WASHINGTON – Committee on House Administration Ranking Member Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) today announced he will host virtual election roundtables titled "Administering Safe Elections During a Pandemic" across the country as part of the committee's oversight role. Davis has invited state and local election administrators to join virtual roundtables to discuss the challenges they face ahead of Election Day. Virtual roundtables will begin with state and local officials in Illinois, Georgia, and Wisconsin. Details of the individual events will be announced separately.

"Our state and local election administrators are facing unprecedented challenges ahead of this election," said Davis. "Ensuring they have the resources and best practices in place to hold safe, successful elections is a critical part of this committee's oversight role. We've seen a significant number of voters disenfranchised and election security compromised when jurisdictions close polling places or rush to expand vote by mail without the proper mechanisms in place to prevent major issues from occurring. Unfortunately, the Democrat majority has refused to listen to those who actually run elections. These roundtables will give a voice to those who run elections while working to help them address any issues we've seen during recent primaries."

These virtual roundtables are part of Davis' ongoing efforts to provide oversight and understand what resources state and local election administrators need to hold elections this fall.

Oversight
As ranking member, Davis has worked to provide oversight and engage with local election administrators. Davis invited the only election administrators to participate in a congressional hearing about holding elections during the COVID-19 pandemic and he recently sent oversight letters to ten localities where voters faced significant hurdles to vote in recent primaries. CLICK HERE to view these letters.

Legislation
In July, Davis and multiple House Republicans introduced H.R. 7905, the Emergency Assistance for Safe Elections (EASE) Act, to help states ensure those who want to vote in person can do so safely and make mail-in voting more secure by cleaning their voter rolls.

A recent ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 59% of Americans still prefer to vote in person.

The EASE Act provides $400 million in assistance to state and local election administrators to help them prepare safe polling locations, recruit a new generation of poll workers, and update their voter registration rolls. Davis has urged this bill to be part of the next coronavirus relief package. CLICK HERE for more.