, more than 1. 25 million alabamians voting broking every record in the history of the state for participation for a president ial primary. In november 2016, 2. 1 million voted. December 12, 2017, when senator doug jones was elected to the senate, 1. 3 million alabamians. November 6 of 2018, 1. 7 million alabamians, shattering the state record by more than 500,000 voters. On march 3, almost 1. 2 million alabamians went to the polls in spite of the nationwide covid19 outbreak 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 voting of oppressive laws which read one time to limit minority participation completely in the election process. We have since worked to see that it is easier than ever to vote in alabama by providing free voter id, electronic Voter Registration through the mobile app. Also at our website, and annual 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 become a registered photo voter and 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. Because 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. They vote in person. Our office is greatly 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 have made it easier for people to vote absentee. The state of alabamas code gives me the opportunity to assign a reason to vote absentee. We have done that so it has 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. We 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 ballots were mailed to one california address where two people lived there. In alabama prior to the implementation of the reform, we witnessed 109 absentee ballots being mailed to the mother of a mayoral candidate in 2016. And another instance in the same year where 119 absentee ballots were mailed to an abandoned home in wilcox county. It should be noted that of the six voter fraud convictions we have had in alabama since i have been secretary, five of them were 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. Because ours would increase from basically 16 million per election to more than 60 million per election. And only 4 of our voters actually vote absentee. I want to thank you for your time today, the work you do for our people, and the great work you do for this, the greatest country in the history of the world. Chair fudge thank you. I thank all of our witnesses for their testimony today. It is now time for our members to ask questions. I would begin with mr. Butterfield. You are recognized for five minutes. Unmute yourself. Rep. Butterfield oops. There we go. Let me start over. Thank you very much, chair fudge, for convening this hearing today. Thank you to the witnesses for your testimony. I know it is a little awkward to testify in this virtual environment, but be assured it is awkward for us as well. We are making this work and hopefully we will have a good hearing today. Our goal must be to guarantee the absolute right of every voter to vote. Whether they are democrat, republican, independent, libertarian, green, constitution. I think our charge is to make sure that every voter has the absolute right to vote. And so, madam chair, i am so disappointed that many of our republican colleagues just cannot embrace a vote by mail idea, or vote from home idea. I think it is absolutely necessary in this environment. I think that some of our colleagues may be trying to prevent a large turnout in november. I hope that is not the case. I was looking at a poll this morning, a gallup poll, which said that 64 of those polled 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. So thank you to the witnesses for your testimony. The Lawyers Committee for civil rights is a very special organization to me. 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 streets are now paved. It is because of the Lawyers Committee. 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 came and filed a Voting Rights lawsuit, and now we have dozens and dozens of elected officials. So thank you to those two witnesses and the other witnesses as well. To the secretary of state from louisiana, you made a statement a few moments ago that we cannot seed Election Authority to d. C. Politicians. I am a d. C. Politician, im an elected official of 750,000 people. And i would like to get more clarity about the meaning and the intent of that statement. Please, if you would help me. Mr. Ardoin yes, congressman. Thank you for that question. In a previous testimony that i had with senators klobuchar, wyden and others with regards to this very issue, during a normal louisiana election, less than 4 of all ballots are cast by absentee by mail balloting. To surge our absentee ballots to 100 is neither prudent or practical for us. If we were forced to do so, as secretary merrill, was stating, we would have a 6 million election cost to over 12. 6 million. Mr. Butterfield suppose the federal government provided 100 of that cost. Would that be helpful . Mr. Ardoin if it covered 100 of the cost . I dont know that they have ever covered 100 of the cost. Rep. Butterfield that is our legislation, to provide 100 of the cost of the november election 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 other secretary of alabama. Sir, you in essence said that the states need to run their own elections free from federal interference. Those were code words during the Voting Rights movement. Code words for states rights. I push back every time i hear that. Is that your meaning . Let me just finish. Do you feel that the federal government has no right under any circumstances to get involved in state elections . Mr. Merrill yes sir, i agree with that unless you see that someone is violating the trust and confidence of the process or that 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 just shared Empirical Data with you that it is not happening. We want to continue to do what we are doing. Rep. Butterfield under some circumstances, you are conceding that the federal government would have some role in the states if Voting Rights were being denied or affected . Mr. Merrill yes, sir, if that were necessary. But just like in the shelby case, the Supreme Court realized that that was 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 the voting site rep. Butterfield you do know that section five indicates that came out of your state was not dismantled by the Supreme Court. What the Supreme Court did was invite the congress to update the formula that gives light to section five. So that is a role for the federal government. Chair fudge mr. Butterfield, your time is up. But i will say that, mr. Merrill, your interpretation of shelby is not accurate. I will now move to mr. Davis. Ranking member davis, you are recognized for five minutes. Rep. 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. And i commend whats happening in your state based on your statistics, secretary merrill. That you 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 like that. I want to see continued record turnout. I certainly 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 that they give everybody a chance to vote. With that, we know theres 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 just for both secretaries. I will go through a few yes or nos and i will give you a chance to expand at the end. We will start with secretary ardoin. Do either of your states have in place infrastructure to support a federal election entirely by mail . Mr. Ardoin no, sir. Mr. Merrill no, sir. Rep. Davis do either of you think it is possible for all 50 states to convert to all mail elections by november . Mr. Ardoin absolutely not. Mr. Merrill there is no doubt it is impossible and that is based on experts from the states who do it best. Rep. Davis what percentage of the ballots cast were through the mail in 2018 . Mr. Ardoin . 9 . Mr. Merrill almost 4 . Rep. Davis both of your states allow those with a disability or illness to vote absentee, correct . Mr. Merrill yes, sir. We passed a law in 2019 to give them permanent Disability Access through absentee. Rep. Davis you could also vote in person if they feel it is easier for them . Correct . Mr. Ardoin correct. Mr. Merrill yes, sir. Rep. Davis do both of your states have in place protections against unlimited doubt harvesting . Mr. Ardoin it was just passed this legislative session unanimously with lots of bipartisan support. Mr. Merrill yes, that law has been on the books for several years. Rep. Davis have both of you received your 2020 supplemental federal funds . Mr. Ardoin yes, sir. Rep. Davis i heard you answer already. You said yes. And are you putting these funds to use to help administer elections in light of the covid19 panic . Mr. Ardoin . Mr. Merrill . Mr. Merrill yes, we are exclusively and we have a detailed plan we would like to share with the members if they would like to see it. Rep. 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. Do either of you believe you need any more federal mandates to administer your elections ahead of the november election . Mr. Ardoin absolutely not. Mr. Merrill no, sir, i do not think so. Rep. Davis ok. My understanding is you have put in place an emergency plan for your upcoming state elections. Can you tell us what that plan looks like in a very quick manner, so i can get one more question to mr. Merrill . Mr. Ardoin we extend early voting from seven days to an additional six days. 13 days total. We created a separate absentee by mail application process for several reasons that you might have. The Covid Concerns that you have. Quarantined, taking care of a Family Member who is susceptible, and for the most susceptible population. And additionally, we have made certain that we will have all the protective, personal protective equipment available to voters and to the poll workers. Rep. Davis mr. Merrill, how do you see covid19 impacting elections in the future . Mr. Merrill it is difficult to say. That would call for speculation and conjecture on 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. But to say exactly what will happen or what should happen would be inappropriate. Rep. Davis thank you. As i have one second left, mr. Dimondstein, thank you very much for the hard work that the men and women of the Postal Service do every year to make sure our elections are fair and to make sure every vote is counted. I yield back. Chair fudge thank you. Mr. Aguilar, you are recognized for five minutes. Mr. Aguilar thank you, madam chair. I appreciate the opportunity. It should be the goal of this committee to remove the barriers that prevent americans from voting. Right now, that means making 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, 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 12page 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 12page 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. Clarke and mr. Norden. I would love to hear the process to ensure the integrity of the ballot process. Ms. Clarke thank you for that question, congressman. In our view, there already safe mechanisms in place that ensure ballots are cast safely, 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 fraud are exceedingly rare and 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. 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 true for inperson voting. We know how to do mail balloting securely. We have had mail 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 Derek Chauvin voted in the 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. Loudermilk, you are recognized. Rep. Loudermilk thank you for this opportunity to participate in this form, especially right after georgias 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. From everything sending out 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 know the county Election Officials did not get the absentee ballot to the vendor in time to get out and did not 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. But it is not 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 ardoin. Youve mentioned that, youve made some changes to be able to handle your elections better during the covid crisis. And as we saw in georgia, there are still some changes we are going to have to make. Are there any adjustments you plan to make for election day in louisiana based on some of the information you have seen for what happened in georgia . Happened , what 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 access the ballot in terms of in person voting, especially during the extended early voting days. Thelection day, with absentee ballot Expansion Program that we have put forth and for our 65 and older absentee program, we have seen a large increase in the number of applications for absentee voting. We feel comfortable with that process because we are able to verify signatures and addresses. Our concerns that if we do not have that process in place, we would probably be mailing ballots to addresses that people no longer live at. You could take the quote from a much 24 piece could you please wrap up . His time is expired. Among the possible downsides of a quick transition are logistical snafus and decreased turnout of voters who move frequently. Thats a different part of the process. Thank you so much. Mr. Davis, your recognized for five minutes. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me on this panel today. You said in your testimony that you encourage anyone who is concerned about contracting or to cast underd19 the physical infirmity excuse, but many public Health Experts are acknowledging there is a good chance we will see a resurgence of covid19 in the fall. Im wondering, for one thing, what would success in this area look like for you . What are you looking for . If you are giving people the excuse, they still have to go through a number of hoops, what would that look like to you . Yes, maam. They just have to continue what they have been doing for years as far as applying for an absentee ballot and then successfully submitting that, of course, with their qualified photo id, and in doing that, i would say that 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. As of yesterday more than 20,500 absentee ballot applications had been requested, not an abnormal number, but is higher than you would see in a normal runoff. But we are still where we are today, that we need to provide this type of service for our voters in november. Can you commit to expanding the expansion of absentee eligibility . If you believe, in fact, that it was successful . 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 more secure, 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 senator from birmingham to 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 should have two witnesses. So with 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 . Mr. Merrill 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 voter 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 10,001 convictions, it is like refusing the right 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 unaccounted ballot and accounted ballot . A lot of People Choose not to vote for a variety of reasons. Thank you, sir. Chairperson fudge you are recognized for five minutes. Unmute yourself. Unmute yourself. Thank you. Thank you. I am very concerned about what i saw in georgia. There has been 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 . Not particularly, and i think 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, 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 who are suffering from other 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. Many more people will want to vote absentee, and we saw that in georgia, how many people did not receive the ballots, how many people came up to vote, but found that their polling places were changed. We understand that many people who work at polling places are elderly and will call up, i will 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. Identifying six voter fraud convictions over a number of years simply 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 . I also wanted to clean the record because secretary merrill talked about the increase of better registrations 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 the naacp in 2014 and 2015, for failure to comply with provisions of that Voter Registrations act. This is exactly why you need civil rights litigation and why you need a federal authority. We should be clear that it requires intervention to make sure that in public and of its offices and they are doing registration they need to do. We need more online registration. We do not want people to have to engage in person in any of these offices if they do not have to 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 do not want to see them because they want to make sure they are safe, and yet they have to have two nieces sign there absentee ballot in alabama, one witnessed in indiana. 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 before 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 that is impacting americans from every corner but disproportionately people of color we can send ballots down the street to ensure they have a voice this season. I yield back. 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] chairperson fudge rodney, unmute yourself. Thank you, everyone. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. You have heard from our witnesses. Thank you for your testimony. Madam chair, i ask unanimous consent to enter into the record three items the letter from 14 secretaries of state regarding federal funding, letter from a center, and a statement from representative loudermilk. On one of his staffers who lives in maryland receiving multiple live absentee ballots to his address, and 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 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. We talk about 83 ballots you are going to want to address. If your office did not catch this, i think your office you didnt get 83 ballots from those people. So i think at 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. Panelists, 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. I include 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. With the federal government at work in washington, d. C. And across the country, use the congressional directory for content information. Order your copy online today at nstore. Org. Eastern, a30 a. M. Discussion on the impact of covid19 on the economy and the society, posted by the center for strategic and International Studies live on cspan. A hearing on the impact of the pandemic on the fire service community. On cspan2 at 9 30 a. M. , that they see Circuit Court of appeals hears argument in the perjury case against michael flynn. At 1 00, a virtual town hall with Virginia Center mark warner and representative gerry connolly. Coming up in one hour, dr. Robert bollinger, professor of Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of