FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 6, 2023
DC should be the gold standard for fair & honest elections in which every legal vote is cast & counted openly, equally, & with the highest standard of integrity
Washington, D.C. – Election Transparency Initiative National Chairman Ken Cuccinelli will testify before the Committee on House Administration and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability as part of the joint hearing, “American Confidence in Elections: The Path to Election Integrity in the District of Columbia.”
Chairman Cuccinelli will offer his support for the American Confidence in Elections (ACE) Act, and its second pillar concerning election administration in our nation’s capital, emphasizing the role and responsibility of the states and federal government in elections.
Specifically, that states are primarily responsible for the execution of U.S. elections and that the federal government must make it easier for the states to carry them out. The U.S. Constitution provides that Congress has exclusive jurisdiction over DC elections but limited jurisdiction over the states.
The hearing will begin at 10:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, in room HVC-210 of the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center
Chairman Cuccinelli issued the following statements as part of his testimony:
The ACE Act, which features a host of state-based election integrity reforms that Congress can enact at their discretion, preserves this constitutionally prescribed balance by requiring reforms in DC but allowing states to choose. Let me be clear, the ACE Act does not mandate changes to state election laws, and this is an important factor in ETI’s support for the ACE Act. We view Congress in a role similar to a state legislature, as it relates to the nation’s capital.
Make no mistake, DC should be the gold standard for fair and honest elections in which every legal vote is cast and counted openly, equally, and with the highest standard of integrity. It is the right of every legal, voting-age American citizen to vote and to trust that their vote is properly counted and not cancelled by an improper or illegal vote. But the reality is that D.C. elections have, and continue to be, an unmitigated disaster.
Current DC election laws are fraught with a host of anti-election integrity procedures and practices which unfortunately do more to sow doubt, confusion, and mistrust than they do to inspire confidence and trust in elections that are fair, secure, and transparent. Same day voter registration and automatic voter registration, allowing preregistration of eligible 16-year-old residents who are then automatically registered to vote upon turning 18, inflating the voter rolls with potentially ineligible voters that are then ripe for mismanagement, abuse, and even fraud. Registering to vote should be an affirmative action taken by the elector, not an automated command between differing systems and databases.
Other problems from which D.C. currently suffers include no-excuse absentee voting with a permanent absentee voting list, no ID requirement (just ‘proof’ of residence, photo not required) to vote after the voter has voted once, unsecured and unguarded drop boxes, and DC’s infamous non-citizen voting law, which allows green-card holders and residents who entered or live in the country illegally, so long as they are 18 or older and have lived in DC for at least 30 days.
That’s right, ‘non-citizens’ will be allowed to vote in DC elections thanks in part to Senator Schumer and Senate Democrats who refused to bring forward DC Bill 24.300, which was passed by the D.C. Council last year but overturned on a bipartisan basis in the House of Representatives this past February with 42 Democrats joining all Republicans in voting to preserve citizen-only voting. In effect, Democrats lowered the qualifications to vote in DC municipal elections and scrapped the previous U.S. citizenship requirement, meaning non-citizens including foreign nationals who have pledged loyalty to another country such as Russia or China would be allowed to vote in DC.
Ladies and gentlemen, without question DC elections are in profound disarray and have been poorly administered, a stark reality many years in the making. Thankfully, Congress can and should exercise its responsibility over DC to repair its self-inflicted broken system.
The Election Transparency Initiative, a partnership between the American Principles Project (APP) and Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America was organized to combat federal H.R. 1 and H.R. 4 legislation and advocate for state-based election reforms that voters can trust.
Photo Credit: T.J. Kirkpatrick
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