isaac kramer, executive director of charleston county, south carolina board of registration and elections. president and director of the naacp legal

defense fund. we're also going tor other witn. not for any omission, but because senator fisher will be introducing them. that includes alabama, wes allen cruz, election commissioner for the douglas county, nebraska election commission. more americans than ever have cast a ballot in recent elections, and it is in large part because of the wor l. and these elections have run smoothly and topped security officials i republican and democratic administrations to the likes have confirmed the security of recent elections includin l states have already d primaries this year. in fact three of our witnesses, secretaryry allen, and mr.

kramer have overseen primary elections this year already. and there are many more to go before the election in november including three states, georgia, mississippi, and washington. in which voters are casting underway, we are here to discuss the key issues facing the state and local election officials on the front lines of our democracy. one area of particular urgency is artificial intelligence. we have already seen how a.i. can be used to spread disinformation about elections like the fake robocalls using the telling people not to vote in new hampshire, which is now under investigation by the state's publican attorney general. we must work across the aisle to protect our elections from these threats. and all of the witnesses at our last fall agree we need to put guardrails in place when

it comes to ai. that is whew i'm leading a bipartisan bill with senator holly, cons, collins, senator bennett and rickets, and it has brought support on both sides of the aisle to prohibit fraudulent ai generated deep fakes in our elections.ed deep fakes in our but we are very concerned about what we have seen and just bits of ads and videos that have gone out that attack candidates on both sides of the aisle,■p are , and you can't even tell it's not the candidate. we also need to in addition to ba■nnin deceptive deep fakes. we also need disclaimers when ai is used in other ways. last week i introduced a ith senator lisa murkowski to require

transparency and add substantially generated by ai. so that whether you are a republican or democrat, voters wi they see are making use of this technology. we got some guidance from the hearing we had earlier last year that we don't want those labels to apply to every single thing defined that in a way that will make it easier to pass that bill. but i cannot emphasize on how important i believe it to also pass the deep fake bill. finally since ai could make it so much easier to spread disinformation like voter registration, deadlines, or polling locations. and chatgpt or load in question i should say, and ask well, what about this polling place? they often have lines, wre should the making up the numbers now, but 123 elm street didn't

even exist. clearly they have work to conces well. we must tackle these issues head on work that we are doing to require the election assistance commission to issue guidelines, so the officialsaree challenges. six states including my state of minnesota and secretary benson, state of michigan have and more than three dozen states have bills pending both red and blue states. but we cannot rely on awork of s must act. election workers including volunteers also continue to face a barrage of threats and intimidation. we have heard testimony in this committee from officials from both partiesbo and their families. it is no surprise that a survey

last year found nearly one in three election officials said that they have been abused, harassed, threatened. one in five said that they know someone who lost their job due to safety concerns. this has a in how elections are run including efforts to recruit poll workers and volunteers. last november more than a dozen anonymous letters, some containing fentanyl were sent to election offices in at least states, leading to evacuations and delays. and that is where senator fisher and i called on the justice department to prioritize and why i lead a bill with senator durbin and 26 co-sponsors to protect election workers from intimidation and threats. in addition it is critical as ever that state and local governments have reliable federal funding to with new tecd combat cybersecurity threats.

election security is trulyd these investments muse prioritized as our intel agencies continue to warn about foreign trying to influence our elections. i have heard from officials in red, blue, purple states about the need to get steady funding when it comes to election. finally i'll note that in many states, voters continue to face new laws that will make it hardero with a major hearing on that this morningnart the john lewis voting rights bill. we also need basis federal standards like thosetained in the freedom to vote act that i lead along with many of my colleagues the democrats on this committee. i will not give up until they become the law of the land

because i believe we truly need to hav rights protections for the citizens of this country. i want to thank our witnesses for being here and i look forward to hearing the testimony. and to prepare for our elections. and i will now turn it overrank. >> good afternoon and thank you, chairwoman for holding this hearing and thank you to all of our witnesses for being here today. and three states conduct an election and one week after super tuesday, we will and about one of the most fundamental aspects of our democracy.inistration is a freed fair election. we look forward to learning about how are preparing for the upcoming elections. election day is not just the

date when voters cast ballots. it is the combination of months of preparation by state and local election officials to ensure every voter can fulfill their civic duty and participate in the democraticicials will man voter rules, train poll workers and volunteers. and to procure and test voting ballots, and educate the public about the upcoming elections. well every four years they step in to■4 a brighter spotlight. these hard working and dedicated individuals address election add min■ígz9 station challenges fory election regardless of what is on the ballot. on top of the and physical security of election infrastructure, election officials must recruit and train

the next generation of while alg experienced poll workers. they also work hard to ensure voter confidence in electoral process, and the ultimate outcome of the elections. i'm interested in hearing from our witnesses, how they adapt to the changing landscape to ensure election integrity. i also want to understand0l only the challenges, election officials face, but whether the existing federal resources are working as intended t ease those challenges. our founding fathers provided states, the■f administering elections under our constitution. resulting the diversity of election systems is a strength of our democracy. i lookor productive discussion and extend my sincere appreciation to our witnesses

for being here today as theyre r the 2024 elections. thank you all. >> thankery much, senator fischer. and i'll introduce three of the witnesses and we will introduce the remaining two. our first witness is a role she has held since her election in 2018. previously she served as dean at wayne law school and received her bachelor's degree from welsley. our next witness is isaac kramer of the board of voter registration and elections for charleston county south carolina, where he has served for a decade and was appointed executive director in 2021. he is a graduate of wheaton college. then we have janay wilson. welcome again. president and director of

council of the naacp legal defense fun= career at ldf as an extern before she was a full bright scholar in ghana. she returned as thencil and assd the role of president in march of 2022. she received her baciheee from w degree from the university of california, los angeles. senator fischer? >> thank you, i thank allfs for. we have with us mr. brian who serves for douglas county. and was recently reappointed for a third term. i've had the privilege of working serve nebraskans for many years. he has come from omaha, nebraska to be with us today, asu we have

direct flights. thank you. >> thank you, madam chairman and ranking member fischer for your continued leadership on this committee. it is a pleasure to introduce secretary allen today at this hearing. wes allen serveretary of state e he is our state's chief election official. hired to his current office, secrety a decade in pike county, alabama as probate judge, which is the county senior election official. he was then elected to the alabama house of representatives, where he served as the vice chair of the legislature's constitution campaign and election committees. secretary allen is honored to appear in this committee. thank you for being here. >> if the witnesses will stand

and now raise their right hand. do you swear that the testimony -- give me a second. do you swear that the testimony you will give before the committee shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing, but the truth? so help you. >> i do. >> thank you, you may now you each for a five-minute statement starting with secretary benson. and i will time, thanks. secretary benson? >> thank you, chair klobuchar. it's an honor to be joining today for this important hearing. these next eight months, it will define the future of our country and our democracy. and as michigan's■x chief electn officer, that reality is clear to me every day. both as we work to ensure our elections are safe and secure, and in protect every voter and election official from the lies, threats, deceptive tactics that continue

to play our democracy. years for us. yet our democracy is getting stronger. first voter turnout is on the rise from 2020 when we saw more citizens vote than ever before to 2022 when michigan led the nation and used vote turnout. citizens are engaged and they are voting. second, the participate in our elections will continue to expand from the right to vote from homes to early voting to traditional election day voting places. michigan's experience underscores that the expansion of options to vote directly leads to higher voter participation. across thetrum in every electio. but it is the chief election's officer of a battleground state. i know these successes do not tell the whole story. this elecn cycle, expecting bad actors to use misinformation, turbo charged through ai, and to divide, deceive, and deter voter participation throughout our country. i'm not just talking about deep fakes. ai will also make it easier

to mislead voters voting process or even conditions at a polling place. and imagine a voter receiving a text warning, saying there are longines at a precinct or another seeing a social media post changing because of flooding. all of these could be false and all deter participation. the realities of ai underscore the need for federal investment in our elections. ai introduces a level of speed, scale, and sophistication that is difficult for underresourced state agencies to handle on our own. support and bolster our state cybersecurity infrastructure and do more voter education to address this evolving threat. we also need the department of homeland security to be more aggressive in identifying and combating threats and to notifying local officia and states with critical security information. helping us ensure voters know what to do when they encounter

deceptive election practices. at the state level in michigan, we are doing our part. we have enacted laws to require disclaimers and disclosure of political advertisements generated with ai. d w have made it a crime for anyone to knowingly and deceptively distribute ai generated deep fakes. but now we need to d part. as u.s. senators, you can protect every voter in this country from the harmful affects of deceptive ai generated content by protect elections and deceptive ai act. finally we cannot have a secured democracy if we do not protect the security of the people who protect our democracy. our job as election administrators increasingly forces us to harassment, false and malicious attacks on our character, and threats of violence. all because of lies about our work and our integrity. morning walk throughout the neighborhood, detroit city clerk janice winfrey was approached by a man who told her you're going to pay

ar actions in this election. oakland county elections director was recently threatened that he would for treason. former rochester hills clerk received a voicemail saying 10 million patrons will surround you, and that she deserves a knife to t t just a few examplef what the election administrators endured and it is misinformation that will increase. so do the threats. we all have protect the people who protect democracy. and in michigan, we made it a state crime to intimidate an specific intent of interfering with the official's duties. this should be a federal crime. are professionals. we are non-partisan. we put voters first. we are firmly committed to ensuring every citizen.

can use to drive this year and every year. thank you. >> thank you so much for that, secretary allen. >> good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. i appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today about election security. as alabama secretary state, i serve as the state's chief election official and work closely with the probatev$ judgs circuit court, poll workers, boards of registrars, who are all an integral part of our elections process at the local level in each of our 67

counties. when i took the oath of office 14 months ago, i made it a top priority to ensure that our elections are fair and secure, so eligible voter who wishes to cast a vote in any election in our state could do so with confidence knowing that their vote would be the bedrock of our constitutional republic, and it is my constitutional duty to ensure our elections areucted w, honesty, and accuracy. voter registration and voter file maintenance are the foundation of election integrity. registered voters participate in elections in alabama with the confidence that our election process is fair and secure because alabama has ten steps, solid steps in our state to ensure election integrity. we have enacted legislation in alabama that will make it illegal for any to be connected to tnternet. alabama state law requires a use of paper ballots in all elections. each of our voters must verify their identity with photo

entification at his or her polling place. if they do not have a valid photo i.d. for voting purposes, my office will send someone to the location of their choice, even their home, to issue them a voter i.d. upon request. proper voter file maintenance is essential and preserving confidence in elections. just this year with the help of the dedicated team of the office of secretary of state is to establish the alabama voter integrity data base. and for the first time in our state's history, we have been approved to directly cross check our voter file with the master index, maintaine bmin alabama voter dies in another state, we are able to identify and remove that individual from our voter file. quickly removing and from our voter file will allow us to maintain a more accurateevery so this and excessive federal regulations will make it more difficult than what it should be for states tocct information.

you, as members of the united states senate, can remove these obstacles and make this information available. it enables us to work with the law enforcement agency to receive notifications of alabama licensed drivers over the age of 18 who have received a driver's license in another state. and to maintain by the united states our voter file, we identified registered alabama voters who have requested to have their mail to move to a location outside the state. for the first time in our state's history, with each of the border states, allowing us vote in alabamale who have and a border state. voters identified are possibly relocating through any of these messages received from their coty and asking them to confirm their relocation and update their voter registration information. and to date we through

abbott identified 109,709 alabama voters who likely relocated outside the ste. quickly remove them from the alabama voter file. the national voter registration act of 1993 also known that we r years to make such removal. if i could make a recommendation to this body to increase confidence in our elections, it would be to shorten the four-year waiting period, mandated, especially considering the fact that state-to-state movers account for 19.9% of all relocations according to the u.s. census bureau. the four-year waiting period will allow an individual to remain in a file, in a state, in which they no longer live for several elections, including a presidential election. a election, a gubernatorial election, two congressional elections, and numerous local elections. four quite

frankly is too long. this federal law will require the secretaries of to knowingly maintain inaccurate voter list amending the ndra to shorten the four-year waiting period that wil confidence and n more accurate ones across the country. and again, thank you for your time. it's been an honor and a privilege to appear before you today. thank you. >> thank you very much, secretary. mr. kramer? c committee. i want to thank you for having me here today. as mentioned, i'm the executive director of the board of elections@ of serving as the vice chair for the national association of the county and as a member of the united states election assistance commission board of advisers. i cannot overstate the significant at any topic involving election administration.

frontline workers responsible for ensuring smooth elections nationwide. left a permanent mark on my life, igniting politics, and tn the election administration. i'm here testifying before you because of her hard work and determination. as we stand in the threshold of another crucial election cycle n administrators to draw from the lessons of the past, to strengthen the foundation of our democracy for the on the preparations for this upcoming year in charleston county, our main concerns revolve around three pivotal needs and these c. the protection of election officials, the security of our polling places, and the assurance of adequate federal funding.

being of our election personnel is at the heart of our operational concerns. during the june 2022mi primarie, our polling places became battlegrounds for these disruptive elements through the democratic process. a local group travels to each polling place. they harass the poll workers. at several locations, they actu c enforcement to arrest our poll workers. just to be clear, south carolina law does not allow us to have law enforcement enter a polling place unles they the majority ol workers. and one of the leaders on social media posted this. for all of you on the team tomorrow, good hunting. you know what you're looking for. we have the enemy on their back foot press the attacks forward. and the to were his neighbors. good people who are just trying to carry out the duty, their civic duty3i of the

democratic process. and as our lead poll manager returns from that night, many felt unsafe. i believe charleston county could be a model though for other election officials across the country, trying to see how they could make their polling placese their voters safe. our office meets monthly with the counterthreat manager and our local law enforcement, emergency management, and public safety. together we are training for active shooters, and also how to mitigate any disturbance at the polls, and how to communicate in highly stressful situations. we hosted our first ever election last year and law enforcement guide that we will give to all of our partners, s they know what to do if they get a call. charleston county has made building upgrades, surveillance systems, also giving us access control mechanism that are imperative for any potential

threat in our operations. and i want to say this is clear. numerousou and urban, they will need an infusion of federal funds to improve the security of their election infrastructure and that our elections.n south carolina is one of several states that does not pass money to the county level. this needs to change. congress needs to give us the ability, the counties, those funds, so we could have a direct access because we're theo will o day. this year we have a huge effort to recruit the next generation of poll workersf them have left due to what razzments and they could apply for funding. awarding $1 million help of thee program. they would receive $76,000 for innovative program in that poll worker.

we have created a day, which will allow the county employees to serve on election day and those who participate, they get on top of the administrative leave with pay and over 15% of the poll workers in employees. and serving as poll workers will greatly boost the trust of the process. and they remember a day when now become more complex and the stakes have never been higher, and we need their h■ael the eler other proposals their safety. and anyone that would threaten officials. and to protect the election workers, counties will see increased resignation and struggle to recruit and retain seasonal poll workers. in south cara have left their post since 2020.

i'm often asked why am i still in this profession? if it is really a simple answer for me, then i believe in the united states of america and the freedoms we enjoy. i'm able to serve this great country by providing the mechanism by the ability to give everyone a voice in shaping the future and direction for voting. the administrators need the sute than ever to protect and fund our elections. >> very good. thank you, mr. cramer. mr. kruse? >> chairwoman klobuchar and ranking m afternoon. my name is brian kruse, i'm the douglas county election commissioner. one of the most important aspects of election administration is trust and fairness in conducting and managing elections. in nebraska we have gold standard for election

administration. first and foremost, we use paper ballots. voters receive a paper ballot whether it will be for election day voting. the tabulating machines are never connected to the internet or to other, and these machines are used only after numerous pre-election tests. following the election and are a thorough canvas or audit is conducted as well as the manual audit directed by the secretary of s's office and there is a paper trail. our office prepares for election cycle by reviewing1+ and updatig procedures for each department to ensure that each voter registration, candidate fil■ing, early voting request, ballot, or petition signature is processed according to the statutes rulesd guidelines.

when processing thousands of records and training seasonal staff, it is important to ensure that correct procedureeowed. early voting by mail can be secured and accurate methodistrd properly. and for polling place elections, nebraska law will require voters in the majority of counties who choose to vote by m an early vor absentee ballot prior to each election as cannot automatically be sent. signatures and now voter i.d.s are checked at the time of proc. if they are not met, the ballot will not be met. signatures are check

use one of our drop boxes as they are the most dec■v way to return election mail. the voter places the item in the box and the election workers will pick them up. there third parties involved. voters in douglas county across all political spectrums have embraced the of all by mail ballots are returned via one of our drop boxes. it is vital to successful elections. officials are the trusted source for the message out about elections. i'm fortunate and grateful that i have a good relationship with the local media, tv, radio, print, as they assist in my office in to disseminating accurate and timely information. the big task this ect cycle for nebraska is the implementation of the voter i.d.

and making sure they know what is needed both by mail and early voting and election day in order for them to be heard. the■ partner in remaining voters of deadlines and other helpful guides to make the process successful. for instance working with our office to create a flowchart of the voter i.d. options. c deputy election commissioner and myself can attend as many as possible to provide the election education and build relationships. these relationships have forged trust and have been instrumental for my office in correctly informing voters of changes related to elections. in nebraska, we are also unique in the fact that we have a state state, which will allow for poll workers to be

drafted, similar to jury duty. cted a draft for many years. some advantages to drafting poll workers communf the election process and less difficulty in securing election workers, and a young the averagn the mid-50s. while the majority of poll workers nationwide are over 60. in conclusion, it)b is my privilege to serve the voters of douglas county. and in order to be here representing the 93 county election officials in nebraska who work diligently to conduct accurate elections. i encourage all citizens from coast to coast to go and voicesn day. thank you for inviting me today, and thank you to the committee for your time. >> tha very much, mr.

cruz. ms. nelson? >> chair klobuchar and members. i'm janai nelson. i'm the director of lds, formerly the naacp legal defense and educational fund. thank you for the opportunity to testify about theta of voting rights for black americans. both on the ground and in the courts, about the urgent need to protect and secure the fundamental freedom to vote. my testimony is informed by lds extensive experience over 80 years, advancing rights for black americans since our founding by thurgood m 1940. and it is also informed by the on the ground election protection work that we must do every election cycle int black n cast a ballot and have it counted. last week was the 59th anniversary patriots, like genrs

were brutally beaten in selma, alabama for simply demanding the rit to vote. their courage and action led to the passage of the voting rights act of 1965 and the■dultl democracy. we need congress to follow in the steps of those foot soldiers with courage and action today. it is more than a decade since the show where the supreme court gutted the heart of the voting rights act, and congress still has yet to act. bu in that decade of congressional inaction, states that were previously subject have aggressively and systematically trampled on voting rights especially those of black citizens. alabama, north carol other stats of discrimination advanced harsh voting restrictions within days, the shelby decision and a wave of the suppression laws that will

follow across the country. and the big ldermine our faith d elections have stoked a backlash against voters of color as they have targeted the precise the polls that they have used in recent years whether it is eliminating or limiting the vote by mail in texas. artificial intelligenceweaponizs to registered voters in georgia and gaining traction through programs like eagle nationwide strategy to distort the electorate. and the increased use of ai will threaten toharge disinformation campaigns, historically targeted at black voters. despite decades of becoming a more inclusive, justs?al democracy, we are swiftly moving in the opposite direction.

and the voter turnout was nearly equal in 2012, but decade after shelby, black voter turnout, now adds nearly eight voter turnout.nts behind white they had the largest turnout in 2022 than at any point in last decade. and the redistricting cycle was with discrimination. of the nine states previously subject, six, two-thirds have faced lawsuits, challenging their maps for racial discrimination. federal courts have already found in three of our recent cases, alabama, south carolina, and louisiana, that states created racially discriminatory maps. and so let's be clear. while lds is fighting in the courts along sisters and brothers, we cannot litigate our way out of this

problem. but congress can legislate. black americans are headed into november with a shredded shield. and verses their decisions, the voting rights act is a shadow of the former self, precisely when we need protections in of rising authoritarianism, destructive court decisions, combined with inaction by congress and have stripped t fok americans is tenuous and an urgent crisis for our democracy and for this congress. the president issued a powfu wes state of the union address, and he named the specific solutions that were reintroduced in both chambers. the voting rights act and the freedom to vote act, both of which we would call on the right to vote will preserve every right that we would hold dear that is an effective

non-violent means of expressing our will. protecting the right to vote should not be a matter of politics. it is the duty of■f allcgle to t the sacred act that has enabled them to serve. thank you, i look forward to th. and senator warner has to take my spot. and so he some interest in protecting our elections, and then we will go from there, thank you. and thank you for holding■o ts e on the intelligence committee yesterday. we had the worldwide threats

briefing from fbi, cia, and nsa and all our intelligence communities across the board in law enforcement. they indicate, and i believe that we need more hearings like this. i appreciate your involvement in this as well. in many ways, we are less protected as we go into 2024 in terms of the security of our elections than we were during 2020. and that is a pretty stunning fact. there are four i'm talking about now interference from foreign influence. number one. and number of our adversaries have seen how cheap it is in the elections. in 2016 was literally pennies on the dollars. if you are thinking about trying to disrupt. it's a heck of a lot cheaper to

use technol to disrupt and undermine another nation's state selection than it is to buy submarines and tanks. and russia will continue in not just our elections, but around europe and the world and entertaining. china has picked up some these techniques as well and iran and other states as well and so we have a series of nations l by russia who will realize the interference that they could have dramatic affects on their position in terms of support of ukraine and that theirnumber one, number two ands is just the nature of our politics today. on either end of the political agenda that they will have much less faith in many of our institutions and much less faity of our election system.

number three, there a case where the circuit put out a ruling last july and it now and they put a stay on itrevents voy communication between our government and social media companies. in the aftermath of the 2016 incursion, the feel of facebook, mark zuckerberg who said that repeatedly in public. if they h entities that are being on facebook, please share that with us. well, in a bipartisan fashion led by then chairman richard burr, shared that information and i have to say that all throughout actually the trump admist and this case, the trump administration hit right. there was voluntary sharing that

went back and a regular basis. and so if nsa or they found evidence of the influence that it an involuntary basis with the other company and vice versa as of last july and literally unt about two weeks ago with no communication between the social media platforms or where this information takes pla and the government. and then finally, i know the panel has talked about this a bit already, that we have the whol■eeós0 new advent of artifil intelligence. ai brings at a scale speed, tools, to interfere, misinform, disinform. we all know about deep fakes in terms of the images and the voices that it a scale and speed in which i have an appreciation for all the

secretary of states here. but you guys, there io way that you could keep up with. and so i feel that it is incredibly important that we'll do a better job in that bipartisan fashion of educating em problem has not gone away and that our adversaries will wish us ill and that we have enough divisions between the americans politicale have argued amongst ourselves, andñ# tha is appropriate. but to somehow have this misinformed, disinformed by the line is incredibly problematic. i knowy■tut out, but if you could just briefly, eric was a system that was voluntarily set up again by folks from the trump and unfortunately states have exited. you decided to come in to that system. could you briefly address that? and thanks for the ranking get that question in. >> yes, i want to address what you were talking about and yes, they have been a member since

20 found it to be really effective method to collaborate with 24, the current membership is 24 other states as well as washington,.f what my colleagues from alabama was talking about with his state systems that they are able to do collaerately and what has been the bipartisan collaboration of the state to protect the integrity of our elections that the administration system has ever seen. it has been victimized by a lot of misinformation, in which underscores how the lies secure our democracy. as you just said, very■5 clearly and one thing we're not talking enough about, our foreign adversaries to this country have a greater incentive thabefore io interfere with the election processes. the way they will interfere with our processes is not thr

trying to harm our infrastructure. our elections are secure. we all use paper■s ballots. to protect every vote and enshereef eligible votes. where they will affect our elections, they just through ai and running multi-scale attempts tooters about their rights. and about their voice.

working with all of us to ensure that we are recognizing what the election system isn't really left or right. it's the foreign interference to cause every citizen ins; this country to stop believing. >> thank you, senator warner. as a m armed services committee, i'm well aware of the line activities that we see from our foreign adversaries. i know that election officials also still worry about worry about the ince that we see from cybersecurity threats, and whether it is

threats to the infrastruct itself or government websites or voter registration data bases, the poll books. sotary allen, can you tell us about how alabama has worked to mitigate potential cybersecurity threats and whether you have encountered any unique challenges in this process? and whether you see some of those changing over time as well? >> yes, ma'am. thank you. closely with our office of informational technology that will oversee the statewide agency in the back of our i.t. department. we have an in-house i.t well the collaborating with these agencies, with the fbi, with the dhs quite frequently, especially over the last several months, getting prepared for the primary that we would have last week and obviously getting prepared for the runoff that's coming up in certain parts of alabama in

april. and then to the general election in november. so we have many thing we take vy seriously. as a matter of fact, on election night we have someone there from our office of information technology, the statewide our own i.t. department in our office as returns, unofficial returns wlm. and to make sure there is anything that popped up on the radar to make sure they happen quickly and to mitigate any poand to make sure that fend off any cyber attacks it in alabama. >> thank you. mr. kruse, what are some of the unique challenges that local election officials face in mitigating those cybersecurity threats? if you would

your mic on. there you go. >> you know the big one i think obviously would be the disinformation if someone were to a website of ours and try to change information or a result, something of that nature. and ai of impersonating myself. you know, perhaps saying polling place changes or deadline changes. things of that nature. we're fortunate in the fact or unfortunate in the douglas county, we have the group called dot com, the douglas, omaha technology comss venture. they are really thexperts on technologies, things of that nature. and they created our website,

they maintained our website, and so something were to happen, we hopefully could fix it in house very quickly. we don't contract with the third party for that. we can also change things on it instantly using them to get messages out. you know, i think from the local election official perspective, we hear all the time that trust their local election officials. we hear a lot that we believe maybe there was fraud or misinformation or something in some place else, but not our jurisdiction. and so really having a trust with your communit with your voters, and with media outlets. so when issues do occur, you can contact them and get >> you would talk about in your opening statements about the information that you provide to

voters in douglas county and your good relationship with the media. you also mentioned the post election audit process. could you talk a little bit about the benefits that to the n your jurisdiction? >> absolutely. so that's administered by the secretary of state's office. so the morning the secretary of state's office randomly picks certain precincts and certain races for to audit, larger counties like myself have three of them. but every county has at. and the last time we had the three races in the three precincts, the races became congressional r governor's racen the sheriff's race.

■=>f having confidence in the voters, it's another level of checks and balances, and the proof to show that our machines are counting the ballots correctly, to not only the voters and the workers, and were great ambassadors. >> thank youk you madam chair. >> thank you. secretary benson, as you mentioned in your testimony, michigan implemented in person early voting during last months primary, can you share more

worked with local officials about these and other reforms that expand access to voting and why these efforts are important? >> i'm yvhappy to. in 2018 and 29 -- 22, photos themselves amended the state countryside, the election date registration, as well as enhancing opportunities for military and overseasand the right to vote from home, the right to have a dropbox for every 16,000 voters in and monitored and check daily, and 9 days of early voting in every statewide election. the presidential primary held last month was the first statewide election held with early voting and we found it to game changer and having citizens have access to cast their ballots not just on election day but in person voting, to saturdays and

sundays, or a full week before election day, and dramatically increase voter engagement and turnout and address the fact that when we look at who is a l why, according to various surveys and data, because of inconvenience, because we can't justmake the certain time in a certain day, dramatically giving more opportunities to participate, ands to engage fully educated and informed voters.>> mentioned ai, we know that there is arty misinformation out there, and how viral it is,# so ms. nelson can you speak briefly on how this information targets voters across the vote, number 1, and how a i would make it even easier for this information to go viral? >> something that is not new to the syst

particular have been targeted throughout that, i joined the right to vote, and cast the ballot, words eligible, based on false information, with ai, we see those efforts multiplied and exacerbated in extremely dangerous ways. for example,we look at the current practice of boxing, it harkens back to when black people would vote in the jim crow era and have the names and information broadcast communities so they might suffer violent repercussions for exercing thto vote. to this day we see doc sing -- doxing being shared to the dark web, some of the most ou

also see images being used where you have a belated images of voters and that misrepresent what their choices are. it's quite dangerous, and we certainly need legislation to ■ we need the right to vote, to count the ballot that will be counted. >> amongst the same lines, calling on the eac to take action, following the atand local calls, voting unanimously to allow state and local officials to havefe to have ai disinformation, can you talk about the efforts by officials to take this on?>> thu5 the first thing is using the example of new hampshire, we were next in line with republican primaries, and

impersonation was a little confusing in new hampshire there, >>yes. go ahead. >> at the end of the day, the first thing as election officials,plan to make sure that local partners, we have a manager entrusting county, monito all e threats that are coming across the nation and using that information to inform our decision-making process. and get everybody ■&on board. we rely on so many processes countywide, municipality wide, and statewide, there is so erla important, when we have at the local level, we will push information and it goes to the national level, when it comes to ai and funding typically, the counties have to have an ability to participate in the applicatn those funds if

they are available, using those funds, proactively, to mitigate any ai issues we would encounter. can you talk about work hard to get some federal funding for elections, direct the ways your state has been able to pufunds. >> the seven counties, the gis news at in the border registrar offices, and lamenting the county in commission lines, and the lines with the voters, t in correct, the correct district, make that available, and utilize it right now, please with the implantation

without going so far. >> and with the recruiting of porkers like, will turn it over to you. >> thank you madam chair you've heard testimony, with nationwide challenges of recruiting and retaining coworkers -- . how to workers in her state, can you explain more about what the initiative is anhow it is implement it and how it is going at this point? >> thank you senator. and and protected the constitution, the military, we want to watch the program to help return investment to help recruit poll workers, and stayed on one thing, make it available to

help our local elected officials who run the election, that is really important. and we want to give another tool and i'm speaking to groups, and i want to encourage the groups to do,and sometimes you have some and sometimes you don't, encouraged you to get involved, to help the lo with our heroes at the polls program, it's important, and launched for liberty, the alabama state bar, and signed up and get train. >> getting education the state bar. continuing education. >> that is great. >> we want that to be available as well, we are taking steps ■ help the local officials become

poll workers. >> thanks for your. >> as you know, for the law bans noncitizens from voting in that being the case, it's important that states be given the tools they use to ensure noncitizens are not able to regisü■pa vote year i introduce citizen ballot protection act here in the senate, and i appreciate all of my republican coeathis committee joining me that effort. >> and the house version, in the administration in november, past this,becomes law men's the national voter registration act to allow states to put in place, to e citizenship requirement, and the voter registration form.

and what they might be able to develop, secondary allen, in that vein can you explain what resources secretaries of state provide the state and local election officials the ability to verify citizenship when individuals attempt to register to vote?xl >> the simple answer is we don't have anything at our disposal to verify citizenship. and when they return to tv■bvot there telling the truth that they are a citizen of the country. we asked the united states citizenship and immigration services for a list of noncitizen so we could crosscheck it in alabama, we were denied the list by the federal government, using the systematic alien verification■ entitlement program database, the thing is, and the same

database doesn't allow states to verify them throug that is really all we have, we tried, the federal government in federal court blocked previous efforts by states to verify citizenship. i think it is important now more than ever, especially given what's happening at the southern border. >> are there any additional barriers that tendered citizenship verification. it sounds like they are significant. >> significant challenges to verify citizenship, we have tried everyone, making telephone calls and so forth. >> only have 30 seconds left, quickly, you mentio opening testimony, the alabama voter, these edification, ■r■lt you will go to their home free of charge.

can you explain to the committee, with the efforts in the states to make it available to everyone? >> and will give everyone that needs a photo identification to vote in alabama free of charge from their home, if they call, the photo edification, every eligible alabama citizen to be able to vote. >> okay, thank you. senator mey? >> thank you very much. madam chair. secretary benson, you had testimony of the intimidation of poll workers, and one was the director to be hanged for treason, and i believea voicemail saying 10 million

patriots will surround you and that was directed towards tina barton, and another, inthe detroit city, saying you will pay dearly, all across the country. this is an example, of the threats that were put forward in oregon, written in the parking lot, it was basically done right after the election. and translated, elections don't work, next time bullets. i must say i've been hearing e that they are having difficulty recruiting poll workers due to these threat ed by trump's argu that the election was stolen. is this happening all over the country?>> yes, in the 2020

election cycle in terms of threats and challenges, and çgm colleague talked about some of the solutions of anti-doxing it -- legislation, and clearly drawingnd about what is appropriate in terms of threats to election workers. i wod add one thing, the absence of any clarity from the federal government, that this is not appropriate and that it is a crime to threaten election official in their line of official■utie and i would say passing a law to clearly make it a crime, senator are others have proposed -- ossoff. to stop the misinformation, lies that have plagued our democracy over the last several years. the other thing i will , michigan, democracy mvp program

our vets, partnering with the aba nationally and with the state to recruit attorneys. we have seen a new generation of election workers determined to protect the democracy despite those threats. >> thank you. i will try to get a couple of other questions here but and after that, secretary ntioned m noncitizens don't vote, some discussion and intended to essentially intimidate people and whether it is addressing a real problem. have you seen a significant number of noncitizen attempt to vote? >> no. >> and do i'm know that the auts to do that, what did they find? >> only eligible votes e severa protection, we have limited automatic voter registration in

particular to ensure documentation and make sure that folks know the consequence of lying on the forms and at the same time, we've done our work and on the investigation, insistently found that the voter rolls are clean. and they're not issues that somewhat alleged. >> there programs that work the case? vote in any substantial or notable number? >> i hate to see people trying to address a nonproblem and decide that it is a problem when they are really trying to intimidate people from voting. ms. nelson, i wanted to turn to your testimony, and you mentioned in it, several things are done to discourage people from voting. and i heard about them all across the country.■ do you have a section of the state where people don't want to vote, a certain area, native

indian reservation, changing a point location, you consolidated, and you proceed to open the voting place slates, proceed to understaffing, so that there is a long line, proceed to put the voting place with is no parking, so people get very frustrating that's right frustrated, you proceed to run out of balance, i heard about before when talking about mississippi, so the strategies,e how do we tackle these? >> we are tackling them, 25 poll monitors on the ground addressing those very issues that you laid out, have a real- time email for my team telling me that's what they're saying and there's also many ways that are not easily detectable, until you are in the middle of election and voters are be where there is a clear targeting and a clear disregard for

certain communities when they are tempting to cast a ballot. what we need, is in addition to the election protection efforts, we need strong legislation that will prevent some of these things from happening with authority that says it is okay for you to do this, and it will not disproportionately harm certain voters. >> i wanted to stress that in closing, because these things sound like legitimate operations, moving polling can be using the extremely they presidential -- prejudicial manner. thank you. being here today, your work is important, the founders test the states with federal elections, to ensure the integrity and confidence. i want you to know that i appreciate your service. secretary alan, i will to you, amount of time, and keep your answers, yes or no, let's get

started, are you family with president biden's executive order for tonight, directing federal government a disease to engage in voter mobilization, including vote by mail materials d finding party organizations to help provide voter services on federal property? yes sir. >> are you aware any authority that allows them to engage in this sort of voter technology? >> i got. >> well violate the hatch act and the efficiency act, which prohibits authorized by congress. secretary alan, does it seem problematic that taxpayer- funded federal agencies to quote, assist applicants in il about forms to bring an outside organization quick >> yes sir, it is problematic >> ■lthis executive order says any outside organization that is brought into help with voter mobilization must be quote nonpartisan.

let's take a look at who is th within the department of health and human services acknowledged it was working with groups like the aclu and implement the order, the letter, describing the mission as quote, pioneering old that there working with the department of agriculture. secretary alan, do they sound >> no sir. >> the odyssey aren't, they're obviously partisan. secretary alan, the biden agencies are using left- wing groups, it sounds like the federal government is being used as an arm of the biden campaign, does it not? >> yes sir. >> like a republican mistress, having the heritage foundation engage in nonpartisan voter the nasty by administration was paying college students to reach out to voters and serve

as quote nonpartisan a,po the vice president provide an example of the nonpartisan poll worker, the person she gave an example is the word for the aclu and the alliance for justice, which is a partisan group. secretary alan, does this inspire confidence that the by the ministrations voter activity is not parson -- nonpartisan quick >> it does not sound like it. >>?$ one way the by demonstrati can alleviate concern is by reviewing with their using taxpayer dollars to do, under 1401 nithey require each federal agency to come up with a plan for driving voter mobilization and submit the plan to the white house. yet the e plans, despite congressional inquiries and foia request to do so. coming back experience, is it normal for president reaven a governor for that matter to require government

agencies to engage in voter mobilization and develop secret doing that, and keep it all secret from the public quick >> i don't think that is normal. >> i either, i think it's understandable, that many americans are concerned about secret taxpayer-funded mobilization plans, and the deadmistration needs to release these plans, thank you. i yield back my time. >> senator padilla. >> thank you madam chair, before i get with my questions, let me do with the collies on the committee and witnesses front of us, the exchange i just witnessed fails to point ' directives that were referenced, if anything, with the national voter registration act which was passed on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis in 1993, and before we get to the substance of the act, section 2, purposes

and with congress, on a bipartisan basis, finds thatit is the right of citizens to vote is a fundamental right. number 2, it is the duty of the federal, state and local gornments to promote the exercise of that right. and he goes on from there, so g we might find the opening for the federal government, not any partisan basis, a encourage, accepting a role and responsibility in encouraging citizens of the united states to exercise thr fundamental right to vote, here's one example. moving on. items, that we can and should have conversations about modernizing andprotecting the integrity and the democracy. and thworkers, and in this hearing, and recognizing get, primary season of 20, one

about that, and now, the thing two examples at the state and county level, can occur and one of the larger counties my stay, every election is a media day h and by extension the public, of the voting profit -- maintaining faith and confidence in the process, post primary with the vote counting, it takes a while in california because of the high levels of participation. statewide california has a limited tracking where people can sign up for +kmessages and messages multiple language and by the way, the status of their ballot to the voters and has been counted. and the question is for mr. kramer, what systems are in place for state and local officials to learn what fe othe

available to them, and even a sharing of information, for best practices quick >> thank you for the great honor that we have a trust county, with our state partners, one thing a fraud of, we are watching the voter best program, we are the trusted election information source. and empower other organizations within charleston county to be our ambassadors under strict guidelines to help give that initial information. when we have a program like that, we have to be able to share that with other counties and states. ram that we are able to tap into, is resource sharing, we can as a question, what are you doing to be effective in election administration. and one that we were introducing to help election officials. >> thank you.

a very specific topic, recently department of education clarified rules around federal work study programs make clear that yes it is legal for students on work-study jobs, to work in election offices. ■sand i would encourage the department to make the equivocation last october, some kind -- for some reason there's a question in the mind of some, i think it's a terrific way to bring dedicated younger american into election offices to see the democracy up close and personal. and could imagine -- inspired to pursue a career that area but in the short term help alleviate staffing concerns.question for mr. krame previously had those poll workers election workers correct, how did they perform quthey bring a fresh breath of air to the coworkers,

high skull and how that spec college students participating. one of the things we see is that they continue serving after they have done it once, let's the remarkable thing about bringing young kids the process. and in south carolina they can serve as young as 16,conflict resolution, teambuilding, a great resume builder. i look forward to working with a college in charleston, we have grant money where we will introduce programming through that, we are excited. >> is that something that you m quick >> you know we are already doing this in michigan. but yes, i'm grateful for my calling from south carolina for his leadership and partnership, it'swhat makes democracy work and it is a team sport, we welcome people of all backgrounds, left, right midu■d, to work on this. >> thank you madam chair. >> thank you very much.

and in the center also. >> thank you madam chair, thank you senator butler, thank you to ■the panel, secretary benson president called georgia secretary of state and this is the immediate aftermath of the 20 election and said quote, all i want to i just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. have you ever gotten a call from a present of candidate asking you to find precisely the number of votes they need to win an election quick >> i've never gotten a call from any candidate asking for anything, like making election official. >> how are you, have you ever got a call to find precisely number of votes the need to win quick >> i have not. >>strike you as proper?>> i caof what we have i

>> do you think it is proper for the president of united states to call the secretary of state to find the number of votes they need to win thate. >> i don't know exactly what he meant by fining those votes. i was secretary at the time. >> do think it was proper for i call a state secretary of state and ask them to find precisely the number of votes they need to win a yes or no quick >> i can tell you as secretary in alabama i will follow the law that the ledger has laid out for me to follow. >> your fear answ inspire confidence. let me ask you, secretary benson, about the intimidation of election workers. ion that i'm introducing, election worker and polling place protection act would create criminal penalties for threats or violence to intimidate voters or election officials. i appreciate you expressing support for the legislation. what effects do threats on

election workers in efforts to intimidate election workers have on election administration quick >>having visits, knowing that they're going to work, it's important to work into it with pride, and somehow there are t staffer families for doing your patriotic duties. in addition to that it makes it a lot harder takes us away from the actual work of administering elections, every time we need to issue elections or think about our safety, i n speaking with our election workers, having a clear statement of the law that it's not okay to threaten us at a fo job of making elections were everyone, is long overdue to get the federal legislation passed. i can say with some legi$uslati in michigan, it goes a long way to send the message that that type of behavior is not appropriate. >> mr. kramer, what is the impact on and

administration when there are threats and intimidation of election workers, which as we saw in 2020 in georgia, in fact i would note the republican election officials in georgia were begging in public that the former spreadi baseless conspiracy theories about the theft of the election in georgia because it put lives at risk. what impact is it of the capacity of election workers to do their job when they faced those kinds of threats and when tharbased upon baseless conspiracies about the election process quick >> still want elections for the country, in south carolina, we are losing a wealth of knowledge, hard-working professional men and women, who served this country by performing this duty, and that knowledge leaving is a bad thing for the united states, these are people who swear to uphold the of the

united states, it is a bad thing, and what keeps me up e p workers, and when they wake up in the morning and they get a threat to their safety, that a concern everyone. >> ms. nelson, in the aftermath, of the 2020 election, i want to note a lengthy op-ed by guy written by kim block, to find, he said the links were he found the of the conspiracy theories, and available time, for the half, driving up the wait times for runoff elections, was the impact of that kind of policy on ensuring the ballot for all eligible voters quick >> georgia passed a very harmful voter &suppression law.

encapsulates the issues that black voters face like long lines, georgia has a very wearable repetition for the lines that black voters face and we know part of the laws, actually providing basic assistance for people who have to wait on disproportionately long lines like water and next. we're fortunate enough to be a key part of that law and some of the other aspects of the law that would have disenfranchised many black they still exist and we know that we need to double the efforts to cast the ballot in the election.>>six times longer, thank you ms. nelson for testimony.>> you senator. setterbo or. >> used to be number 1. >> our number that. left

>> works in all kinds of ways. so definitely appreciate you all for your testimony and for being here. and ms. lswould mind, i would love to start with you, you submitted in your written testimony the challengest the lpf were facing in working with in mississippi, jackson, in particular, some specific data that you shared in that testimony. saying that the county is a presently 70% black, experienced ballot shortage election, and this was one of the first times in my recent memory, that there was a

competitive thought, and and there was an opportunity fort t democratic governor again, in a very long time. also noted it was up to nine polling locations that ran out of ballots. times. during the election day. some of them before 12 noon. and it was a part of some investigative work, to help to find out what went wrong in the learnings to others at the organization across the state and untry, and can you share with the committee quickly what you learned from the investigation and what happened th >> some of this is still

ongoing. and i mentioned that today, unfortunately we did not get an answer before today's election as to whether there was any threat of it running again based on what we learned in the us election. we are still investigating that, let's away have people in the ground and that's we are documenting a w report, the right to vote that we are finding, so that there is a record that can support the federal legislation, the suggestion that there are no modern conditions that should give rise to that false and the work that we do with our colleagues, with every election on the ground, establishes that record e freedom to vote act and the john lewis voting rights act. >> thank you ms. nelson, mr. allen, i had a pleasure of being here in alabama we could

go, and at the university, as a member of this body nd alabama talking to alabama voters about just that point, modern discrimination that alabamians are experiencing and we are seeing have russ the country. i would like toq:■"■ instead of landing there, he in response to an earlier question, that i would love to press on a little bit to understand more, you said that uses to get mapping software for counties and disabilities and by expressing that accurately quick >> for the county boards and registrars.>> so that is lpful, because i noted

earlier this month, 6000 voters in alabama's newly drawn iothe postcards with incorrect voter information. and i appreciate your office as involved in handing out those postcards. can you talk a little bit about the intersection between the challenges of alabama voters not getting the correct you say your office helps to provide with elections and why your office has nothing to do voters in alabama getting incorrect information for the polling locations? >> the boards of registrars in placed district. it is not the secretaries office's role anti-

of the voter assignments, that is solely left to the county. all the southern poverty law center had to do is place the call to us to make sure we got on the telephone,th accounting question make sure we got it right instead, and the press release monday afternoon before the primary which introduce interesting casspi for the primary election. it wasn'tap and it would've been best and montgomery county of the boards they are in the correct precinct, everne got the correct ballot. to get the correct ballot to vote in congressional district 2. >>thank you secretary, i find

it interesting, and i know highly interesting with the advocacy group, with the group was doing and not doing in alabama, the very same advocacy groups are prohibited from actually helping giving the information they need, i find an interesting contradiction but hank you. and i yield my time. >> senator bennett. >> thank you thank you for you willingness to be here. >>■ a couple of questions for you if that's okay, we heard yesterday, on the committee leaders of the intelligence community. the continuing threat that social media platforms post to our democracy.

every one of these platforms richly has been used to spread education and disinformation, not just here but all around the world. and the deadly effects, and online mentions, actually skyrocketing, and 2020 we saw our fellow citizens and simulation that had not been stolen. relentless algorithms that engineered for profit, for the sake of our democracy certainly, 2016 it is well-established it is not a clinical view that vladimir putin interfered with our echas repeatedly done around the world, and both sides, and not

an exaggeration to quote joe biden, the be out of what was happening. a lot going on i want to get distracted by th except probably good things are not going to happen, one of the sources of major information. and the electoral process, a platform controlled by the chinese, this party, one can imagine that would end in a bad way for the united states, i think it would be self- defeating for us to assume that what happened in 2022 and 2020, and 2016 is not going to happen again this ar.and this informat more than 2020. to talk about what national standards we ought to be able

to put in place to help safeguard our elections from online disinformation campaigns quick >> thank you senator, we've been working in michigan to emphasize that there is a greater incente for them to interfere in our elections and the mechanisms through which they will interfere into our borders and particularly with this being ection where artificial intelligence saw the rise, we believe you will be one of the more likely tactics, utilizing elsewhere, first and foremost, and against the -- ddthat's like the practices by ai, to help states be prepared, we are one of six states that past state legislation secondly, i would argue that is often say, democracy is a team sport, statement saying what is okay and what is not what is illegal what is not,

and one piece, and the trusted voices, and labor leaders and many others, what we were doing the state and i think we need to do f5it nationwide and every senator can be in these places to quit them with truthful information about elections and help get misinformation hitting her states in helping to ensure voters to know that they are already be educated ahead of time, to get that information. >> 1 minute left, can i ask one more question? >> thank you. next week as you know, letting me hear the case, and addresses the district court decision, communicating, with the content on their sites, this decision, the lower court decision, has had a disastrous effect on the

ability for those operations to ability to coordinate with the undermine the efforts across multiple presidential administration is, to hold platforms accountable,and have their own sets of policies. the washington post reported that the federal government has basically stopped warning of di campaigns as a result of that, and legal experts have called the injunction striki it has a argument and has alarming conclusion about the federal government's role. i just wonder how you are navigating the challenges in this changing legal environment when it comes to communicating with platforms and the clear and present danger to the

mission of election quick >> it d makes a much more challenging to collaborate with social media companies who have a important role to play to protect usertho information, will be awaiting the outcome of that, but in the interim, working with citizens to help them with the information they do receive and help them understand the way in which misinformation and chaos and confusion and disruption to the election has been our focus, and spotting people, trying to fool them and bad information on social media, and respondents said with truthful information to help counter that in every way in our state. >>you again to everybody. >> thank you very much. and thank you all, all of our witnesses, good hearing. i am grateful to the election officials here today, and for

your work to ensure that elections are administered safely, and i want to think ms. nelson for her continued work to ensure equal access to ballot. and i look forward to continuing our work on the committee. for election officials and protect free and the hearing wi for one week, and with that we are adjourned. ■"■%t6■2