WASHINGTON - The Committee on House Administration held a Full Committee Hearing today titled, "American Confidence in Elections: Preventing Noncitizen Voting and Other Foreign Interference." 

Witness included: 

  • Secretary Cord Byrd, Florida's 37th Secretary of State. 
  • Hans A. von Spakovsky, Senior Fellow at the Heritage Foundation 
  • J. Christian Adams, President and General Counsel of the Public Interest Legal Foundation
  • Caitlin Sutherland, Executive Director for Americans for Public Trust
  • Michael Waldman, President and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law

In case you missed it, here are the top takeaways:
1. Voters Don't Have Confidence in DC Elections

Chairman Bryan Steil (WI-01): Places like Washington D.C. are allowing noncitizens to vote in municipal elections, don't have proper controls to prevent them from voting in federal elections. As we look, a staffer on my committee walked by this ballot box in Washington, DC unlocked, unsecured.
 
Does this increase confidence in elections in your opinion, Mr. von Spakovsky?
 
Mr. Hans A. von Spakovsky: No, it implements a huge risk that something could happen to those ballots, it could be stuffed with ballots, ballots could be stolen.
 
Chairman Bryan Steil: So, if the Washington D.C. Board of Elections, if this is how they're operating their ballot box collection, less than one mile from where we sit right here, it gives me great pause that there's not any clerical errors occurring as to when they have noncitizens on the voter rolls in Washington, D C., being in a position to vote for federal elections.

That should cause grave concern, which is why noncitizens shouldn't be voting in our elections period. And it shows from the evidence, this is exactly why we should actually be reviewing and enforcing the law as it relates to noncitizens voting and our federal elections. 
Click the image or here to view Chairman Steil's Q&A. 

2. NVRA Exempt States are Hiding their Records from Public Inspection

Rep. Stephanie Bice (OK-05): The National Voter Registration Act exempted two states from requirements for registration. Can you tell us a little bit about that process? 
 
Mr. Christian Adams: I've had the pleasure of reading the congressional record from 1993 and one of the issues was an exemption and there were seven states at the time, Maine has since been exempted, but the seven states, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Idaho, Wyoming, and North Dakota were exempted from the NVRA originally because they had same-day registration. They had same-day registration, North Dakota doesn't even have voter registration, so they were exempted.

We actually brought a lawsuit in Minnesota and Wisconsin last week to question this as an unequal sovereignty issue that we're trying to get public records because you can't get public records in Wisconsin, especially from, and not easily, at least. And so we're trying to get public records in Wisconsin and challenging that exemption. 
 
Rep. Stephanie Bice: If Congress were to amend the Voter Registration Act as some are thinking about doing, how would it work in the states that are exempt?
 
Mr. Christian Adams: I think Congress should strongly consider ending the exemption because these states are already doing the motor voter registration generally right, they're complying with what the Democrats wanted in 1993, But they're not complying with the DOL compromise of 1993, which was to make them subject to public inspection and to have clean voter rolls. So those six states are exempted from the clean voter roll obligation that I think Congress should seriously take a look at. 
 
Rep. Stephanie Bice: I think the big issue that I have is, as we're looking at this holistically is that the voter rolls are not being cleaned up, which is causing some of the issues that we're seeing. And certainly, we need to be addressing.
Click the image or here to view Congresswoman Bice's Q&A. 
3. NVRA's Blackout Period Prevents States from Cleaning their Rolls

Rep. Laurel Lee (FL-15):  Are there other provisions of the NVRA, that, in your view, would be helpful if amended?
 
Secretary Cord Byrd: Most significantly, it is the issue of who has become a naturalized citizen, but also, as you know, as my predecessor as secretary of State of Florida, in a presidential election year, which we are in there are in three periods of the presidential preference primary, the primary in August, then the election in November.

There's a provision in the NVRA that prohibits states from doing certain list of maintenance 90 days before each of those elections. That's 270 days out of this presidential election year in which states are prohibited from engaging in certain voter list maintenance activity, and we think that should be stopped.  
Click the image or here to view Congresswoman Lee's full Q&A. 
4. Foreign Nationals are Targeting State Ballot Initiatives

Rep. Mike Carey (OH-15):  Can you talk a little about your organization's recent report that the 1630 fund poured almost…Roughly $15 million in eight months in Ohio on different ballot initiatives. Can you kind of just discuss what that was for? And where that money come from? 
 
Ms. Caitlin Sutherland: So the group in question the 1630 fund is the same group that counts hands or movies as one of their top donors. They've been the beneficiary of about a quarter of a billion dollars in foreign cash, 1630 fund turns around and spends it on a lot of things. 
 
Rep. Mike Carey: Real quick, what is the 1630 fund? 
 
Ms. Caitlin Sutherland: The 1630 fund is a DC-based (501)c4
 
Rep. Mike Carey: So it’s not Ohio based? 
 
Ms. Caitlin Sutherland: It’s not Ohio based. 
 
Rep. Mike Carey: But it’s spending all this money in Ohio. Why is that? 
 
Ms. Caitlin Sutherland: Yes, 1630 targeted the State of Ohio to make it easier to amend your state's constitution 
 
Rep. Mike Carey: And so again, not an Ohio organization, but an organization that's based out of DC that is targeting Ohio. Am I correct on that? 
 
Ms. Caitlin Sutherland: That is correct.
 
Rep. Mike Carey: Where are the funders?
 
Ms. Caitlin Sutherland: One of them is coming from Switzerland, a foreign national. 
 
Rep. Mike Carey: They are from Switzerland?
 
Ms. Caitlin Sutherland: Yes.
 
Rep. Mike Carey: They are from Switzerland and are targeting Ohio? With 15 million dollars? How is that? Why is that right? 
 
Ms. Caitlin Sutherland: Well, so they are taking advantage of what we have out laid as foreign national loophole were foreign nationals can give to ballot issues both directly and indirectly.  
Click the image or here to view Congressman Carey's full Q&A.