WASHINGTON - Committee on House Administration Ranking Member Rodney Davis (R-IL), along with Representative Debbie Lesko (R-AZ) issued the following statement in advance of the Subcommittee on Elections Field Hearing on Voting Rights and Elections Administration tomorrow in Phoenix, Arizona where Representative Lesko will represent the Republicans.

"During the field hearing in Arizona, the Subcommittee on Elections should examine the ways Arizona has worked to protect ballots of its citizens, like the state's prohibition on ballot harvesting. We have seen this practice misused in other states, and Arizona's law should serve as a successful example of eliminating this corruptible practice while implementing common sense exemptions that ensure voting is still easily accessible for citizens. The intention of these field hearings should be ensuring that every American's vote is counted and protected, and banning practices like ballot harvesting nationwide will carry out that mission. "


Background:
Ballot harvesting is the practice in which organized campaign workers or volunteers collect absentee ballots from voters' homes and drop them off at a polling place or election office. In the 2018 midterm elections in the North Carolina 9th Congressional District, a political operative abused the process of harvesting ballots, which resulted in the North Carolina State Board of Elections to call for a new election.

Members attending the field hearing in Phoenix are Rep. Marcia L. Fudge (D-Ohio), Chair, Rep. G. K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.).

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