WASHINGTON – Committee on House Administration Ranking Member Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) today exercised the committee's oversight role of federal elections by seeking to engage with localities where significant issues occurred during recent primaries and where voters are likely to face significant hurdles to vote this November. Davis sent letters to ten different localities across the country seeking information regarding issues reported in recent primaries and other election administration violations.

Letters were sent to the following localities: City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Fulton County, Georgia; Harris County, Texas; Los Angeles County, California; Multnomah County, Oregon; New York City, New York; Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania; Champaign County, Illinois; and City of Chicago, Illinois.

"Under Democrats' control, this committee has seemed to forget one of its core responsibilities and that's oversight of federal elections," said Davis. "It's not passing sweeping legislation to federalize our elections, it's providing oversight of states and localities who run our elections. Today, Republicans on this committee are exercising this important oversight role by engaging with localities where we saw significant issues in recent primaries and where the risk of disenfranchising voters is great if changes are not made before November. States and local election officials are moving quickly to adapt to running elections during the middle of a pandemic and I want to make sure we are providing them the help and guidance they need to run a successful election this fall."

The following letters seek to address a number of problems reported during recent primaries, including a lack of preparedness, issues handling mail-in ballots, closure of polling locations, and several others:

City of Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The committee is seeking further information about the city's decision to significantly reduce in-person polling locations resulting in long lines, its failure to appropriately utilize the state's deployment of the Wisconsin National Guard for poll workers, and hiring issues within the Milwaukee Election Commission. CLICK HERE to view the letter.

Fulton County, Georgia
The committee is seeking further information about the county's failure to adequately prepare for an increase in absentee ballots resulting in voters never receiving ballots, closure of in-person voting locations resulting in long wait times for voters, and inadequate staffing and training for new voting machines adding to long wait times. CLICK HERE to view the letter.

Harris County, Texas
The committee is seeking further information about the county clerk's continuous mistakes with voter data resulting in registered voters not appearing in poll books, voters listed at the wrong address, and absentee-ballot voters not being flagged in the database. Additionally, Davis is seeking answers on long lines at in-person polling locations that led to reported wait times of upwards of six hours. CLICK HERE to view the letter.

Los Angeles County, California
The committee is seeking further information about steps being taken to prevent election tampering that continues to be a risk with the legalization of unlimited ballot harvesting, the consolidation of more than 4,000 voting locations to less than 1,000 vote centers resulting in reported vote wait times of up to four hours, and the county's failure to maintain voter registration rolls as required by the National Voter Registration Act. CLICK HERE to view the letter.

Multnomah County, Oregon
The committee is seeking further information about the county counting ballots ahead of election day and securing the results so they are not prematurely leaked, a contingency plan if the U.S. Postal Service is overwhelmed by the increase in largely vote by mail elections, and the reliance on automated signature verification software instead of election workers to confirm signatures on ballots. CLICK HERE to view the letter.

New York City, New York
The committee is seeking further information about the city's failure to adequately prepare for an increase in absentee ballots leaving a reported 29,000 ballots unsent three days prior to the election, underprepared poll workers leading to long lines at polling locations, and the change in polling locations happening just hours before polls opened. CLICK HERE to view the letter.

Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
The committee is seeking further information about the county's failure to adequately prepare for an increase in absentee ballots where thousands of ballots were reported to arrive late, abuse of ballot drop boxes, closure of in-person polling locations, and failure to provide adequate voter education or phone line to assist voters with issues. CLICK HERE to view the letter.

Washington, DC
The committee is seeking further information about the district's failure to ensure voters received absentee ballots for the primary, the closure of more than 120 polling locations leading to excessively long lines, and inadequate security protocols that allowed voters – who had their absentee ballot requests mishandled – access, mark, print, and return a ballot image electronically. CLICK HERE to view the letter.

Champaign County, Illinois
The committee is seeking further information about the county illegally counting early ballots, incorrectly listing the ballot order of candidates, and multiple mail-in ballots being sent to voters. CLICK HERE to view the letter.

City of Chicago, Illinois
The committee is seeking further information about the city's voter confusion regarding mail-in versus in-person voting leading to near record-low turnout, last minute closure of polling locations, and failure to adequately recruit election day volunteers. CLICK HERE to view the letter.