Washington, DC – Committee on House Administration Ranking Member Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) members of Congress from Iowa and Utah this week to meet with local and state election officials and legislators as part of his Faith in Elections Project. The project promotes faith in elections by better understanding the election administration process and highlight the major issues within the Democrats' efforts to force a federal takeover of elections through H.R. 1, H.R. 4. and now the Freedom to Vote Act, a repackaged version of H.R. 1.
Iowa 01 with Congresswoman Ashley Hinson |
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Davis and Hinson listen to the concerns local election officials face in Benton County, specifically the issues faced by small counties. |
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Davis and Hinson get a firsthand look at the election ‘vault' in the Benton County Courthouse. |
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Key Quotes
"There were some questions about the election last year in 2020, not necessarily in Iowa, but across the country," Hinson said. "So it's my job as the elected official here in this state to make sure that my constituents know that their process is good and solid."
"We would rather keep it at a decentralized level right here in our courthouses because the people who are actually running elections are here," Davis said. "The top-down approach coming out of Washington would severely impede what the men and women in this courthouse and in our statehouses are able to do to actually give our constituents faith in the election process."
CLICK HERE to read more from The Gazette's coverage. |
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Iowa 02 with Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks |
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Davis and Miller-Meeks discuss how the federal contest in IA-02 highlighted the importance of elections being run locally and the need to stop Democrats' push for a federal takeover of elections. |
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Key Quotes
"In Iowa, we know the system worked," Miller-Meeks said. "We know that people can have confidence and trust in our system because of the election law changes that we made...All of those things have led us to the point where we had the largest turnout in the past election cycle that we've had. I think when you look at what happens where there is voter ID and people can trust the system, more people vote, and that includes in low-income and minority areas as well."
"Our system works," Davis said. "It keeps (elections) safer. It keeps them decentralized. And in the case of Iowa and others, it keeps them with a system of checks and balances that I think, once educated, anyone who doesn't have faith in the American election system will have a lot more."
CLICK HERE to read more of the QC Times' coverage. |
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Meeting with Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate |
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Davis gets a firsthand look at the Secretary of State's new 'escape room' training to ensure election administrators are following secure protocols to protect the integrity of Iowa's elections. |
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Utah 03 and 04 with Congressman John Curtis and Congressman Burgess Owens |
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Davis, Curtis, and Owens meet with officials at the Utah County Election Center to discuss Utah's unique all vote-by-mail elections. |
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Davis and Owens tour the Utah County Election Center to fully understand how much time and money they've invested to make their all mail-in election process work for voters. |
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Davis and Owens hear from local and state election administrators on the importance of state sovereignty in elections, voluntary baseline standards for non-voting equipment, like e-pollbooks, and proper list maintenance and registration database in all vote-by-mail states. They were joined by the Deputy State Elections Director in Utah, the entire county commission, the chair of the Utah House Government Committee with jurisdiction over elections, and the House Majority Leader. Additionally, they heard from county clerk/auditors from across UT-01, ranging from urban counties to very rural counties. |
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Utah 01 with Congressman Blake Moore |
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Davis and Moore hear from Weber County Clerk and Auditor Ricky Hatch and local election officials on security measures they've put in place to make sure their elections are secure and voters can have faith in their elections. |
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Key Quotes
"Our goal is to put together their voices in a final paper that will talk about what's going right in America when it comes to elections and hopefully give our constituents all across the county the ability to have faith in our election systems," Davis said.
H.R. 1 and another proposal, H.R. 4, "would fundamentally take autonomy out from under these local election officials, and that is not what I believe to be constitutional," Moore said. The "good work" of local election officials like those in Utah "can be perpetuated."
CLICK HERE to read the full article in the Utah Standard-Examiner. |
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