House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries came to Rochester on July 29 to hold a shadow hearing with U.S. Rep. Joe Morelle, D-Irondequoit, on election security ahead of November’s midterm elections.
Speakers at the hearing identified challenges facing election administration ahead of the midterms, with concerns about voter intimidation, collection of voter data and reductions in federal election security resources.
President Donald Trump gave a July 16 prime-time address to the nation to make the case for Chinese interference in the 2020 election, allege election infrastructure, including voting machines, has been compromised, and cover-ups of fraud and non-citizen voters, though those claims have been met with skepticism. Senate Democrats have also
pressed the administration on any plans to send federal agents or National Guard members to polling places this fall.
“It’s our collective responsibility, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans, to ensure that we have the largest voter protection effort in the history of the country – that we give everybody an opportunity to have their voice heard so that it’s the American people who hold the gavels in the next Congress,” Jeffries said.
Monroe County Democratic Deputy Commissioner Natalie Sheppard said elections are safe and secure. There are layers of security and transparency: bipartisan oversight, public testing of voting equipment, audits and legal avenues to challenge concerns.
“The confidence in our elections isn’t built in one person or one office. It’s built on thousands of election workers, bipartisan observers and citizens who all play a role in this process,” Sheppard said.
“Voters need to know, and those I work with on both sides of the aisle regularly see, that the election professionals who administer elections in the United States are indeed professionals,” said Bob Bauer, former White House counsel under President Barack Obama and New York University law professor. “…Machines are tested, lists are maintained. All sorts of safeguards are built into the system to protect against any concern that the votes are not being correctly counted.”
The Trump administration has cut funding to federal agencies that handle election security. Two of the three members of the federal Elections Assistance Commission, which helps local election officials prepare, were cut on July 9. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which prepares states for cyber threats, has lost election security staff and funding.
“The security assessments that hundreds of election jurisdictions relied on have stopped, and funding for the centers that warned election officials about threats have been terminated,” said Omar Noureldin, senior vice president of policy and litigation at nonpartisan watchdog Common Cause. “Election officials tell us they are flying blind.”
Common Cause is also training poll monitors in how to deal with issues like voter intimidation. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents approached and questioned a poll worker in Syracuse during the June 23 primaries over a social media post. No voters were present when the agents were there, according to media reports.
“One day, one visit, one news story is sometimes all it takes to convince thousands of people that it’s safer to stay home than go out and vote,” Noureldin said.
The hearing speakers offered several recommendations for voters preparing for the midterms.
- Check your voter registration status to make sure you are registered and the information with the state Board of Elections is accurate.
- Make a plan to vote, including the possibility of voting early or voting by mail.
- Contact 866-OUR-VOTE, the Election Protection hotline, with questions about registering, absentee or early voting, casting a ballot and more.
“Voting is safe in America. People should have confidence in the system,” Morelle said. “But we are going to do everything we can, and we will be successful, stopping the president’s efforts to try and subvert this election.”
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Jeffries warns of election threats as midterms approach
