WASHINGTON – The Committee on House Administration (CHA) held a bipartisan hearing yesterday about the unmistakable need for election security updates. In the aftermath of H.R. 1, a partisan, Democratic election bill with no Republican input, this most recent committee hearing demonstrated a willingness from both parties to work together to review and improve critical election system infrastructure.

"H.R. 1 is not an effective election security bill. I hope my colleagues can work with us to create bipartisan election security legislation that will benefit states without taking away from their power to maintain their election systems and will promote integrity for American voters," said Ranking Member Rodney Davis (R-IL-13) in a statement following the hearing. "Facts matter. Statistics Matter. It helps us determine how we effectively spend taxpayer dollars to ensure we have the fairest, safest, and most secure election systems. That's why we must continue this review of election security with more bipartisan discussion moving forward."

View Davis' opening remarks from yesterday's hearing where he lays out his priorities for election security:

Rep. Davis

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"We had very strongly held divergent views on various elements on H.R. 1. But I don't think there's any disagreement on a partisan basis, we want every vote cast by an American counted as cast, and we don't want to become victims of an attack from any source," said Chairperson Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-19) during the hearing.

Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11) said, "From my experience in working in IT, it's always more secure to have multiple vendor systems over a single vendor system, which if that is compromised, then everybody, the bad guy, has 100% access to everything, but you have to have a set of standards that the vendors operate by. I think that is a role that we can play, a recommended set of standards still leaving the state's authority to operate their elections."

Secretary of State for Alabama, John H. Merrill, who served as a witness during the hearing, answered questions from Vice Chairperson, Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD-08), on why allowing states to defend their own election systems is more effective and secure than federally mandating identical election security processes across the nation. State and local officials should retain control of their elections with the federal government creating legislation that supports and enhances their abilities to maintain their systems with the upmost integrity. You can watch Secretary Merrill explain why states should retain control of their elections in the clip below:

Watch the video

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Background:

During the Committee on House Administration (CHA) markup of H.R. 1 on February 26, 2019, Ranking Member Rodney Davis (IL-13) introduced an amendment to strike the majority's partisan attempt at election security, Title III, and replace it with the Secure Elections Act (S. 2261), a bipartisan election security bill that was introduced during the 115th Congress in the Senate by Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and cosponsored by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Kamala D. Harris (D-CA), Susan M. Collins (R-ME), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM). The amendment was voted down on party lines during the CHA markup.

Witnesses who testified before the committee at today's hearing are: Mr. Joseph L. Hall, Chief Technologist and Director, Center for Democracy and Technology; The Honorable John Merrill, Secretary of State, State of Alabama; The Honorable Jocelyn Benson, Secretary of State, State of Michigan; Mr. Larry Norden, Deputy Director, Brennan Center's Democracy Program; Ms. Marian Schneider, President, Verified Voting Foundation.

The Committee on House Administration (CHA) has two principal functions, oversight of day-to-day operations in the House and oversight of federal elections. Historically, the committee has had a hand in shaping legislation that touches on any and all aspects of federal elections. Most recently, the committee played a pivotal role in the development and passage of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which allocated more than $3 billion to improve voting equipment, train election workers, and reform election law.

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