[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 6, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E18-E19]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CITIZEN'S COMMITTEE FOR ELECTION INTEGRITY'S FINDINGS ON FREE AND FAIR 
                               ELECTIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. MICHAEL K. SIMPSON

                                of idaho

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 6, 2021

  Mr. SIMPSON. Madam Speaker, election law and regulations must be 
developed and administered at the state and local level. To that end, I 
believe criteria and engagement from all Idahoans must be included in 
this debate and want to enter the Committee's recommendations into 
Congress' current debate on free and fair elections.

       The Citizen's Committee for Election Integrity's findings 
     and recommendations:
       All political power rests with the people.
       Our Constitutionally guaranteed Republican form of 
     government relies on free, fair, and honest elections to 
     select our representatives and leaders.
       To ensure equal protection and equal representation of the 
     people, laws governing our elections must meet certain 
     minimum standards.
       It is the purpose of this Citizens Committee to concisely 
     articulate the minimum standards for free, fair, and honest 
     elections. These standards shall then be used by our local, 
     state and federal legislators as a metric for reviewing and 
     revising election law to ensure free, fair, and honest 
     elections where the outcome is accepted by all citizens of 
     good will.
       Minimum Standards for Fair and Honest Elections
       Our Constitutionally guaranteed republican form of 
     government relies on free, fair, and honest elections to 
     select our representatives and leaders. The standards listed 
     here shall be used by our local, state and federal 
     legislators as a metric for reviewing and revising election 
     law to ensure free, fair, and honest elections where the 
     outcome is accepted by all citizens of good will.
       All voting processes, other than those needed to preserve 
     the privacy of a citizen's vote, must be open and available 
     for direct observation, with no minimum distance 
     requirements, and audit by agents of the candidates or 
     parties.
       All election materials must have a secure chain of custody 
     at all times. Election officials must be accompanied by 
     observers when accessing any election materials. Records of 
     the chain of custody shall be complete and available for 
     audit.
       All votes, regardless of voting method, shall be held to 
     equal standards.
       Voters shall only be qualified electors that are able to 
     verifiably provide their government issued photo identity 
     before being issued a ballot. Voters who provide false 
     information, including information of voter qualification, 
     should face severe penalties.
       As a condition of being issued a ballot, the voter's 
     identity and signature must be recorded in a permanent record 
     (Poll Book).

[[Page E19]]

       Original Ballots must have a physical form that allows 
     voting choices to be examined and properly interpreted by the 
     naked eye.
       Ballots must have features designed to prevent 
     counterfeiting.
       An auditable system for tracking the status of all ballots 
     must be implemented and maintained in the State of origin. 
     The total number of printed ballots must equal the sum of the 
     number of cast ballots, spoiled ballots, and unvoted ballots.
       Ballot tabulation must be conducted by two independent and 
     unrelated systems. The difference in totals between the two 
     systems must be less than one half the margin of victory or 
     0.1% of the vote total, whichever is less. Tabulating 
     machines must only tabulate and not modify ballots in any 
     way, or be connected to the internet.
       Before the results of an election can be certified, the 
     ballot counts must be reconciled with the voter records. The 
     margin of uncertainty must be less than one half the margin 
     of victory or 0.1% of the vote total, whichever is less.
       Lists of qualified electors must be purged of unqualified 
     persons 180 days before an election. Voter Rolls should be 
     vetted and compared with available government records to 
     identify duplicate or ineligible registrations.
       Laws and regulations governing an election may not be 
     changed for 180 days prior to that election.
       All election records should be retained and preserved for 
     not less than 22 months.
       Voter identification for provisional ballots must be 
     verified, with information provided by the voter, prior to 
     that ballot being counted.

                          ____________________