[Senate Hearing 116-266]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 116-266
2020 GENERAL ELECTION PREPARATIONS
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
----------
JULY 22, 2020
----------
Printed for the use of the Committee on Rules and Administration
Available on http://www.govinfo.gov
2020 GENERAL ELECTION PREPARATIONS
S. Hrg. 116-266
2020 GENERAL ELECTION PREPARATIONS
=======================================================================
HEARING
before the
COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
JULY 22, 2020
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Rules and Administration
[GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available on http://www.govinfo.gov
______
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
41-243 WASHINGTON : 2020
COMMITTEE ON RULES AND ADMINISTRATION
SECOND SESSION
ROY BLUNT, Missouri, Chairman
MITCH McCONNELL, Kentucky AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota
LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California
PAT ROBERTS, Kansas CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York
RICHARD SHELBY, Alabama RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois
TED CRUZ, Texas TOM UDALL, New Mexico
SHELLEY MOORE CAPITO, West Virginia MARK R. WARNER, Virginia
ROGER WICKER, Mississippi PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont
DEB FISCHER, Nebraska ANGUS S. KING, JR., Maine
CINDY HYDE-SMITH, Mississippi CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
Fitzhugh Elder IV, Staff Director
Lindsey Kerr, Democratic Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
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Pages
Opening Statement of:
Honorable Roy Blunt, Chairman, a U.S. Senator from the State of
Missouri....................................................... 1
Honorable Amy Klobuchar, a United States Senator from the State
of Minnesota................................................... 2
Honorable Tre Hargett, Tennessee Secretary of State.............. 7
Honorable Mac Warner, West Virginia Secretary of State........... 10
Rick Stream, Republican Director of Elections, St. Louis County,
Missouri....................................................... 11
Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director, National
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights under Law.................. 13
Prepared Statement/Testimony of:
Honorable Tre Hargett, Tennessee Secretary of State.............. 35
Honorable Mac Warner, West Virginia Secretary of State........... 39
Rick Stream, Republican Director of Elections, St. Louis County,
Missouri....................................................... 41
Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director, National
Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.................. 43
Materials Submitted for the Record:
Hon. Roy Blunt--Letter from the Republican Secretaries of State
Committee (RSSC)............................................... 70
Hon. Roy Blunt--Letter from Hon. John Thurston, Arkansas
Secretary of State............................................. 73
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Written Statement of the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU)......................................... 75
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Statement of Business for America (BFA)...... 102
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from Health Professionals Regarding
by-mail-voting and COVID-19.................................... 107
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from Declaration for American
Democracy (DFAD) Organizations Urging the Senate to Make
Additional Investments in State and Local Elections............ 135
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from the U.S. Election Assistance
Commission..................................................... 137
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from the Election Center: The National
Association of Election Officials Regarding Federal Funding.... 140
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from Hon. Steve Simon, Minnesota
Secretary of State and Other Secretaries of State as
Signatories.................................................... 142
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from The Leadership Conference on
Civil and Human Rights to the Senate Committee on Rules and
Administration Regarding COVID-19.............................. 144
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from Hon. Steve Simon, Minnesota
Secretary of State to Senator Klobuchar Regarding Additional
HAVA Funds..................................................... 152
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from the NAACP Legal Defense and
Educational Fund (LDF)......................................... 153
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from the National Association of
Counties (NACo)................................................ 171
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from the Native American Rights Fund
(NARF) in Support of Additional Funding for the 2020 General
Election....................................................... 173
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from the National Association of
Secretaries of State (NASS) Regarding CARES Act Funding........ 177
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from the National Disability Rights
Network (NDRN)................................................. 179
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from the National Education
Association (NEA).............................................. 186
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from Representative Jim Cooper........ 188
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from Secure Democracy................. 190
Hon. Amy Klobuchar--Letter from the Voting Rights Lab............ 192
Hon. Mitch McConnell--Letter from Hon. Michael G. Adams, Kentucky
Secretary of State............................................. 231
Hon. Mitch McConnell--Letter from Hon. Ken Paxton, Attorney
General of Texas and Other State Attorneys General Signatories
Regarding the HEROES Act....................................... 233
Hon. Mitch McConnell--Letter from Hon. John H. Merrill, Alabama
Secretary of State............................................. 237
Hon. Mitch McConnell--Letter from Hon. Mac Warner, West Virginia
Secretary of State............................................. 238
Hon. Dianne Feinstein--Letter from Black Women for Wellness and
other Organizations from the Black Reproductive Health, Rights
and Justice Community as Signatories Regarding COVID-19........ 240
Hon. Richard Durbin--Testimony from Public Wise.................. 244
Hon. Richard Durbin-- Statement for the Record from Senator
Kamala D. Harris............................................... 247
Hon. Angus King--Letter on Elections and National Security from
Multiple Signatories........................................... 249
Hon. Mac Warner--West Virginia 2020 Primary After Action Report
with Attachments............................................... 252
Questions Submitted for the Record:
Honorable Roy Blunt, Chairman, a U.S. Senator from the State of
Missouri to Honorable Tre Hargett, Tennessee Secretary of State 301
Honorable Amy Klobuchar, a United States Senator from the State
of Minnesota to Honorable Tre Hargett, Tennessee Secretary of
State.......................................................... 304
Honorable Patrick Leahy, a United States Senator from the State
of Vermont to Honorable Tre Hargett, Tennessee Secretary of
State.......................................................... 305
Honorable Angus S. King, Jr., a United States Senator from the
State of Maine to Honorable Tre Hargett, Tennessee Secretary of
State.......................................................... 308
Honorable Roy Blunt, Chairman, a U.S. Senator from the State of
Missouri to Honorable Mac Warner, West Virginia Secretary of
State.......................................................... 310
Honorable Amy Klobuchar, a United States Senator from the State
of Minnesota to Honorable Mac Warner, West Virginia Secretary
of State....................................................... 311
Honorable Patrick Leahy, a United States Senator from the State
of Vermont to Honorable Mac Warner, West Virginia Secretary of
State.......................................................... 312
Honorable Angus S. King, Jr., a United States Senator from the
State of Maine to Honorable Mac Warner, West Virginia Secretary
of State....................................................... 314
Honorable Roy Blunt, Chairman, a U.S. Senator from the State of
Missouri to Rick Stream, Republican Director of Elections, St.
Louis County, Missouri......................................... 317
Honorable Amy Klobuchar, a United States Senator from the State
of Minnesota to Rick Stream, Republican Director of Elections,
St. Louis County, Missouri..................................... 318
Honorable Patrick Leahy, a United States Senator from the State
of Vermont to Rick Stream, Republican Director of Elections,
St. Louis County, Missouri..................................... 319
Honorable Angus S. King, Jr., a United States Senator from the
State of Maine to Rick Stream, Republican Director of
Elections, St. Louis County, Missouri.......................... 321
Honorable Amy Klobuchar, a United States Senator from the State
of Minnesota to Kristen Clarke, President and Executive
Director, National Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under
Law............................................................ 322
Honorable Patrick Leahy, a United States Senator from the State
of Vermont to Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director,
National Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law......... 324
Honorable Angus S. King, Jr., a United States Senator from the
State of Maine to Kristen Clarke, President and Executive
Director, National Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under
Law............................................................ 327
2020 GENERAL ELECTION PREPARATIONS
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2020
United States Senate
Committee on Rules and Administration
Washington, DC.
The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:30 a.m., in
Room 301, Russell Senate Office Building, Hon. Roy Blunt,
Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
Present: Senators Blunt, Klobuchar, Alexander, Capito,
Wicker, Fischer, Hyde-Smith, Schumer, Durbin, Udall, Leahy,
King, and Cortez Masto.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HONORABLE ROY BLUNT, CHAIRMAN, A U.S.
SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MISSOURI
Chairman Blunt. The Committee on Rules and Administration
will come to order. Good morning. I am glad to welcome our
witnesses today. This is a hearing that I think is appropriate
in its timing as we look toward the rest of the year. There are
104 days until the general election. There are still a few
primary elections to be held around the country. State and
local officials, however, have begun preparations for this
fall's election long before now.
As the former Missouri Secretary of State, which would be
the Chief Election Official in our state, and as the Green
County Clerk and Election Authority, my first elected job, I've
administered elections and know how much advanced planning and
preparation is required. I know that the limited resources
available are often not up to what needs to be done
particularly in a year like this. I also know that election
officials prepare for natural disasters and other eventualities
as a matter of course. There are lots of ``what will we do
if?'' questions that election officials address before every
election and sometimes they have to move forward on the ``what
will we do if?'' because something happens.
This year, with COVID-19, with the pandemic, I think it has
taken the pressures and challenges of the election to a new
level. Already limited resources may have to be put to use not
just to ensure the safety and security of our democracy, but to
ensure the health and safety of individual voters and election
workers. Elections during the pandemic are not unprecedented.
We had midterm elections, I am told, that were conducted during
the 2018 flu pandemic and more recently in 2009. A handful of
states held off year elections during the H1N1 flu pandemic.
It was unexpected just like the situation we are dealing
with now and would have been unexpected a year ago. Since the
March 13th declaration of a national emergency, election
officials and state officials around the country have addressed
the pandemic by postponing elections, by expanding early and
absentee voting programs, by reallocating or relocating polling
places away from places where individuals at risk are, by
working with health officials to ensure that polling places are
properly cleaned and sanitized and that the appropriate
personal protective equipment is available at polling places
and ballot processing facilities.
Election officials have also recruited additional election
workers, implemented other programs like curbside voting that
would help make voting less of a health risk. Election
officials have done all of this on top of the continuing
efforts to ensure that this country's elections are secure from
malicious actors who seek to attack voting infrastructure and
spread disinformation. All of these elections and all of these
actions have been taken to ensure that every voter can cast
their ballot safely and securely in this year's elections. That
is something that everyone here can agree on.
Voters in this country must be able to cast a ballot safely
and securely without putting their health at risk, both this
fall in the general election and the remaining primary
elections leading up to the general. Those are principles that
hopefully we all agree with. To that end, Congress has provided
funds to election officials to assist with administrating
elections during the pandemic. On top of the $805 million that
Congress previously provided for election security, $400
million was appropriated specifically to assist with pandemic
related election expenses in the CARES Act.
This money was provided without any Federal policy
mandates, in keeping with really almost 250 years of our
history of state run elections. Today, I look forward to
hearing how much money is going to be needed in terms of
additional financial assistance and also hearing how the money
that's already been provided by the Federal Government has been
used. We are fortunate today to have four great witnesses join
us, two of them are here with us, two are joining us from their
offices. We look forward to both your testimony and the
questions, and I am honored to recognize my good friend,
Senator Klobuchar, for her opening remarks.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HONORABLE AMY KLOBUCHAR, A UNITED STATES
SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MINNESOTA
Senator Klobuchar. Well, thank you very much, Senator
Blunt. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this important
hearing. It couldn't come at a more crucial time, and thank you
to our public officials and leaders who are here today and the
thousands of people that actually wrote us about this hearing
who want to be able to vote and they want to be able to vote
safely. Today, we are in the midst of an unprecedented pandemic
and we have already seen examples of chaos and
disenfranchisement that happened when this pandemic came upon
us.
The Wisconsin primary will forever be etched in the minds
of those that saw the images of voters standing in line en
masse and garbage bags in the rain just to exercise their right
to vote. According to local health officials, nearly 70 people,
voters and poll workers, contracted coronavirus as a result of
them simply going to the polls. I had a Vietnam vet write me
and said, ``I put my life on the line for our country and now
is my choice to not be able to vote or to sacrifice my health?
I have a pre-existing condition.'' I think we are all here
because we understand this is not a partisan issue. This virus
can hit Democrats, Republicans, Independents, people of any
party and people of any party also want to vote, so let's look
at solutions. For the primary, 12 out of 16 states that require
an excuse to vote by mail changed their rules, which is great,
to allow all voters to cast ballots by mail, including red
states, including states like Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky,
South Carolina, Alabama and Missouri, and just this week,
Alabama announced it will allow anyone concerned about the
virus to vote by mail.
Twelve states also mailed absentee ballot applications to
registered voters, including states like New York and
Connecticut, states like Iowa and Michigan and states like
Nebraska and West Virginia, and states as diverse as New Jersey
and Nevada mailed absentee ballots to all registered voters.
These decisions weren't made on a partisan basis. Both
Republican and Democratic local officials across the country
took these actions to protect voters. Throughout the primary we
have seen voters turning to vote by mail in a big way. We know
there is overwhelming support in actually voters in both
parties in a number of swing states, at least where I have seen
polls, for making sure that our Congress gives the resources
necessary to the states so that people can exercise their right
to vote.
I just want to keep pointing out the support that we have
seen for money and help from Republican leaders across our
country. Some examples. We have got Iowa's Republican Secretary
of State, Paul Pate, has said, ``We're going to be aggressively
promoting and encouraging folks: Please vote by mail through
the absentee process.'' Washington's Republican Secretary of
State, Kim Wyman, has been advocating for the expansion of
voting by mail during the pandemic. We have seen Florida's
primary 57 percent of Republicans mail their ballot compared to
only 41 percent of Democrats, 96 percent of voters in
Maryland's Republican primary voted by mail.
The Republican Party in Florida sent out a mailer
encouraging voters to request an absentee ballot. It has an
image of a tweet from the President that begins, ``Absentee
Ballots are fine. A person has to go through a process to get
and use them'' but then it blurs out the rest of the tweet
where the President goes on to attack voting by mail. I wanted
to bring that up not because I want to be partisan but because
I think it is really important for people to understand how
untrue these allegations are about voting by mail. Mitt Romney
has stood up and said he is proud that his state has such a
high percentage of voting by mail. In the words of Ohio's
Republican Secretary of State, ``It is irresponsible--whether
it's a Republican or Democrat--for people to create a sense,
incorrectly, in the minds of voters that they can't trust their
elections.''
As the New York Times editorial board noted, Oregon has
sent out more than 100 million mail-in ballots since 2000 and
has documented only about a dozen cases of proven fraud.
Rounded to the 7th decimal point that is 0.0000001 percent of
all votes cast. That is my first point. My second point is that
states need help. Mr. Chairman, as part of the CARES Act, I was
pleased to be able to work with you and Senator Leahy, Coons,
Shelby, Kennedy and others to secure the $400 million in
funding to make our elections resilient. We know that that is
not enough.
For Georgia's June primary, election officials spent over
$8 million of the $10.9 million the state received from the
CARES Act. That is in a primary. New York has spent nearly all
of its funding. By the way, New York had a rate of voting by
mail of only 5 percent. Think about that change over when I
know the Secretary of States knowing that in many states over
50 percent of people are voting by mail. Kentucky, Ohio, and
Wisconsin election officials have reported they have spent the
majority of their funding already. We know that it is not just
the funding we need, the bill that I have authored with Senator
Wyden puts in some minimum standards. I know not everyone here
is a fan of them, but I think this idea that we could just say
to people, hey, you can keep the polls open for 20 days,
similar to the version that passed in the Heroes Act in the
House. We are not going to have any requirements that you have
to have a notary to be able to go out and get your absentee
ballot.
I am really pleased that state officials have taken this
on but not every state official has and I think we should have
some minimum standards in place. Beyond that, I know one thing
that there is some widespread agreement on between Democrats
and Republicans is that we need the funding in this Heroes Act
to help people vote.
I would rather be putting ballots in a mailbox than people
in the hospital. That is a choice we have for so many voters
and that is why you see overwhelming support for getting
funding and something I believe that we can get done on a
bipartisan basis, funding for not just the vote by mail and the
postage in the envelopes, which we are seeing just an increase
we never thought possible during this pandemic, but also for
keeping polls open early and for making sure that we are
training workers at the polls who don't have pre-existing
conditions, who aren't seniors, who aren't putting themselves
in a vulnerable position by working at the polls. With that,
Mr. Chairman, thank you so much for your leadership and for
being willing to have this hearing.
Chairman Blunt. Well, thank you, Senator Klobuchar. Let's
go to our witnesses. I will first ask Senator Alexander to
introduce our witness from Tennessee.
Senator Alexander. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chairman, in
Tennessee we take our Secretaries of State seriously. We have
had some good ones and Tre Hargett certainly is one of the very
best. He was elected our 37th Secretary of State more than 10
years ago, re-elected in 2013 and 2017. He is recognized by his
peers, he is an influential member of the National Association
of Secretaries of States, he is Vice President of the Southern
Region, a member of the Association's Executive Committee.
He has led a massive overhaul of our state department's
technological abilities, including online voter registration
and a GoVote Tennessee mobile app. When he is not working on
elections, he is working on libraries. He has been an avid
promoter and architect of our Tennessee State Library and
Archives and its new facilities at Bicentennial Mall. He has
been in the House of Representatives. He was twice elected
Republican leader. He is one of our most distinguished
citizens. I am proud to welcome to the committee Tre Hargett.
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Senator Alexander. Senator
Capito, we have got a witness from West Virginia for you to
introduce.
Senator Capito. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I am
really pleased to introduce my friend, our Secretary of State,
West Virginia's Mac Warner. Mac lives in Morgantown, but he is
a native of Charleston, West Virginia. He is a graduate of the
United States Military Academy, as are several of his brothers
and more than a few of his children as well. But he also is an
attorney graduating from the West Virginia College of Law. He
has a Masters of Law degree also from the University of
Virginia and the Army Judge Advocate General School.
He served 23 years in the United States Army, serving on 4
continents and has served for 5 years as a--for the Department
of State in Afghanistan for 5 years. He was sworn in as our
30th Secretary of State, which is in charge of our election
process. He is a tireless advocate for election security and
making it easier for our deployed military personnel to be able
to vote in our state's elections. He did have a difficult
election.
The Governor pushed the date back by a month this past--
this primary election, but Secretary Warner handled it, and his
staff, handled it with great success. Changed some of the
protocols and everything seemed to work out pretty smoothly, so
congratulations to him. He also has been innovative in the
online space, online voting space, and that he has an
innovative system, I am sure we will talk about it, to have
deployed military personnel vote remotely from wherever they
are deployed. I am very pleased that Secretary Warner is here
with us to share his experiences. Thank you.
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Senator. From Missouri, we have
Rick Stream, the Director of Elections in St. Louis County. It
is our biggest single jurisdiction with 750,000 registered
voters. The county has over a million people in the county. Mr.
Stream was in the legislature for several years, was in the
Navy for a career before that, and has been the Director of
Elections since 2017. Senator Klobuchar, I think you are going
to introduce our fourth panelist today.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you. I am proud to have with us
today Ms. Kristen Clarke. She serves as the President and
Executive Director of the National Lawyers Committee for Civil
Rights Under Law. Throughout her career, she has focused on
work that seeks to strengthen democracy by combating
discrimination faced by African-Americans and other communities
of color.
She spent several years at the NAACP Legal Defense and
Educational Fund. Prior to joining the Legal Defense Fund, she
worked in the Department of Justice's civil rights division
where she served as a Federal prosecutor in the criminal
section of the division. She has received her A.B. from Harvard
University and her JD from Columbia Law School and we are
honored to have her here today.
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Senator. I think most of the
panel, the witnesses, have submitted statements for the record,
but we would be glad to have you share, however, much of that
statement you would like to share. We will go through these
statements in the order that our witnesses were introduced.
Secretary Hargett, if----
Senator Schumer. Wait a minute. Hey, Roy.
Chairman Blunt. Yes?
Senator Schumer. Schumer.
Chairman Blunt. Oh, would you like to--would you like to--
Chuck, would you like to make some opening remarks?
Senator Schumer. Yes, I would.
Chairman Blunt. The Democrat leader. We are lucky to have
him on the committee, and he is here today, and go ahead. We
have got a few minutes here if you want to use it.
Senator Schumer. Thank you. Thank you, Chairman Blunt. You
are always courteous and I appreciate the opportunity to
testify before the Rules Committee. I appreciate three
witnesses waiting for my testimony. I want to thank Amy
Klobuchar for the amazing job she does on the election, the
rights of people to vote, particularly during this pandemic
times. Last week after six decades as one of the Nation's most
preeminent civil rights leaders, as Congressman John Lewis
passed away, his trials and tribulations and ultimately his
triumph are well known to us all.
His actions as a young man helped change the trajectory of
the Nation and brought about the Voting Rights Act, perhaps the
most important piece of civil rights legislation that Congress
has ever passed. Unfortunately, many of the old enemies John
faced down have not yet been vanquished. Racial disparities
persist and gnaw at the fabric of our democracy. The law that
John Lewis nearly died for has been gutted by the Supreme
Court, and unfortunately only one political party seems
interested to restore it.
We meet today, some in person and some virtually, on the
subject of elections and the fundamental right of every
American citizen to be able to vote, something John Lewis spent
his whole life marching for. As we mourn the loss, I would ask
my fellow Americans, including my colleagues on this committee
of both parties, to take up his loss, take up his mission. In
103 days, our Nation will seek to hold an election in the face
of unprecedented challenges. We all know administering a
national election is complicated endeavor, even under the most
favorable of conditions and doing so while navigating COVID-19
is downright harrowing.
States and localities need resources to make the
adjustments necessary to ensure that every American who wishes
to cast a ballot can do so safely. Independent experts estimate
the Federal Government would need to provide $3.6 billion in
additional funding in order to ensure that state and local
officials have what they need to meet this challenge. The
Heroes Act, which passed the House more than 2 months ago,
provides that amount along with critical protections related to
mail-in voting, in-person voting, voter registration and other
things.
Unfortunately, as localities prepare for the 2020 election
and urge more Federal resources to hold safe elections, that
legislation has languished in the Senate while President Trump
and some Congressional Republicans have spread misinformation
about voting by mail. The lack of urgency from our Senate
Republican leadership, and I know you are trying very hard
Chairman Blunt to get something done here, but the leadership
is not giving us what they really need in providing these
desperately needed resources. That should appall most
Americans. John Lewis' mission was to restore the right to
vote. The best way to keep his legacy alive is not simply
giving good speeches on the floor, as important and nice as
they are, but is to make sure that right to vote, even during
this COVID crisis, is preserved, protected, and not stood in--
not abused.
The callous way, just last week, the Majority Leader
dismissed the pernicious voter suppression that corrodes our
democracy to this very day as nonsense that the Democrats are
promoting, the calloused way in which these remarks completely
dismissed the experience of black and latino voters who have to
wait 45 to 46 percent longer on average than white persons to
cast the ballot, often as a result of intentional polling
closures we have seen in state after state is jarring.
I acknowledge there are legitimate policy disputes on how
to best preserve the economy, protect public health, provide a
quality education to the students in the midst of this crisis,
but one thing that should not be in dispute, however, is
whether Congress should provide the resources, experts, and
officials from across the political spectrum who are so
desperately needed to protect the November election. We need to
prepare for an unprecedented flood of mail-in ballots by
ensuring the postal service has sufficient funding and makes no
detrimental changes to their operation that could have a
negative impact on the election this fall. We are talking about
the very wellspring of our wonderful democracy: free and fair
elections.
It shouldn't be an issue about right and left because it is
an issue of right and wrong. Members from both sides of the
aisle have released heartfelt statements in recent days
honoring the life of John Lewis. Over the next few weeks, every
member of this body will have an opportunity to make it
abundantly clear where they actually stand on the most critical
component of John Lewis' legacy, his unwavering belief in the
fundamental right of every American citizen to cast a ballot
free from undue burden.
Speeches are fine but John Lewis would prefer action.
Action means supporting the legislation in the Heroes bill. As
we debate the next round of COVID relief, Democrats will insist
on providing states the resources to carry out our elections
fairly, safely, and efficiently, and I hope, I hope our
Republican friends will join us. It is nice to make grand
statements about the unparalleled life of John Lewis. Paying
lip service to his legacy without taking meaningful action
would be the height of hypocrisy. I thank you for the time, Mr.
Chairman, Madam Ranking Member, and yield the floor.
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Senator. Secretary Hargett.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HONORABLE TRE HARGETT, TENNESSEE SECRETARY
OF STATE
Mr. Hargett. You and your colleagues are in my prayers
during this challenging time for our Nation and our world and I
am indeed grateful for your service. While I don't speak for
each Secretary of State or Chief Election Official in our
country, I express our appreciation for the election specific
appropriation from the CARES Act. In Tennessee, these dollars
have been instrumental in providing for additional ballot
scanning equipment, larger ballot boxes, absentee envelopes,
hand sanitizer, PPE, worker recruitment, and public outreach.
Tennessee is also one of the fortunate states that was able
to meet the necessary match requirement for these funds. I
would humbly ask if there is an additional round of money
appropriated for election administration of the upcoming
election, that those funds not have a match requirement and
also be free of additional Federal mandates requiring states to
change the manner and method of casting of votes. I have
confidence that each of you cares deeply about the ability of
our states to conduct elections, and I hope you will continue
to respect each state's authority to conduct elections in a
manner that has or will work in their respective states. It
would not be appropriate nor do we need to Federalize the
administration of our elections.
What works in Tennessee may not work in Colorado, Oregon,
or Missouri and vice versa. We must continue to understand that
one size does not fit all when it comes to elections. I am sure
you are interested in learning about our preparations to
conduct the current and upcoming elections during COVID-19. In
mid-March we began working to purchase necessary items such as
absentee ballot envelopes that we anticipated could be subject
to supply chain issues and we set up working groups of local
and state election officials along with private industry
partners to develop our COVID-19 election contingency plan. We
also had health experts review the plan and participate in
statewide training calls.
The result was a detailed 85-page election plan that
thought through every possible step of the election process,
including how to reduce the touch points in the election
process, sanitization of polling sites, increasing the size and
number of early voting polling sites as well as their hours of
operations, and recruitment of additional poll officials. The
health and safety of poll officials and Tennessee voters has
been of utmost importance to us through our planning process.
Our ``Be a Patriot, Become a Poll Official'' campaign
yielded over 3,100 new poll officials, which shouldn't come as
a surprise given Tennessee's recognition as a volunteer state.
Specifically, our new poll officials will help us fill the gap
of poll officials who may not want to work during this election
cycle this year. Building a new bench of new poll officials
will also help in the future since our average poll workers are
over 65 years of age. We have put an emphasis on recruiting 16
and 17 year olds this year.
We believe this will encourage our young people to be
civically engaged the rest of their lives. There has been a lot
of conversation nationally about mail-in ballots. While over a
period of years and decades some states have moved to a system
of mailing ballots to each registered voter, most states have
continued to primarily utilize in-person voting to conduct
their elections. Prior to a recent court ruling, which is under
appeal, more than a third of Tennessee's registered voters were
eligible to request and cast an absentee ballot under 1 of 14
different excuses provided by Tennessee law. Tennesseans love
to cast a ballot in-person. Historically, over 98 percent of
Tennessee voters cast a ballot during Tennessee's robust early
voting period or on Election Day. During the average
Presidential election, over 60 percent of the votes will have
already been cast during early voting.
Tennessee is a state that has built our election
infrastructure around our voters' habits of voting in person.
Last Friday, our early voting period began, and I traveled to
10 counties to observe early voting as well as how our counties
were meeting the challenge of administering elections during
the current pandemic. Voters are coming to their voting sites
with confidence and enthusiasm to vote in these elections, and
without fail they lauded the precautions and efforts made by
our state and local election officials to ensure the health and
safety of our voters and poll officials.
Additionally, when it comes to mail-in ballots, we can mail
out ballots in a timely fashion and voters can return them in
what they deem is timely to ensure their return by Election
Day. However, we have no control over the operations of the
United States Postal Service. Each election year, without fail,
counties mail ballots that are never returned or that are
received weeks after Election Day. Now, recent reports of
operational issues with the United States Postal Service cause
an even greater erosion in confidence in the ballots cast by
mail. Whether it is the timely delivery of these ballots, the
dumping of ballots in the lobby of apartment complexes in New
Jersey, a voter registration application being sent to a cat in
Georgia, or the recent ballot harvesting issues in North
Carolina, and even in Tennessee where a voter's absentee ballot
was mailed to her on the day she passed away and somehow the
ballot was returned, it remains true that the most secure and
private way to cast a ballot is through in-person voting.
In the state court system in Tennessee, advocates for by-
mail voting persuaded the court that voting safeguards existing
under current Tennessee law should help prevent voter fraud.
Interestingly enough, in Federal court, advocates for by-mail
voting were asking the Federal court to weaken the same
safeguards that advocates in the state court cited as being
effective safeguards. Also, the emphasis the U.S. Senate and
the current Administration placed on security and preparedness
has yielded dividends. As most of you are aware, the morning of
our Presidential preference primary in March, devastating
tornadoes struck downtown Nashville and Davidson County along
with the neighboring counties of Wilson and Putnam.
As part of our ongoing preparedness efforts, we have
participated in tabletop exercises from the Harvard Belfer
Center as well as the United States Department of Homeland
Security. Our state election officials have taken this practice
and conducted similar exercises with our local election
officials. The practice of a tornado striking a polling place
came to real-life for us in Tennessee.
I am happy to give more detail or answer any questions you
may have regarding our response to these natural disasters. In
closing, thank you for your support and please continue to
respect each state's authority to administer elections in the
manner and method that their states deem best to ensure the
integrity, participation, and confidence in our elections.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hargett was submitted for
the record.]
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Secretary Warner.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HONORABLE MAC WARNER, WEST VIRGINIA
SECRETARY OF STATE
Mr. Warner. Chairman, members, and staff, thank you for
inviting me to testify about West Virginia's very successful
primary election. We were so successful because we learned from
others, had constant communications, and we provided options.
We learned from other states that poll worker recruitment was
critical, uniformity is helpful, absentee ballots are necessary
but challenging. We had constant communication nationally with
the Department of Homeland Security, DOJ, Congress, and the
National Association of Secretaries of State.
At the state level, with our fellow Secretaries, our
Governor, West Virginia Attorney General, the Fusion Center,
and National Guard. At the county level, with clerks who
stressed flexibility and with Harvard's Belfer Center that
helped prepare officials for most any disruption. West Virginia
provided options. We offer more ways to vote than any other
state. We offer the gold standard of in-person voting at the
local precinct with trained poll workers, during early voting
and on Election Day. We provide absentee voting using the mail,
and we lead the Nation with e-voting. In 2018, we enabled
military and overseas voters to vote electronically. West
Virginians in 30 countries use mobile devices to vote in the
general election.
One voter in West Africa cited a 3-day drive from the U.S.
embassy for mail. She noted that mail was neither practical nor
guaranteed. She was the envy of her peers and she loved her e-
voting experience. This year, our legislature unanimously
extended e-voting to people with certain physical disabilities.
175 voters from 19 countries and 20 voters with physical
disabilities cast e-votes in our primaries. In West Virginia,
it is easier to vote and harder to cheat than ever before, but
providing options does raise challenges. Let me address those
challenges. COVID-19 is the elephant in the room in the
upcoming election. Due to the virus, our Governor issued a stay
at home order that overlapped with our primary.
Accordingly, everyone had a medical reason to vote
absentee. For uniformity, we sent applications to every
registered voter and half of the ballots cast were absentee.
The stay-at-home order is now lifted and county clerks have
asked that we return to voters initiating requests to vote
absentee consistent with state law. We must now educate voters
on election changes as they occur with this unpredictable
virus. Another challenge is poll worker recruitment. At the
state level, we recruited nearly 400 volunteers during the
primary and we have started a fresh campaign for the general.
America needs to unite around the duty to work the polls in
November.
As to funding, we appreciate the Federal HAVA and CARES
support. West Virginia used all of its 2018 HAVA funds and we
will allocate $2.4 of our $4 million 2020 HAVA funds next week.
We used $1.6 million of our CARES money in our primary, leaving
$2.1 million for the general. The CARES allocation was about
right for our state and every dollar went directly to local
election officials. While virus funding is not an immediate
concern, a number of counties do face equipment upgrade issues.
Now to lessons learned. People like having options--voting
options as they do not know how the virus will play out. Even
during the pandemic, half of the people voted in person. As to
e-voting, nearly every overseas voter would have been
disenfranchised due to postal disruptions. They loved being
able to vote electronically.
Today, I renew my call to congressional leadership as well
as the Department of Defense to provide e-voting to all
deployed military and overseas voters. Using the mail is one
pandemic option but mail is problematic. Issues include lack of
postmarks, lost items, delayed delivery, and increased
opportunities for fraud such as forgeries, intimidation, and
ballot harvesting. A significant absentee ballot issue is over
voting. One county had 1,017 over votes, resulting in those
votes not counting. That would not have been possible with
electronic marking devices and in-person voting.
Next, initiate anti-fraud task forces as soon as possible.
When issues arose, our task force with the U.S. Attorney, FBI,
State Police, and West Virginia's Attorney General was
extremely effective. Finally, flexibility. County clerks
recommended and our Governor issued executive orders that
provided much-needed flexibility, such as giving clerks more
than 24 hours to mail absentee ballots, I provided flexibility
by allowing early poll worker training, COVID-19 as a reason to
vote absentee, early processing of absentee ballots, clerks to
change polling locations, and reduced number of poll workers.
Flexibility enabled clerks to use common sense based on
manpower, equipment, and timing restrictions.
In conclusion, West Virginia showed that we as a Nation can
hold a safe and successful election during the pandemic.
Extensive voter education is necessary as people must be
informed of deadlines, process, and to correctly mark ballots.
They must also understand that absentee ballots delay results
reporting.
In West Virginia we covered our bases. We had numerous
voting options, officials had flexibility to operate within the
law, and polls were accessible. We got it right and we did it
safely. West Virginia did not have a single reported case of
COVID-19 due to in-person voting. This concludes my briefings
and West Virginia stands ready to share our story and answer
questions at the appropriate time. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Warner was submitted for the
record.]
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Mr. Stream.
OPENING STATEMENT OF RICK STREAM, REPUBLICAN DIRECTOR OF
ELECTIONS, ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI
Mr. Stream. Good morning, Senators. It is an honor to be
here this morning. Thank you Senator Blunt for inviting me to
testify. I am happy to be here because the St. Louis County
Board of Elections is proud of the work we have accomplished
providing secure, accurate, and fair elections during this
unprecedented time. The St. Louis County Board of Elections, as
well as all 116 election authorities in the State of Missouri,
is governed by state statute. St. Louis County staffing is bi-
partisan with equal members of both major parties working side-
by-side to ensure accurate, efficient, and fair elections. The
Board is governed by four commissioners, two of each party,
nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate.
Two bi-partisan directors run the day-to-day operations.
St. Louis County has one million residents and 750,000
registered voters. It is, by far, the largest election
authority in the State of Missouri. The St. Louis County Board
of Elections has taken the following measures during the COVID-
19 pandemic to ensure the safety of voters and poll workers
while providing an opportunity for all voters to cast their
ballots. The Election Board has remained open to meet our
statutory responsibilities to voters and candidates. Using St.
Louis County Health Department guidelines, the office
established protocols to continue working while keeping our
employees safe and the election process moving forward.
Employee temperatures are taken immediately in the morning.
Employees socially distance with barriers in place where
necessary. Employees wear masks continuously and gloves when
handling paper.
All office surfaces are wiped down twice a day and
employees have wipes for their work areas. These safety
measures are also taken with any public interaction. In a
normal county-wide election, St. Louis County employs
approximately 3,200 poll workers to fully staff the polls.
These workers are trained so that they are current on the
latest procedures and laws. Because of the pandemic, the Board
established new procedures for in-person training and developed
online training courses which allowed many of our workers to
take the class without leaving their home. We have recently
moved exclusively to online training. At the polling places,
all poll workers wear masks and gloves and are instructed to
wipe down surfaces with alcohol disinfectant.
Hand sanitizer is placed at each polling place for the
voters to use and social distancing strips are placed on the
floors. Because of the hesitancy of poll workers to work, 71
percent of our poll workers are over the age of 60 and numerous
cancellations of private polling places, the Board reduced the
number of polling locations for the June election to 160 from
the March 10th Presidential preference primary level of 360. We
were able to adequately staff at the reduced level and avoid
long lines that plagued other election authorities around the
country.
Our plan is to increase the number of polling places to 200
for the August statewide primary and then a larger number for
the November Presidential election. Nearly all polling places
are in public buildings within a 7-minute drive from the
nearest polling place or public transportation stop. Last year,
after a rigorous request for proposal process managed by our
staff, our Board of Commissioners purchased new voting
equipment. We determined that the ballot on demand system is
the most secure method available. That decision has had an
immediate effect on our ability to protect voters during the
pandemic. There are no pre-printed ballots. The paper ballot is
generated at the polling place based on the voter's name and
address. Except for a brief initialing by two gloved poll
workers, the only person touching the ballot is the voter. The
system was purchased for $3 million less than the touch screen
predecessor purchased 13 years earlier.
This year, Governor Mike Parson signed a new voting law
into effect for the remainder of 2020. It provides a specific
absentee voting option related to COVID-19 and adds a mail-in
ballot option. Our commissioners have sent a letter to voters
explaining their voting options. To date, our office has
experienced a fivefold increase in the number of absentee
ballot requests. Because of the rapidly changing circumstances
and our desire to communicate those changes to our voters, we
are incurring unprecedented costs. We hope to be reimbursed
from the CARES Act.
The Missouri Secretary of State's Office has provided
resources for COVID-19 related expenses for personal protective
equipment and supplies. While our expenses are going up and are
unpredictable for the remainder of the year based on the
trajectory of the pandemic, income and sales tax resources
coming into the state and county have plummeted. Additional
Federal help might be necessary to meet these demands. The St.
Louis County Board of Elections continues to look for ways to
be fiscally responsible and nimble while trying to improve our
service to our voters and protect the election process during
this unprecedented time.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Stream was submitted for the
record.]
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Mr. Stream. Ms. Clarke--Ms.
Clarke.
OPENING STATEMENT OF KRISTEN CLARKE, PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR, NATIONAL LAWYERS' COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER
LAW
Ms. Clarke. Chairman Blunt, Ranking Member Klobuchar, and
members of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, my
name is Kristen Clarke 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
the actions we can take to ensure that states hold safe and
fair elections during the pandemic this season.
The Lawyers' Committee has been at the forefront of the
battle for equal rights since it was created in 1963 at the
request of President Kennedy to enlist the private bar's
leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination. To
accomplish our mission, the Lawyers' Committee has been a
leader in many of our Nation's most seminal voting rights
battles and we also lead Election Protection, the Nation's
largest and longest-running nonpartisan voter protection
program anchored by the 866-Our-Vote hotline.
Through our work, we have had a frontline view of the ways
in which the pandemic has impacted our elections nationally.
The evidence and problems experienced by voters during the
primary season makes clear that many states simply are not
ready: long lines in Wisconsin and Georgia, poll site closures
across Pennsylvania and Kentucky, confusion regarding the rules
for accessing absentee ballots in Ohio, poll worker shortages
in Florida, Texas, and Illinois.
As we brace for historically high levels of participation
this November, I urge this Committee and Congress to provide
the $3.6 billion in funding that the states and our local
communities desperately need to be able to safely and
effectively administer elections for the duration of the year.
It is critical that Congress also set certain minimum baseline
protections for voters across the country for November,
including at least 2 weeks for early voting, no excuse absentee
voting, and safe, secure, and accessible voting options on
Election Day. Nothing less than the fate of our democracy and
the lives of your constituents is at stake.
We have been sounding the alarm about the dangers to
voters, poll workers in our communities throughout the primary
season as many states either failed to adequately respond to
the threat of COVID or lack the resources to appropriately
respond. Months into the pandemic, many states and counties are
still unprepared to safely handle the volume of people opting
to vote in person, and several states failed to provide
requested mail-in ballots in a timely manner, leading to mass
rejection rates. Voters of color, our senior citizens, people
with disabilities, Native Americans, and first-time voters are
disproportionately disenfranchised by our Nation's collective
failure to fully confront the challenges posed by COVID.
For people forced to vote under conditions that don't
comply with public health guidelines, there are real risks to
their health and the health of their families. No one should
ever have to choose between their health and their ability to
exercise their right to vote. The $400 million allocated in the
CARES Act was an important first step, but it is a fraction of
what is truly needed.
As COVID rates continue to spike, the changes facing
election officials continue to intensify. Even if those funds
don't reach states and localities until August or September,
states will be able to immediately put those funds to use to
hire poll workers, purchase PPE and cleaning equipment, print
mail-in ballots, procure postage, and conduct voter education
and outreach. Ensuring access to the ballot during a pandemic
is a common-sense principle that enjoys bipartisan support.
The Lawyers' Committee and our partners have heard from
officials on their efforts this season. Governors from both
parties have expanded access to vote by mail to all people in
states as diverse as New Hampshire, Maryland, Alabama, and
Ohio, and during the past few months, Governors, Secretaries of
State, and election officials have learned from states like
Colorado, Washington, Utah and Hawaii, where elections have
largely been conducted by mail prior to the pandemic. Expanding
voting by mail and in person is achievable and critical for our
democracy. States simply need the support from Congress to do
it.
I want to close by remembering your colleague and our
Nation's hero Congressman John Lewis. Congressman Lewis devoted
his life to fighting for the right to vote. He continued that
all the way through his final months of his life, presiding
over the House vote to restore the Voting Rights Act in
December. In his words, ``To make it hard, to make it
difficult, almost impossible for people to cast a vote is not
in keeping with the democratic process.''
It is my hope that Congress will restore the Voting Rights
Act, our most important Federal civil rights law, and carry
forth the legacy of Congressman Lewis by taking action now to
ensure access to the ballot for all Americans during the
pandemic. During one of our Nation's gravest crises, I urge you
to provide the $3.6 billion in funding needed for states and
localities to get it right and to ensure that every voter has
access to vote by mail and at least 2 weeks of early voting
this season. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Clarke was submitted for the
record.]
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Ms. Clarke. I appreciate the
Members that have attended. We have had Members here, number of
Members here, others virtually attending. Let's try to limit
our questions to 5 minute rounds and we will have as many
rounds as we have time to before those votes start right after
noon and maybe even into that space if needed.
Mr. Stream, you said the Governor had signed new
legislation. I have really two questions there. What were some
of the new things that that legislation did in our state? Two,
were those laws in effect for the spring elections that were
held a little late in June or are they going into effect for
the first time in the August elections?
Mr. Stream. Yes, the Governor did sign that bill into law.
It did not take effect for the June election, which was
actually the April general municipal election, which was
postponed until June, but it does take effect for the statewide
primary which occurs in less than 2 weeks now, and of course
for November, it will be in effect, too. What the new law does
is it expands the options for voting absentee. It adds a COVID
related option and what that does is it is for people who have
contracted or are at risk of contracting COVID, it allows them
to vote absentee and there are categories within that option.
If you meet any one of these, you are considered to be at risk
so you can vote absentee in this way. You have to be at least
65, live in a long-term care facility, have a serious heart
condition, have chronic lung disease or asthma, or are
immunocompromised, chronic kidney disease or on dialysis, have
liver disease or diabetes.
For this particular way to vote absentee, you do not need
to have your ballot notarized. Most of the other reasons that
we have in Missouri for voting absentee, you do have to have it
notarized. There is one other non-notary option that we have
had for a long time. If you are incapacitated due to illness or
disability or you are caring for somebody who is incapacitated
due to illness or disability, then you do not need to get your
absentee ballot notarized. For all the other reasons, absence
on Election Day, employment by election authority, you do have
to get it notarized.
The other part of that bill that became a law was the mail-
in ballot option and this is open to any voter, not just people
who may feel threatened by COVID or anything like that, but
this is open to any voter. It is a mail-in ballot. It must be
requested in person or in writing to the Election Board and the
ballot must be returned by mail, and that ballot must be
notarized. Those are the main differences that were
incorporated in this new----
Chairman Blunt. When would you have to receive that ballot
to count it?
Mr. Stream. You have to receive the ballot to count it by 7
p.m. on Election Day.
Chairman Blunt. No postmark issue after the election?
Mr. Stream. No.
Chairman Blunt. It has to be there by 7 p.m. on Election
Day?
Mr. Stream. Again, the legislature decided to do it that
way. That is the way all of our absentee balloting has been in
the past, that it has to be received into our office by 7 p.m.
on Election night.
Chairman Blunt. Did you see any postal concerns in the June
election or you having any concerns about how the Post Office
will participate and function in this new demand for ballots in
August and November?
Mr. Stream. Well, to be honest with you, Senator, we have
had problems with the Post Office since I have been in this
office for three and a half years. The delivery times are less
than optimal for sure. We have even proposed having one of our
employees work in the Post Office in our local community of St.
Ann to try to speed up the process but to no avail. We are
concerned about that. We have a tremendous number of absentee
ballots that were processed for the June election. About 45
percent of our total vote was absentee for the June election.
Normally, it is 10 percent.
For August, it is going to be even higher than that. We
have, in office right now, over 86,000 absentee applications.
The ballots are being mailed out to the voters and it is going
to be a monumental effort to get those processed. We will get
it done, but the Post Office is a very difficult situation for
us right now.
Chairman Blunt. How are you going to count those ballots
that come in in those big numbers Election Day? I know in New
York I think the primary was the 23rd of June and we still
don't have all the results. Are you doing anything to prepare
for the volume that you wouldn't have dealt with before and
what are you doing?
Mr. Stream. Well, we have had to hire a lot of bipartisan
temporary teams to help us process the applications. We will
have the same type of bipartisan teams to process the ballots
when they come back in. What we do is, we have a state law that
allows us to prepare the ballots 5 days in advance. Any ballots
that we have in, that have been checked to make sure that the
signatures match, those ballots are then prepared starting 5
days in advance. What that means is they are opened, the
ballots are laid out, and we are able to count them quickly on
Election Day and results are--usually for absentee ballots,
like we did in June, we had the absentee ballot returns out by
7:30 p.m.
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Mr. Stream. Senator Klobuchar.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much. Thank you for your
testimony. Thank you very much, Ms. Clarke, for you mentioning
Congressman Lewis and his work that we must respect not just in
words, but in action. Ms. Clarke, I thought just to get down to
the nitty-gritty of what we are facing right now in the HEROES
Act as we consider some version of it in the Senate, you talked
about how there is still time to purchase equipment in terms of
personal protective equipment for people who are working at the
polls, postage, that is not something you have to necessarily
get a year ahead of time, we all know that, envelopes.
Some very practical things that we can do in two ways. One
is I have a letter here from the Secretaries of States, the
National group asking for some changes to that original $400
million and I appreciated Senator Blunt's openness to looking
at that in this package as well as other Republicans. The
second is additional funding. As you said, this is just a
fraction of what we need when we look at the enormous needs of
changing the voting patterns, which even if you wanted to not
change them, I think Americans are very well versed in the
dangers of this disease. That is why we are seeing the voting
by mail in record numbers. Could you talk about how actually
even at this date we can help local officials by getting
additional funding?
Ms. Clarke. Thank you, Senator, for that question. We have
been engaging with election officials across the country and
many of them are expressing grave concern about their dire
budget situations. We know that the country is experiencing an
economic downturn, that states are wrestling with high
unemployment rates and more, and so adequate funding to meet
the needs states did not anticipate here has been critical and
a concern that we are hearing broadly from the officials that
we have engaged with.
Senator Klobuchar. Again, thank you, Mr. Stream. This
notion that there is still time to buy protective agreement--
protective equipment and help with tabulators, scanners, all
these things we are going to need as we see this shift because
of the work that you have done in your jurisdiction. Could you
talk about how that would be helpful?
Mr. Stream. Thank you, Senator. We, due to the actions of
our Board of Commissioners, they directed our directors to go
out and purchase PPE very early in the game, not only to
protect the employees in the office but the poll workers. So
we, on our own, we went out and purchased a lot of that
equipment before CARES was passed. We hope we can be reimbursed
for that, but we knew that we needed to make sure that our
polling places were safe for the voters to come into and for
the poll workers to work in so that is why we purchased all of
that equipment ahead of time.
Senator Klobuchar. I appreciate that but it appears that
the position of the National Secretary of States Association is
they do want to get some additional money because of the
problems with state budgets across the country for voting.
Would that be fair?
Mr. Stream. I could only speak for St. Louis County. I
don't want to speak for anybody else, but as the Chairman
knows, in Missouri, counties are responsible for paying for the
election operations in their county. St. Louis County
Government is responsible for paying for our election costs. We
all know that the counties and the states are suffering badly.
I think that it would be a correct statement to say that they
need additional financial help.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you. I appreciate that. Ms.
Clarke, do you want to add to your statement? Just how this has
affected communities of color across the country the pandemic,
of course we know in general but also in particular the voting
and the need to keep polling places open earlier and the like
so that everyone has a right to vote?
Ms. Clarke. Yes. Thank you, Senator. Georgia provided a
powerful example of the way that the pandemic has upended our
elections and had a particularly stark impact on African-
Americans and people of color, in particular. Georgia is a
state that has been hard hit by the pandemic. However, African
Americans are dying and getting infected at disproportionately
higher rates.
This primary in Georgia, during the primary election, we
saw long lines in several counties that were the result of
malfunctioning poll equipment, insufficient numbers of poll
workers, and many voters who did not receive their absentee
ballots in time in part because the state secured an out-of-
state vendor that produced a number of errors. We had to go to
court to get poll hours extended, but no doubt this is a season
where we should be mindful of the pandemic's disproportionate
impact on people of color, which makes it all the more critical
that we work to get it right and ensure access for all
Americans this season.
Senator Klobuchar. Thank you very much. Just in closing in
my questions, Mr. Chairman, I mentioned ahead of the hearing we
have had thousands of Americans write to us asking Congress to
provide resources to states to make it safe to vote.
One letter is signed by more than a thousand public health
officials and medical professionals and doctors, others are
from bipartisan groups of election officials, as I mentioned,
who are asking for more funding and to remove the 20 percent
match from the original money in the CARES Act funding.
Disability groups and groups devoted to protecting voting
rights for minority populations have also written. I ask
unanimous consent that we enter these letters on the record.
Chairman Blunt. Without objection. Senator Alexander.
[The information referred to was submitted for the record.]
Senator Alexander. Thanks, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member
Klobuchar. Secretary Hargett, welcome. Let me talk to you about
Tennessee and how easy it is for voters, or not, to cast
ballots. You have, in your time, made it easier to register to
vote online. Tennessee has 3 weeks of early voting and now we
have gotten into a pattern, as you mentioned in your statement,
about a lot of us do vote early and I found this year the
absentee voting opportunity pretty simple to follow--the
ballots were available early and I mailed mine in early.
Since the election, our August primary voting started last
Thursday--Friday in person. What are you seeing in terms of
lines, safety, ease of voting? Are both Democrats and
Republicans, so far as you can tell, having an opportunity to
vote? Are they waiting in long lines? Is turn out higher than
usual? What are you seeing in terms of absentee ballots and
early voting so far this election?
Mr. Hargett. Well, thank you, Senator Alexander and I would
be remiss if I didn't begin by thanking you for your fantastic
service to the State of Tennessee and our great Nation through
your exemplary career.
Senator Alexander. Thank you.
Mr. Hargett. We have done a lot. When you look at online
voter registration, we now have crossed about 850,000
transactions of people who registered to vote online, or
updated their voter registration online, also a voter app that
allows people to know where their nearest early voting site is,
where their Election Day voting site is, to be able to see a
sample ballot so when they walk into the polls it is not the
first time they have seen their unique ballot.
I did mention earlier that I had been--I went to ten
counties during Friday and Saturday, and I am scheduled to hit
several more Thursday or Friday and Saturday this week to see a
couple things, number one, what the response was of voters and
number two--I should say 1(a) probably, what is the response of
our poll workers themselves? Are we are we adhering to the
protocols? Are we taking the necessary safeguards? I am so
impressed with our Coordinator of Elections Mark Goins and our
95 county election commissioners around the state who have
taken this opportunity to show that they can stand and deliver
in this difficult environment, and utilizing necessary PPE.
Think about all the touch points of an election when you go
to vote, even down to making sure the same person doesn't
utilize the same pen twice, that you are regularly sanitizing
all the possible touch areas. I think about that from a poll
worker and a voter standpoint, and I specifically made a great
effort in all ten counties. I went to ask voters, what was your
experience? Were you concerned? Do you feel like this was a
safe place to be? Is there anything you would do different?
Without fail every person said ``I felt very safe coming to
vote. I wanted to make sure I came to vote early. I wanted to
vote in person. This way when I touch that button or I fill out
that bubble sheet, I know that my vote is going to be
counted.'' You ask about lines, you know, we saw as you will in
any election regardless of what part of town you go to, what
part of the state you go to, on the first day of early voting
when those polls first open, you are going to see a little line
there.
But we also encourage people to try and spread that out
through social distancing and by recognizing that not everybody
has to show up at the very same time. If you can pick a slower
time of day at 2 or 3 in the afternoon, you know, you are free
to do that. We encourage that. We think----
Senator Alexander. Okay, I have got about 1 minute left in
my time. Let me ask you----
Mr. Hargett. Sorry, Senator.
Senator Alexander. What about turnout? Is it higher this
year? What is your estimate of the number of the percentage of
Tennesseans who will vote in the August primary either early or
by absentee ballot?
Mr. Hargett. We anticipate you are going to see about 60
percent of people who will vote absentee or early. At this
time, it appears that turnout is up, but what we don't know is
that a substitution effect of maybe some people who are going
ahead and voting early because we have advertised it more
heavily this time around or taking advantage of absentee
voting----
Senator Alexander. Can you tell whether the early voters
are Democrats or Republican voters?
Mr. Hargett. It appears to be pretty balanced out. That,
you know, honestly, Senator, I look to see how Tennesseans are
doing. I really don't look at the numbers and try to figure out
whether Republicans or Democrats are voting. I just want to do
right by all Tennesseans.
Senator Alexander. What--well I have 9 seconds. Do you see
any real obstacles to someone having an opportunity to vote?
Mr. Hargett. No, sir, I don't. I think we have got ample
early voting. We are doing everything we can to make sure that
we have a safe and secure way for them to cast their vote.
Senator Alexander. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Senator. Senator Udall.
Senator Udall. Can you hear me?
Chairman Blunt. Yes.
Senator Udall. Great, thank you. Thank you, Ms. Clarke and
Secretaries Warner and Hargett and Mr. Stream for joining us
today and really appreciate Chairman Blunt and Senator
Klobuchar for holding this hearing. I cannot stress how much is
at stake in the fast-approaching general election this
November, and the urgent need for an additional $3.6 billion
for emergency election funding. To prepare for today's hearing,
I reached out to the New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie
Toulouse Oliver who is the current President elect of the
National Association of Secretaries of State.
During New Mexico's recent June primary election, there was
a record turnout and over 65 percent of votes cast in that
election were absentee, substantially more than the usual 10 to
20 percent. This turnout from my home state demonstrates that
we can protect the right to vote and public health at the same
time. While this is good news, I was troubled to find out that
the full amount that New Mexico received from the CARES Act for
this year's primary and general elections, $4 million, had to
be spent solely on the primary.
New Mexico is currently anticipating a $6 million shortfall
for necessary expenditures for the upcoming general election.
Voters should not be forced to choose between their
constitutional right to vote and their health and safety. As a
Senator from a state with a native population of 10 percent and
as lead Democrat on the senate committee on Indian Affairs, I
am particularly concerned with Native Americans' safe access to
the ballot box. Due to the pandemic, states are instituting new
measures that purportedly ensure that voters may exercise the
franchise safely, but if you are a Native American voter in
Indian Country, odds are the barriers to casting your vote in
2020 are not much better than they were generations ago,
enhanced voting procedures notwithstanding.
Prior to COVID-19, tribal communities faced unique
obstacles to exercising their right to vote, including polling
site closures, stricter voter ID laws, and increased use of
absentee ballots, leaving Native American voters systemically
disenfranchised. While I strongly support making voting by mail
easier to keep communities safe from COVID-19, Indian Country
faces unique barriers to vote by mail that must be addressed.
Native voters in Indian Country often don't have the physical
mailing addresses and instead use Post Office boxes to receive
their mail.
This can require driving long distances to U.S. Post
Offices with limited operating hours. On top of that, this last
primary election season, we saw some states drastically
reducing the number of polling sites in Indian Country without
consulting with tribes, making it all the harder to vote. Basic
voting infrastructure is critical to ensuring that Native
American voters can exercise their constitutional right to vote
within their own communities. It is disturbing yet hardly
surprising that in vote by mail, and other election decisions
are being made that undermine native communities' access to the
ballot.
My bill, the Native American Voting Rights Act, provides
significant solutions to ensure that the Native vote is not
lost. Ms. Clarke, your organization has conducted calls that
highlight the national and tribal voting issues. What specific
actions should Congress take to make sure that tribal
communities have equal and ready access to the polls?
Ms. Clarke. Thank you, Senator. What we have found in our
experience is that Native American voters have unique issues
when it comes to voting by absentee ballot. For example, in
Utah, where it's 100 percent vote by mail, they neglected to
think about the unique needs faced by Navajo speaking voters in
that state. We filed a lawsuit against the state.
Navajo speaking voters need in-person language assistance
in order to cast a meaningful and effective ballot. Today, Utah
accounts for that. There are unique supports in place for
Navajo speaking voters in San Juan County, Utah. I do think it
is important to be mindful of the unique language needs that
certain voters of color face as we think about how to ensure
full access for all communities this season.
Senator Udall. Ms. Clarke, there is no one-size-fits-all
solution to address the many challenges states are facing as we
near Election Day, so why is it important to ensure that states
have the resources to develop both robust in-person voting
protocols and the infrastructure needed to vote by mail?
Ms. Clarke. This is a unique season where everyone faces
unprecedented obstacles. We think that there are three avenues
that we need to provide. We need to provide effective open
access to absentee ballots, we need to provide early voting
opportunities to ease the strain that officials would otherwise
face on Election Day, and we need to provide meaningful,
accessible, safe, and secure in-person voting opportunities on
Election Day itself. That I think is the formula to success for
November.
Senator Udall. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Senator. If you have other
questions, we will have another opportunity in a little bit.
Senator Capito.
Senator Capito. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank all of you
for being here. Secretary Warner from West Virginia, I want to
thank you for being here today. I am going to go straight to
the funding question because you brought this up in your
opening statement that West Virginia had received HAVA money
and then CARES money for the primary and you said you had money
left for the general.
Can you--we have heard a lot about lack of resources, lack
of dollars. It seems like West Virginia has had enough to meet
the challenge, to make sure that we get the three parameters
that Ms. Clarke has laid out, early voting, access to remote
voting or absentee, and also a safe voting place. Can you speak
to the funding aspects, Secretary Warner?
Mr. Warner. I sure can. Again, I think that Congress has
gotten it about right for the State of West Virginia. With the
CARES Act, we used less than half of that for the primary. We
still have over $2 million to use for the general. It is going
to do us just about right. We held a ``clerks call'' with
clerks in person and with a survey, we are in good shape for
the CARES component.
This is the virus component of the upcoming election. We do
still have some counties that could use funding in the HAVA
arena. We are in the process of going through that right now.
This next week and for a 30-day period for the counties to
submit applications. We expect at the end of that just over
half of that HAVA 2020 funding will be used and then we will
reopen that after the November election. Just understand how
much work these clerks have to do, and we didn't want to
overload them and try to push for people to spend that HAVA
2020 money just to be spending it. We wanted to do it
appropriately and we were using this election period to
determine what is the proper use for that fund. Thank you,
Senator----
Senator Capito. Do you think--Yes. Let me ask a question
Senator Alexander asked of his Secretary of State. Do you see
any obstacles in our State of West Virginia that somebody
couldn't have fair access to the ballot, to voting in this
general election upcoming?
Mr. Warner. None whatsoever. We have all the options and
they all are important. It is important for the voter to
determine what is the best way for him to cast a ballot and
there have been no--there is no disenfranchisement. Everybody
has access whether it is absentee voting by mail, in-person
early on Election Day, or in those cases with the electronic
voting. Those people are very excited about that opportunity.
Senator Capito. Okay. Let me ask you about the HAVA money
because I am on Appropriations and that was my subcommittee
several years ago. I think we put--I might have the number,
national number kind of in the general facility of over $300
million. I think maybe next year for over $400, $500 million.
Do you hold the HAVA money at the state or do you have to keep
applying at the Federal level to the Federal Election
Commission to get that money, and is that an ongoing process,
and to your understanding, is there still money at the Federal
level it has yet to be dispersed?
Mr. Warner. Each state was given an allocation. There was a
minimum allocation in the $3 to $4 million range. That is where
West Virginia hit. All that money does go directly to the
counties. We administer that through a HAVA board that reviews
the applications to make sure appropriateness and to spread it
across the state. Just it is in a first-come-first-serve, we
take those applications on a first-come-first-serve, but we
want to make sure that all the counties do have an opportunity.
Senator Capito. The counties apply to you for the HAVA
money from your allocation?
Mr. Warner. Yes, that is correct. That is correct.
Senator Capito. That is correct. Let me ask the Secretary
of State of Tennessee, on your funding issues, are you finding
yourself way underfunded to be able to have a safe and fair
election in 2020 or how do you anticipate your financial
situation in terms of meeting this challenge?
Mr. Hargett. Well Senator, you know, without additional
mandates from the Federal Government or through the courts, we
feel good about where we are financially. However, if you know
a certain--if a court decision were to require us to do
absentee no excuse or universal vote by mail, that would be a
game-changer for us. Those are things that we are having to
think about but we feel like frankly the U.S. Government, you
know, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, the money you
have given us in the past for Help America Vote Act, the
security funds you have given us and now through this CARES
Act, we feel pretty well situated in Tennessee.
Senator Capito. Thank you. Secretary Warner, you mentioned
that we had quite a turnout, I think, in our primary in June
that was pushed for a month. A lot of that, half of that I
believe was by absentee voter. I mean, do you anticipate that
in the general again for the convenience factor?
Mr. Warner. I think we are going to have pretty much the
same turnout as we have had in previous elections. In the past,
60 percent turnout range for the general election. Primary, we
were in the 35 to 40 percent range, which is what we have
typically. And, what you find is, it is like a balloon when you
squeeze in one area and it expands in another. We allowed
absentee voting and expansive views of that. We had lower
turnout during early voting and on Election Day, but all in
all, the voters determined what they are most comfortable with
depending on the virus and find the best option for them, but
everybody had that chance to vote.
Senator Capito. Thank you. Thank you.
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Senator Capito. Senator King.
Senator King. Thank you, Mr. Chair. As the red light went
on, I remember the story from my days in law school. Someone
asked Chief Justice Warren when you should stop when the red
light came on and his answer was, in the middle of the word
``if''. I am cognizant of the lights here. I have spent the
last 8 years, almost 8 years, on the Intelligence committee and
the last 4 years intensively studying the Russian interference
in the election of 2016. I can assure you that the Russians are
going to try and are trying to interfere in the election of
2020. It is probable that the Chinese will. It is likely that
the Iranians will. Possibly--possible that the North Koreans
will.
The problem with this challenge that we face is, and it
goes to all of you who are working in the administration of our
elections, they don't have to change votes. All they have to do
is sow doubt. Doubt is the dagger in the heart of democracy. If
people doubt the election results, if people doubt the fairness
of elections, and that is a very high standard to meet. I think
we just all have to be thinking about that as we approach all
of these issues. For example, online voting. I am sympathetic
to the needs of those who are overseas and to the disabled, but
I think we need to be exceedingly careful about online voting.
I just spent a year with the National Cyber Commission on
cyber threats to the elections and other parts of our society,
and there is no safe online voting system. There is none. I
have not seen any evidence of a safe online voting system. I
have seen lots of evidence to the contrary. To the extent that
those are used to enable people who otherwise couldn't vote, to
do so, we need to be extremely careful about how they relate to
the rest of the voting system, whether somebody can use an
online voting system for the disabled, for example, to get into
the rest of the voting system, get into the voter data base. I
think those are matters of exceedingly important concern. The
risk of registration online.
It seems to me, Mr. Chair, and as you always remind us, you
were in effect a Secretary of State, we need to think about
what is our responsibility, what are our powers, and ultimately
these elections are going to be up to the states. The
mechanics--so what do we have to do? We need to provide some
insight and advice, which I just volunteered about online
voting and the risk of malicious activity in connection with
our elections. Secondly we do have to supply the resources, or
we don't have to but we should. If we don't, particularly in
the light of the COVID emergency, we are failing our
responsibility and failing our voters. Ms. Clarke, you talked
about long lines. Often, those long lines are in neighborhoods
of color and where you place your voting places are important.
These kinds of decisions are absolutely critical, but it is my
belief and I don't know what the right number is, but it is my
belief that there is a need for additional support for simply
PPE for election personnel, for other techniques, for keeping
the clerks of office open, for more early voting.
All of those things are really critical. A third place
where it seems to me, Mr. Chairman, we really have a
responsibility, based upon all the testimony that we have had
today, is the Post Office. There was $10 billion in the CARES
Act as a loan to the Post Office. To my knowledge, it has not
happened and yet the Post Office is facing imminent insolvency.
September is the date that I have seen. Given that there are
now nine states that predominantly vote-by-mail and many others
who will see a great deal of additional voting by mail, we have
to provide them with the infrastructure that votes by mail can
be counted. If the Post Office can't process those and
Secretary of State, one of our Secretaries of State said, you
know, it has got to be in by the Election Day.
Well, what if they physically can't meet that? Those people
are disenfranchised. Mr. Chairman, I feel that that is
something that we really have to attend to and we can't just
skirt around the issue of the support for the Post Office
because the president doesn't like their package rates. This is
a matter of fundamental access to the ballot box for the people
of America, and if the Post Office can't get the ballots to the
clerks, then they are being disenfranchised.
I have gone over my time. I didn't manage to get in a
question, but I think these are some points that we really have
to consider. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I really appreciate your
doing this hearing.
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Senator King. There will be
another chance to ask questions if you have got more of your
time. I would say that the Post Office, with all of these
significant increase in ballots coming in is there all kinds of
problems that are arising. I think I read an article yesterday
where one state had put postage on the return envelope and
apparently the Post Office often doesn't cancel prepaid
postage.
Those envelopes had no postmark, but the law required a
postmark before a ballot could be counted, but I suspect will
be a lot of litigation in any election that is close this year
on many of these issues. When a ballot came in, was that--
should have been counted if it was postmarked, but it wasn't
there by Election Day. Rick Stream is going to have a lot of
those things to try to deal with.
Senator King. But remember, Mr. Chairman, doubt is our
enemy.
Chairman Blunt. Well, I like--you know, doubt in the
election. You are exactly right. People having confidence that
what the results on Election Day that were arrived at was what
people, voters actually tried to do on Election Day, is
critically important, it is the fabric of the democracy and we
have to be thinking about that all the time. Senator Cortez
Masto. Still on--yes, there you go.
Senator Cortez Masto. I am here. Yes. Thank you. Let me
just say also, I would like to emphasize how important it will
be for my home State of Nevada, for us here in Congress, to
include the $3.6 billion for emergency election funding in the
upcoming coronavirus package that we were negotiating now. You
know, Nevada has been so hard hit by this pandemic and is
facing a terrible budget shortfall. So are many states across
the country. That is why I also believe we need to waive the 20
percent funding match requirement that was included in the
CARES Act election funds and provide that additional funding to
our state and local Governments so they can ensure that the
upcoming election is safe and accessible.
I will say this is not a partisan issue. I know this is
what Secretaries of State on both sides of the aisle are asking
for, including Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske. I
hope we can all work together to get this done. I do want to
jump back to a conversation, Ms. Clarke, regarding the concern
about access to the polls. There are many people that you
talked about earlier, and I think it was with Senator Udall,
that sometimes there is a language barrier, sometimes
individuals need help.
Can you talk a little bit about why, yes, I believe mail-in
ballots are going to be key this election cycle, we want to
keep people safe but give them the opportunity to also cast
their votes and make them count. We also know there are people
that sometimes need to show up in person. Can you talk a little
bit about why we should still also have some form of in-person
voting for individuals that might need to show up in person?
Ms. Clarke. Yes, thank you, Senator, for that question.
What we have found this season is that for some people the
experience, the opportunity of voting in person is incredibly
important.
There are people who are willing to sadly endure those long
lines on Election Day, even though they shouldn't have to, and
many of them really can't afford to because they have jobs to
return to or childcare needs that they are juggling. But there
are many people who don't want to vote by mail and who want to
get out and vote in person during early voting or on Election
Day. Again, it is very critical that we provide those three
avenues for voters to have a full range of options to exercise
their voice this season.
Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you. I know at least, and I
have seen in my state as well for many reasons that we have
talked about, but there are also people with disabilities that
also it is helpful to be able to show up in person as well. Let
me ask the Secretaries and Mr. Stream, I am curious, do any of
your states require notarizations of the signatures from mail-
in ballots?
Mr. Hargett. Our state does not, Senator.
Mr. Warner. West Virginia does not either.
Senator Cortez Masto. Okay, and----
Mr. Stream. Senator, in Missouri, as I mentioned in my
earlier answers, for five of the seven categories of absentee
voting, notarization is required.
Senator Cortez Masto. Okay, so how--okay, so thank you.
Thank you for that. My question is, how do you ensure that
individuals that may not have access or ability to get to a
notary or even the photo ID that may be necessary, how do you
still ensure that they have the ability to vote? Let me first
ask you that question and then I will give you a real life
example in my own family, that is why I bring this up.
Mr. Stream. In St. Louis County, because the Missouri
legislature has passed these laws and our job is to implement
them, we are governed by the state laws. We have attempted to
enlist the support of private citizens, organizations in St.
Louis County to provide notarization services. They are readily
available to people where they can drive up in their cars and
present their identification and have their ballot notarized.
Mr. Chairman mentioned the curbside voting. We also have
curbside notarization. But it is basically the private sector
and again a lot of citizen interest groups that are banding
together to provide notarization for the documents for the
categories in the absentee ballot process in Missouri that need
a notarization.
Senator Cortez Masto. Well, and I think that is important
if that type of law is going to be passed, that we still get
people the access to vote. Let me just, my grandmother,
Mexican-American, felt so strongly about going to church every
Sunday and voting. When she was no longer able to drive, which
meant she didn't have a driver's license, it had expired, she
walked to church and she walked to the local school to vote.
Unless there is the ability for individuals to still have
access to a notary or somebody, I don't even know how, if you
don't have ID a notary is going to help--but if we don't make
it available for individuals to be able to exercise their vote,
she would be somebody that would not be able to vote and that
is a concern that I have and I know that is something that you
are trying to address as well.
Let me just say thank you all for this conversation. I
cannot stress enough how important it is for us to support you
with the funding that is necessary into our states now and to
really if we--I strongly believe we have to waive the match for
the Secretaries of State so that we can get the money into the
communities now more than ever to address and give everybody
the ability to vote this election cycle. Thank you.
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Senator. Secretary Hargett, I
think it was established--Senator Capito established the fact
that in West Virginia the Secretary of State becomes the place
to go to have to ask for HAVA assistance. Is it the same in
Tennessee?
Mr. Hargett. It is. All those HAVA funds flow through the
state office down to the counties.
Chairman Blunt. In HAVA, going back I think to 2000, we had
a series of different kinds of requirements. I think the first
HAVA money after 2000 had no match. Then there was a 5 percent
match on some money that came later, and then a 20 percent
match and then a 5 percent match again. Senator Klobuchar and I
have talked about this a lot. I actually think there is some
merit in the decisionmaking process to having some match, but I
don't think it has to be a very big match to meet my sense that
you have had to think about some money that you had to explain
to the State legislature and others that you thought was worth
putting on the table to get that 95 percent of the money that
came from the Federal Government.
We are going to talk through that consistent match, I am
sure. I think we ought to go back and look at the money that
you currently have available to you and maybe make that money
more consistent in terms of time it has to be spent and give
you more access to the money you already got, in addition to
trying to determine the right amount of new money. You said,
you mentioned, Secretary Hargett, the match is a challenge. Is
any kind of match a challenge or is it the 20 percent match
that was the challenge?
Mr. Hargett. Well Senator, so for us, we had money in
reserves and we used that as our 20 percent match so I did not
have to go to the legislature. But I do speak on behalf of a
lot of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle where their
states were hardest hit and they didn't have reserve funds to
go to and draw down the match to be able to draw the 80 percent
of the CARES Act. I really speak on behalf of them. If, you
know, I do believe there is something to be said for having
some skin in the game, but also recognize we are in a very
challenging time and different states have been hit differently
and I know y'all have difficult decisions to make. I want to
make sure that whatever we do, we don't place strings
associated with any funds that come from you going forward.
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Secretary. Secretary Warner, do
you have a view on the match or how your colleagues deal with
that issue?
Secretary Warner. I have heard the same concerns that
Secretary Hargett has heard from colleagues. Again, here in
West Virginia, we have been able to meet the match just fine.
However, I do agree that without the matches it would be easier
to get this money down to where it is needed and make those
allocations. Actually, West Virginia has actually increased the
match requirement on the counties for that skin in the game
simply to make the funds go further, but I don't want to leave
the impression that that should be imposed by Congress or on
all the states. Each of us is able to speak for our own state.
We are doing just fine in West Virginia. Thank you.
Chairman Blunt. Secretary Warner, you are telling me in
your application process, the match you require of local
Government, you require local Governments to have a match to
qualify for the funds that is even higher than the Federal
match?
Secretary Warner. That is correct. Again, that was simply
to make those funds go further. We didn't know if we were--back
in 2018, we were all looking at this Russian meddling and so
forth and we wanted to make these funds go as far as possible
with cyber security, equipment upgrades, and so forth. That is
why we increased the match requirement on the counties, but I
don't want to again leave you with the impression that that
should be done by Congress. I like the idea of not having a
match requirement by Congress. We can handle that at the state
level. Thank you.
Chairman Blunt. Ms. Clarke, what was the $3.6 billion? How
is that number arrived at?
Ms. Clarke. Thank you, Senator. The Brennan Center has
helped to break down how that money would support states. $1.4
billion would be needed to enhance vote by mail and the way
that is implemented by supporting ballot printing, postage
costs, drop boxes, electronic absentee ballot request
processing systems, ballot tracking, staffing to handle the
volume of ballots being requested, enhanced technology,
processing and scanners. $271 million would be used to support
in-person voting measures, so that is staffing polling sites
and measures to ensure social distancing compliance, etc.
$252 million would go toward supporting voter education in
states. There are many people who are navigating absentee
voting for the very first time and need help and instruction to
get it right. $85.9 million would be used to bolster online
voter registration. There are about 10 states in the country
that currently offer no online voter registration
opportunities.
Additional money would be used to support states that are
still holding primary elections, run-off elections, etc., and
help them to prepare and gear up for the November general
election. Then just to note, the U.S. Postal Service, I do
believe is an important part of this. There is a request for
$89 billion to fully support the U.S. Postal Service, which
plays a really central role in our elections in 2020.
Chairman Blunt. You said 89--how much?
Ms. Clarke. Billion.
Chairman Blunt. $89 billion? If we did that and the $3.6
billion would be in addition to that. I have got it. Senator--
--
Senator Klobuchar. Senator Blunt. Yes, just before we move
on, I see Senator Leahy has arrived. Senator Durbin had to
leave and I know he will put his statement on the record, but
he asked me to enter two letters onto the record, one is from
Senator Harris and one is from the organization Public Wise and
I ask these letters be included in the record.
Chairman Blunt. Without objection.
[The information referred to was submitted for the record.]
Senator Klobuchar. I just also wanted to point out, to
reiterate is Ms. Clarke's statement. I have heard some
statement about the postal service, but in fact not just for
voting but for other reasons during this pandemic. The postal
service is more important than ever and I believe in the Heroes
Act, separate and apart from the money for the voting, it
included the house-passed bill $25 billion for the postal
service. The money that Ms. Clarke was talking about was
included in the $3.6 billion assessment from the Brennan
Center, I believe.
Chairman Blunt. Well, we have been joined by the president
pro tempore emeritus of the Senate. Senator Leahy, I am glad to
have you here and have some time, 5 minutes for comments or
questions, however you want to use it.
Senator Leahy. Thank you--I do have some questions for some
of the other witnesses I want to submit for the record and a
statement and other things for the record. But I am glad to be
here. I just came from the floor. John Lewis, my dear friend
and true hero, was instrumental in securing the passage of the
Voting Rights Act and I reintroduced it to have it named after
him.
The Supreme Court undid much of that work with its still
inexplicable 2013 Shelby County decision. That decision, almost
a day after it came down, voter suppression started across the
country and is going on even as recently as last month. I think
that is exactly why we have to move swiftly to enact the John
Lewis Voter Rights Advancement Act, which I reintroduced. Ms.
Clarke, can I ask you a question? This may seem like a leading
one, but can you explain why enacting the Voting Rights
Advancement Act, which the House already passed and which we
have not had brought up for a vote, is essential to restoring
the Voting Rights Act and preserving John Lewis' Legacy?
Ms. Clarke. Thank you so much, Senator. One of the proudest
moments of my career was being above the Senate floor in 2006
when 98 Senators came forward and voted to reauthorize Section
5 of the Voting Rights Act with Congressman John Lewis and late
Senator Kennedy standing in the center of the Senate floor,
unanimous bipartisan support for our Nation's most important
Federal civil rights law. Since the 2013 Shelby County
decision, we have literally seen the floodgates of voter
suppression open up across our country from places like
Georgia, Texas North Carolina, and Florida. We have seen
officials racing forward with efforts that make it harder for
communities of color to vote.
All of this is compounded by the current pandemic. We have
seen officials in some states exploit the pandemic to make it
harder for people to vote and they are not going as far as West
Virginia and other states to really open up access for voters.
My hope is that our Senate will use this moment on the tragic
passing of Congressman John Lewis to honor his legacy and move
forward with all deliberate speed to restore Section 5 of the
Voting Rights Act. It is a critical, central and powerful tool
in our democracy that is needed to block ongoing voting
discrimination.
Senator Leahy. You know, he spoke so eloquently about it in
Vermont last year to an overflowing crowd and in a state which
prides itself on everybody being able to vote. But it was the
most rapt attention I have seen given to anybody speaking in
our state. As Vice Chairman of the Appropriations Committee,
and with the help of other Appropriations Members, I worked to
secure $400 million in the CARES Act to help states administer
elections during the pandemic. But that doesn't address all of
the needs states have for what is an unprecedented election and
what is going to be a lot more mail-in votes and so on. What
are the potential consequences if Congress doesn't appropriate
additional funds to help states and localities administer
elections during this pandemic?
Ms. Clarke. Senator, this primary season, we have seen----
Senator Leahy. Also, what is going to be the consequences
if we don't waive the 20 percent match requirement for states?
Ms. Clarke. Yes. Senator, we have seen long lines. We have
seen malfunctioning polling equipment. We have seen scenes that
we should not tolerate in a 21st century democracy from places,
from Milwaukee, Chicago, Atlanta. The primary election season
is really a test run. It is a dry run for the November general
election. This November, we are likely to see historic levels
of turnout and participation. If we don't provide the support,
if we don't provide the $3.6 billion that states need to
institute proper reforms, I fear that we are bracing for a
disaster. States need to use the 100 plus days in front of them
to start putting in place reforms to ensure access to absentee
balloting, expand access to early voting, and meaningful access
on Election Day itself. That support is critical and needed
now.
Senator Leahy. I have other questions about the claims that
mail-in voting is going to result in mass voter fraud even
though we have never seen that. Mr. Chairman, do I have time to
ask one more question to Mr. Hargett? Thank you. A Tennessee
Court recently ordered the state to provide mail-in ballots for
any Tennessean who requests one.
You appealed the order. If you win in court, your state may
be just one of the very few to require in-person voting in
November. The issue is still unresolved. Your primary is the
first full week in August. What steps are you taking to ensure
that confusion over the court decision doesn't deter eligible
voters from requesting mail-in ballots, as the law is today?
Have you used any available Federal funding to inform Tennessee
voters about the availability of absentee ballots? Yes? I know
he is going to be coming on the screen. Thank you.
Mr. Hargett. Thank you, Senator. You are right. That
decision is currently under appeal and our election, our
primary early voting is going on right now. Something that is
important to know even prior to that decision we were
advertising absentee balloting for the approximately 1.4
million Tennesseans who are already eligible to cast an
absentee ballot. We were doing that. This has been one of the
most widely covered stories in the state.
We continue to have speaking engagements virtually as well
as in person to try and make people aware of what they have the
opportunity to do and not to do. If I can go back, and I don't
want to take any more of your time than necessary Senator, the
real struggle is when people get half information. We see that
a lot of people maybe well-meaning people on social media who
don't give the full story.
We would love to give the opportunity to give the full
information to people and we will be using those dollars to
make sure that Tennesseans understand the opportunity to vote,
what absentee ballot deadlines are, what those requirements are
to be able to cast an absentee ballot in Tennessee. We think
outreach is going to be critical every election and even more
so this time around. Senator, I hope that answers your
question, and it is good to see you again.
Senator Leahy. I also will submit another question to the
record, but doing everything he can to make people who may be
vulnerable to COVID appear in person----
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Senator.
Senator Leahy [continuing]. doesn't make it sound like you
want people to show up and vote. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman Blunt. Thank you, Senator. Senator Klobuchar and
then Senator King.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. Yes. I wanted to follow-up with
what Senator Leahy was asking about and that is about the
situation in Tennessee. Secretary Hargett and----
Chairman Blunt. I will point out that both of the
Secretaries have a 12:30 p.m. commitment with the National
Association of Secretaries of State. We got about 10 more
minutes with them.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. Well, that is--I will keep this
down to a few minutes. It shouldn't take that long, but it is
pretty important. That is that Senator Leahy raised the
Tennessee Supreme Court ruling to keep the expansion of mail
voting in your state, allowing voters under 60 to request a
mail ballot due to COVID. I think that was the position. Your
position was not to allow them to request them and the primary
argument, and this is what I thought was interesting of the
state, was that doing that would be a problem because of a lack
of funds required to carry out the necessary shifts in election
infrastructure.
As we know and as Ms. Clarke was just pointing out and
going through with Senator Blunt the details of the funding of
the $3.6 billion, that would be of great help and would have
solved the problem that was the primary argument for the State
of Tennessee for not moving to allowing requesting a mail
ballot due to COVID-19 for voters under 60. Would the funds,
additional funds, we will leave the amount blank right now, but
would additional funds help the State of Tennessee send mail
ballots to the voters that were at issue in the court case?
Mr. Hargett. Senator first, I will need to make clear, that
is not a Supreme Court decision. That is a Chancery Court
decision in Davidson County, which the Supreme Court has agreed
to take up that case. What is important to know, and this
doesn't get reported very much, is that the legislature on
multiple occasions in March and again in June considered
expanding absentee voting in Tennessee. In both Chambers, that
was rejected. As Tennessee's Chief election official, I am
enforcing the laws and executing the laws of Tennessee. I don't
get to--you know, the green books that house the Tennessee code
annotated in Tennessee, they are printed in black ink and I
don't get to take a piece of chalk and do that.
Senator Klobuchar. Got it. Thank you for pointing that out
and the court as well. But voters are still required to have an
excuse to vote absentee, one of the few states on that front.
The State Court, not the Supreme Court, but the state court has
ruled that fear of contracting COVID-19 is a valid excuse
during this pandemic. Is the state still arguing that it isn't
in court?
Mr. Hargett. We are not arguing that it is not in court. We
know it is in court.
Senator Klobuchar. No. No, are you still arguing that it is
not a valid excuse in court, is the state still making that
argument?
Mr. Hargett. Yes. We are appealing that to the state
supreme court and it is important to note that Tennessee--you
mentioned excuses and we have 14 excuses and the most common
are that you are going to be out of town during early voting or
Election Day, that you are over 60 years of age, or that you
are sick, ill, or hospitalized. So sick, ill, or hospitalized
is an excuse or being a caretaker for someone who is sick, ill,
or hospitalized.
Senator Klobuchar. Yes, but why wouldn't the state just say
that COVID, as many jurisdictions have done that still have
these requirements, why can't the state just say COVID is there
so you don't have to make this argument, you just get the mail
in absentee ballot.
Mr. Hargett. Well, ma'am, the policymakers of our great
State of Tennessee have made that decision and they have done
that in overwhelming fashion at least twice in the last 3
months. We are upholding the laws in the State of Tennessee.
Senator Klobuchar. Got it. I just--I thought it was just
important to point this out because Ms. Clarke was making the
argument that while we are happy with a lot of the work that
has been going on in the states from Democratic and Republican
officials for waiving things, there are still a lot of problems
out there and one more I would add is that Tennessee does not
permit voters to return their absentee ballot by means other
than by mail.
We have had a lot of discussion about the postal service
today, so why not provide drop boxes for voters who want to
hand-deliver their absentee ballots or mail-in ballots to
election officials if people aren't sure about the mail?
Tennessee is a state that is somewhat unique in that way. You
don't even have these drop boxes.
Mr. Hargett. Well, frankly, it is an anti-coercion
methodology. I mean, if you look at it, if someone knows you
have got an absentee ballot, they can say, ``hey, I will be
glad to take that for you and drop that off for you''. They can
ask to watch you fill that ballot out or they cannot turn it in
at all for you. We believe it's a great security measure to
have someone returning their own ballots by the United States
Postal Service. It prevents a type of ballot harvesting that we
have seen in some of the other states.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay. Well, I think there are many
states, including a lot of red states, that have these drop off
ballots situations that haven't had this kind of problem. Do
you have drop off ballots, Mr. Stream, in your jurisdiction?
Mr. Stream. Yes, we do.
Ms. Klobuchar. Okay, I didn't even know the answer, but I
figured you did. Ms. Clarke, do you want to comment nationally
on this?
Ms. Clarke. We have not seen any complaints or problems
with drop boxes. They have proven to be an important complement
during a season where there are tons of people casting absentee
ballots. They complement the limited postal box offices that
are available in communities and are just critical to providing
access this season.
Senator Klobuchar. Okay, thank you very much.
Chairman Blunt. Senator King.
Senator King. Mr. Hargett, I am sort of astounded by your
testimony. You are telling me that a citizen of Tennessee who
is concerned about the coronavirus, which by the way your state
is number 11 in the country in cases per hundred thousand
people, that is not an ``excuse.'' I don't know why you need an
excuse to vote, but you are saying that someone can't say I
don't want to stand in line for 2 hours with several hundred
other people and protect my health, that that is not good
enough in your state? Is that what you are telling me, Mr.
Hargett?
Mr. Hargett. Under Tennessee law, fear of contracting the
coronavirus is not an excuse.
Mr. King. Well, that is pitiful. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
That is all.
Chairman Blunt. All right. Thank you, Senator King. I think
that brings us to a conclusion. I want to thank the witnesses
for being with us today. Thanks for your time. Thanks for this
great information for our committee. Thanks to the Members that
participated. The record will be open for 1 week from today and
the committee is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 12:33 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.]
APPENDIX MATERIAL SUBMITTED
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