Transcripts For CSPAN3 State 20240704

Isaac kramer, executive director of Charleston County, South Carolina board of registration and elections. Janay nelson, president and director of the naacp Legal Defense fund. Were also going to hear from our other witnesses. Not for any omission, but because senator fisher will be introducing them. That includes alabama, secretary of state wes allen and brian 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 work of state and local officials. And these elections have run smoothly and topped Security Officials in both republican and democratic administrations to the likes have confirmed the security of recent elections including last weeks primary elections. 18 states have already held primaries this year. In fact three of our witnesses, secretary benson, secretary allen, and mr. Kramer have overseen primary elections this year already. And there are many more to go before the general election in november including three states, georgia, mississippi, and washington. In which voters are casting ballots today. With voting already 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 president s voice, telling people not to vote in New Hampshire, which is now under investigation by the states Republican Attorney general. We must work across the aisle to protect our elections from these threats. And all of the witnesses at our hearing last fall agree we need to put guardrails in place when it comes to ai. That is whew im 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, but they are complete deep fakes, and you cant even tell its not the candidate. We also need to in addition to banning deceptive deep fakes. We also need disclaimers when ai is used in other ways. Last week i introduced a bipartisan bill with senator Lisa Murkowski to require transparency and add substantially generated by ai. So that whether you are a republican or democrat, voters will know if the ads they see are making use of this technology. We got some guidance from the hearing we had earlier last year that we dont want those labels to apply to every single thing when ai is used, so we have defined that in a way that will make it easier to pass that bill. But i cannot emphasize on how important i believe it is to also pass the deep fake bill. Finally since ai could make it so much easier to spread disinformation about things like Voter Registration, deadlines, or polling locations. And chatgpt or load in a question i should say, and ask well, what about this polling place . They often have lines, where should they vote . And im making up the numbers now, but 123 elm street didnt even exist. Clearly they have work to do, so we have concerns about that as well. We must tackle these issues head on. One way is the work that we are doing to require the Election Assistance Commission to issue guidelines, so the officials are prepared to meter these challenges. Six states including my state of minnesota and secretary benson, state of michigan have passed new laws to address ai and more than three dozen states have bills pending both red and blue states. But we cannot rely on a patch work of state laws and Congress 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 parties about threats targeting them 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 real impact 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 six states, leading to evacuations and delays. And that is where senator fisher and i called on the Justice Department to prioritize investigating these incidents, and why i lead a bill with senator durbin and 26 cosponsors 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 maintain election infrastructure, keep pace with new technology, and combat cybersecurity threats. Election security is truly national security. And these investments must be prioritized as our intel agencies continue to warn about foreign adversaries 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 ill note that in many states, voters continue to face new laws that will make it harder to vote with a major hearing on that this morning in the Judiciary Committee with senator warnock to talk about the john lewis Voting Rights bill. We also need basis federal standards like those contained in the freedom to vote act that i lead along with many of my colleagues including 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 have federal Voting 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 over to Ranking Member fisher. 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 hear from state and local Election Officials from across the country. And about one of the most fundamental aspects of our democracy. The administration is a free and fair election. We look forward to learning about how jurisdictions are preparing for the upcoming elections. Election day is not just the date when voters cast ballots. It is also 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 democratic process. Election officials will maintain voter rules, train poll workers and volunteers. And to procure and test voting equipment. Prepare ballots, and educate the public about the upcoming elections. Well every four years they step in to a brighter spotlight. These hard working and dedicated individuals address election add min station challenges for every election regardless of what is on the ballot. On top of the cybersecurity and physical security of election infrastructure, Election Officials must recruit and train the next generation of poll workers, while also retaining experienced poll workers. They also work hard to ensure voter confidence in the electoral process, and the ultimate outcome of the elections. Im interested in hearing from our witnesses, how they adapt to the changing landscape to ensure election integrity. I also want to understand not only the challenges, Election Officials face, but whether the existing federal resources are working as intended to ease those challenges. Our Founding Fathers provided states, the primary responsibility of administering elections under our constitution. Resulting the diversity of election systems is a strength of our democracy. I look forward to a productive discussion and extend my sincere appreciation to our witnesses for being here today as they are in the midst of preparations for the 2024 elections. Thank you all. Thank you very much, senator fischer. And ill introduce three of the witnesses and we will introduce the remaining two. Our first witness is michigan secretary state jocelyn benson. A role she has held since her election in 2018. Previously she served as dean at Wayne State Law School and received her bachelors 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 fund. She began her career at ldf as an extern before she was a full bright scholar in ghana. She returned as the Association Director of council and assumed the role of president in march of 2022. She received her bachelors degree from nyu, and her law degree from the university of california, los angeles. Senator fischer . Thank you, i thank all of our witnesses for being here today. We have with us mr. Brian kruse who serves for Douglas County. And was recently reappointed for a third term. Ive had the privilege of working with him to serve nebraskans for many years. He has come from omaha, nebraska to be with us today, as 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 serves as alabamas 54th secretary of state where he is our states chief election official. Hired to his current office, secretary allen spent 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 legislatures 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 proceed, and we will recognize you each for a fiveminute statement starting with secretary benson. And i will leave some time, thanks. Secretary benson . Thank you, chair klobuchar. Its an honor to be joining you today for this important hearing. These next eight months, it will define the future of our country and our democracy. And as michigans chief election officer, that reality is clear to me every day. Both as we work to ensure our elections are safe and secure, and in our efforts to protect every voter and election official from the lies, threats, deceptive tactics that continue to play our democracy. Its been a challenging few 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 number of ways voters could participate in our elections will continue to expand from the right to vote from homes to early voting to traditional election day voting places. Michigans experience underscores that the expansion of options to vote directly leads to higher Voter Participation. Across the political spectrum in every election. But it is the chief elections officer of a battleground state. I know these successes do not tell the whole story. We will go into this election cycle, expecting bad actors to use misinformation, turbo charged through ai, and to divide, deceive, and deter Voter Participation throughout our country. Im not just talking about deep fakes. Ai will also make it easier to mislead voters about the voting process or even conditions at a polling place. And imagine a voter receiving a text warning, saying there are long lines at a precinct or another seeing a social media post changing because of flooding. All of these could be false and all of these could 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. Federal funds will help us to 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 officials 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. And we have made it a crime for anyone to knowingly and deceptively distribute ai generated deep fakes. But now we need to do your part. As u. S. Senators, you can protect every voter in this country from the harmful affects of deceptive ai generated content by passing the 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 endure harassment, false and malicious attacks on our character, and threats of violence. All because of lies about our work and our integrity. On a morning walk throughout the neighborhood, detroit city clerk Janice Winfrey was approached by a man who told her youre going to pay dearly for your actions in this election. Oakland county elections director was recently threatened that he would be hanged for treason. Former Rochester Hills clerk received a voicemail saying 10 million patrons will surround you, and that she deserves a knife to the throat. These are just a few examples of what the Election Administrators endured and it is misinformation that will increase. So do the threats. We all have a duty to protect the people who protect democracy. And in michigan, we made it a state crime to intimidate an election official with the specific intent of interfering with the officials duties. This should be a federal crime. Election officials are professionals. We are nonpartisan. 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 of state, i serve as the states chief election official and work closely with the probate judges 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 that every 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 properly counted. Elections are the bedrock of our constitutional republic, and it is my constitutional duty to ensure our elections are conducted with integrity, honesty, and accuracy. Voter registration and voter file maintenance are the foundation of election integrity. Registered voters can choose to 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 the internet. Alabama state law requires a use of paper ballots in all elections. Each of our voters must verify their identity with photo identification 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 a 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 states history, we have been approved to directly cross check our voter file with the master index, maintained by the Social Security administration, so when an 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 accurate voter file. Every state should be able to do this and excessive federal regulations will make it more difficult than what it should be for states to accept this important 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 drivers license in another state. And to maintain by the United States Postal Service to 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 states history, with each of the border states, allowing us to identify people who have registered to vote in alabama and a border state. Voters identified are possibly relocating through any of these messages received from their county board of registrar and asking them to confirm their relocation and update their Voter Registration information. And to date we have through abbott identified 109,709 alabama voters who likely relocated outside the state. We cannot quickly remove them from the alabama voter file. The national Voter Registration act of 1993 also known as the ndra mandates that we wait four 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 fouryear waiting period, mandated, especially considering the fact that statetostate movers account for 19. 9 of all relocations according to the u. S. Census bureau. The fouryear waiting period will allow an individual to remain in a voter file, in a state, in which they no longer live for several elections, including a president ial election. A u. S. Senate election, a gubernatorial election, two congressional elections, and numerous local elections. Four years quite frankly is too long. This federal law will require the secretaries of state to knowingly maintain inaccurate voter list amending the ndra to shorten the fouryear waiting period that will increase the voter confidence and result in more accurate ones across the country. And again, thank you for your time. Its been an honor and a privilege to appear before you today. Thank you. Thank you very much, secretary. Mr. Kramer . Chairwoman klobuchar and members of the committee. I want to thank you for having me here today. As mentioned, im the executive director of the board of elections and have the privilege 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. We are the frontline workers responsible for ensuring smooth elections nationwide. Left a permanent mark on my life, igniting politics, and then the Election Administration. Im here testifying before you because of her hard work and determination. As we stand in the threshold of another crucial election cycle is important for us as Election Administrators to draw from the lessons of the past, to strengthen the foundation of our democracy for the future. When we reflect on the preparations for this upcoming year in Charleston County, our main concerns revolve around three pivotal needs and these are crucial. The protection of Election Officials, the security of our polling places, and the assurance of adequate federal funding. The safety and well being of our election personnel is at the heart of our operational concerns. During the june 2022 primaries, 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 actually called Law 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 unless they have been summoned by the majority of poll workers. And one of the leaders on social media posted this. For all of you on the team tomorrow, good hunting. You know what youre looking for. We have the enemy on their back foot press the attacks forward. And the enemies hes referring to were his neighbors. Good people who are just trying to carry out the duty, their civic duty 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 places safe and their voters safe. Our office meets monthly with the counterthreat manager and our local Law Enforcement, emergency management, and public safety. Together we are enhancing our 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, so they know what to do if they get a call. Charleston county has made substantial investments to the election process through 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. Numerous counties, rural and urban, they will need an infusion of federal funds to improve the security of their election infrastructure and that is very vital to the security of our elections. 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 were the ones who will run elections day to day. This year we have a huge effort to recruit the next generation of poll workers as many of them have left due to what razzments and they could apply for funding. Awarding 1 million to support the help of the college 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 that pay on top of the administrative leave with pay and over 15 of the poll workers in 2023 were county employees. And serving as poll workers will greatly boost the trust of the process. And they remember a day when they were simple and they have now become more complex and the stakes have never been higher, and we need their help. You can pass the election act or other proposals that will strengthen 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 Carolina over 70 have left their post since 2020. Im 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. Im able to serve this great country by providing the mechanism by which the country was founded. The ability to give everyone a voice in shaping the future and direction for voting. The administrators need the support of congress now more than ever to protect and fund our elections. Very good. Thank you, mr. Cramer. Mr. Kruse . Chairwoman klobuchar and Ranking Members, i appreciate the invitation before the committee this afternoon. My name is brian kruse, im 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 the 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 each other, and these machines are used only after numerous preelection tests. Following the election and before results are official, a thorough canvas or audit is conducted as well as the manual audit directed by the secretary of States Office and there is a paper trail. Our office prepares for election cycle by reviewing and updating procedures for each department to ensure that each Voter Registration, candidate filing, early voting request, ballot, or petition signature is processed according to the statutes and using consistent rules and guidelines. When processing thousands of records and training seasonal staff, it is important to ensure that correct procedures are being followed. Early voting by mail can be secured and accurate method of voting if administrated properly. And for polling place elections, nebraska law will require voters in the majority of counties who choose to vote by mail to request an early voting or absentee ballot prior to each election as they cannot automatically be sent. Signatures and now voter i. D. S are checked at the time of each request is processed. If they are not met, the ballot will not be met. Signatures are checked again. Drop boxes in Douglas County are secure under 24 7 surveillance cameras and emptied each week by two individuals of different parties. And i encourage voters to use one of our drop boxes as they are the most direct way to return election mail. The voter places the item in the box and the election workers will pick them up. There are no third parties involved. Voters in Douglas County across all political spectrums have embraced the drop boxes. On average, 77 of all by mail ballots are returned via one of our drop boxes. And it is vital to successful elections. Officials are the trusted source for getting the message out about elections. Im 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 election cycle for nebraska is the implementation of the voter i. D. And making sure they know what is needed both for by mail and early voting and election day in order for them to be heard. The media is a vital 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. My chief deputy election commissioner and myself can attend as many as possible to provide the election education and answer questions, 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 law, the only state, which will allow for poll workers to be drafted, similar to jury duty. The only county that conducted a draft for many years. Some advantages to drafting poll workers are increased Community Awareness of the election process and less difficulty in securing election workers, and a younger work force with the average age in the mid50s. While the majority of poll workers nationwide are over 60. In conclusion, it 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 have your voices heard on election day. Thank you for inviting me today, and thank you to the committee for your time. Thank you very much, mr. Cruz. Ms. Nelson . Chair klobuchar and members. Im janai nelson. Im the director of lds, formerly the naacp Legal Defense and educational fund. Thank you for the opportunity to testify about the state 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 Marshall in 1940. And it is also informed by the on the ground Election Protection work that we must do every election cycle in order to ensure that black voters can cast a ballot and have it counted. Last week was the 59th anniversary of bloody sunday when patriots, like genre lewis were brutally beaten in selma, alabama for simply demanding the right to vote. And their courage and action led to the passage of the Voting Rights act of 1965 and the true start of our multiracial 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. But 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 carolina, texas, and other states with histories of discrimination advanced harsh voting restrictions within days, even hours of the shelby decision and a wave of the suppression laws that will follow across the country. And the big lie and what will undermine our faith and elections have stoked a backlash against voters of color as they have targeted the precise pathways to the polls that they have used in recent years whether it is eliminating or limiting the drop boxes in florida or vote by mail in texas. Artificial intelligence is being weaponized to advance challenges to registered voters in georgia and gaining traction through programs like eagle ai as a nationwide strategy to distort the electorate. And the increased use of ai will threaten to turbo charge disinformation campaigns, historically targeted at black voters. Despite decades of becoming a more inclusive, just an equal democracy, we are swiftly moving in the opposite direction. And the voter turnout was nearly equal in 2012, but a decade after shelby, black voter turnout, now adds nearly eight Percentage Points behind white voter turnout. They had the largest turnout in 2022 than at any point in the last decade. And the redistricting cycle was with discrimination. Of the nine states previously subject, six, twothirds 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 the states created racially discriminatory maps. And so lets be clear. While lds is fighting in the courts along with our other 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 the face of rising authoritarianism, destructive court decisions, combined with inaction by congress and have stripped them away. The Voting Rights for black americans is tenuous and an urgent crisis for our democracy and for this congress. The president issued a powerful call to action in last weeks 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 congress to pass. The right to vote will preserve every right that we would hold dear that is an effective nonviolent means of expressing our will. Protecting the right to vote should not be a matter of politics. It is the duty of all elected officials to honor and protect the sacred act that has enabled them to serve. Thank you, i look forward to your questions. Thank you very much. And senator warner has to take my spot. And so he has some interest in protecting our elections, and then we will go from there, thank you. And thank you for holding this important hearing. And i appreciate the panel here on the Intelligence Committee yesterday. We had the worldwide threats briefing from fbi, cia, and nsa and all of 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 reasons why this is the case and im talking about now interference from foreign influence. Number one. And a number of our adversaries have seen how cheap it is in the elections. And what was laid out by russia in 2016 was literally pennies on the dollars. If you are thinking about trying to disrupt. Its a heck of a lot cheaper to use technology to disrupt and undermine another nations 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 of these techniques as well and iran and other states as well and so we have a series of nations led by russia who will realize the interference that they could have dramatic affects on their position in terms of support of ukraine and that their interest level is higher, number one, number two and this 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 faith in particular in the integrity of our election system. Number three, there is a case where the circuit put out a ruling last july and i think they are reviewing it now and they put a stay on it that literally prevents voluntary 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 have evidence of russians or other 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 Administration, and this case, the Trump Administration hit right. There was voluntary sharing that went back and forth on a regular basis. And so if nsa or they found evidence of the influence that it could be an involuntary basis with the other company and vice versa as of last july and literally until about two weeks ago with no communication between the social media platforms or where this information takes place and the government. And then finally, i know the panel has talked about this a bit already, that we have the whole new advent of Artificial Intelligence. Ai brings at a scale and speed, tools, to interfere, misinform, disinform. We all know about deep fakes in terms of the images and the voices that it could happen at a scale and speed in which i have an appreciation for all the secretary of states here. But you guys, there is no way that you could keep up with. And so i feel that it is incredibly important that well do a better job in that bipartisan fashion of educating them that this problem has not gone away and that our adversaries will wish us ill and that we have enough divisions between the americans in terms of our political views that we have argued amongst ourselves, and that is appropriate. But to somehow have this misinformed, disinformed by the line is incredibly problematic. I know my clock is about out, but if you could just briefly, eric was a system that was voluntarily set up again by folks from the Trump Administration and unfortunately states have exited. You decided to come in to that system. Could you briefly address that . And thanks for the Ranking Member for allowing me to get that question in. Yes, i want to address what you were talking about and yes, they have been a member since 2019 and we found it to be really effective method to collaborate with 24, the current membership is 24 other states as well as washington, d. C. To ensure, you know, a lot of what my colleagues from alabama was talking about with his state systems that they are able to do collaerately and what has been the most secure and effective 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 clearly and one thing were not talking enough about, our foreign adversaries to this country have a greater incentive than ever before in this election cycle to interfere with the election processes. The way they will interfere with our processes is not through trying to harm our infrastructure. Our elections are secure. We all use paper ballots. To protect every vote and enshereef eligible votes. Where they will affect our elections, they are just through ai and running multiscale attempts to fool voters about their rights. And about their voice. Working with all of us to ensure that we are recognizing what the election system isnt really left or right. Its the foreign interference to cause every citizen in this country to stop believing. Thank you, senator warner. As a member of the Armed Services committee, im well aware of the line activities that we see from our foreign adversaries. But i know that Election Officials also still worry about infrastructure, and still worry about the increase that we see from cybersecurity threats, and whether it is threats to the infrastructure itself or government websites or Voter Registration data bases, the poll books. So secretary 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 threats changing over time as well . Yes, maam. Thank you. We work very closely with our office of Informational Technology that will oversee the statewide agency in the back of our i. T. Department. We have an inhouse i. T. Department as well that we are 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 thats coming up in certain parts of alabama in april. And then to the general election in november. So we have many conversations on cyber. Thats one thing we take very seriously. As a matter of fact, on Election Night we have someone there from our office of information technology, the statewide office. We have someone from our own i. T. Department in our office as returns, unofficial returns will come in the evening. And to make sure there is anything that popped up on the radar to make sure they happen quickly and to mitigate any potential threats that are out there. And to make sure that they are ready to 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 turn your mic on. There you go. You know the big one i think obviously would be the disinformation if someone were to hack a website of ours and try to change information or a result, something of that nature. And also the ai of impersonating myself. You know, perhaps saying polling place changes or deadline changes. Things of that nature. Were fortunate in the fact or unfortunate in the fact that in Douglas County, we have the group called dot com, the douglas, omaha technology commission. Its a joint venture. They are really the experts 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 dont 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 voters 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 community, with your voters, and with media outlets. So when issues do occur, you can contact them and get the correct information out quickly. 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 these audits provide to the voters in your jurisdiction . Absolutely. So thats administered by the secretary of States Office. So the morning after the election, the secretary of States Office randomly picks certain precincts and certain races for counties to audit, larger counties like myself have three of them. But every county has at least one statewide general. And the last time we had the three races in the three precincts, the races became congressional race. , the governors race, and then the sheriffs race. Having confidence in the voters, its 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 you very much, thank 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 information about how you worked with local officials about these and other reforms that expand access to voting and why these efforts are important . Im happy to. In 2018 and 29 22, photos themselves amended the state countryside, the election date registration, as well as enhancing opportunities for military and overseas and the right to vote from home, the right to have a dropbox for every 16,000 voters in the state, that is secure and monitored and check daily, and 9 days of early voting in every statewide election. The president ial primary held last month was the first statewide election held with early voting and we found it to be a 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 not voting, a lot of the reasons why, according to various surveys and data, because of inconvenience, because we cant just make it to the polls in the certain time in a certain day, dramatically giving more opportunities to participate, and opportunities to engage fully educated and informed voters. I 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 system, black voters in particular have been targeted throughout that, i joined the right to vote, and where to 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 exercising their right to vote. To this day we see doc sing doxing, information being shared to the dark web, some of the most dangerous spaces because of technology, and we also see images being used where you have a belated images of voters and communities that misrepresent what their choices are. Its quite dangerous, and we certainly need legislation to improve that, but importantly 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 state and local calls, voting unanimously to allow state and local officials to have federal funds to have ai disinformation, can you talk about the efforts by officials to take this on . Thank you. 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, we do the plan to make sure that local partners, we have a manager entrusting county, monitoring all the threats that are coming across the nation and using that information to inform our decisionmaking process. And get everybody on board. We rely on so many processes countywide, municipality wide, and statewide, there is so much overlap and communication is so 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 application of those funds if they are available, using those funds, proactively, to mitigate any ai issues we would encounter. Go ahead. Can you talk about how we work hard to get some federal funding for elections, and direct the ways your state has been able to put federal funds. The seven counties, the gis software. News at in the border registrar offices, and lamenting the county in commission lines, and the lines with the voters, making sure it is put in correct, the correct district, make that available, and utilize it right now, and 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 wilbon, secretary allen, youve heard testimony, with nationwide challenges of recruiting and retaining coworkers poll workers. How to recruit poll workers in her state, can you explain more about what the initiative is and how 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 it, recruiting 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 im speaking to groups, and i want to encourage the groups to do, and sometimes you have some and sometimes you dont, encouraged you to get involved, to help the local communities. With our heroes at the polls program, its important, and launched for liberty, the Alabama State bar, and signed up and get train. Getting education at the state bar. Continuing education. That is great. We want that to be available as well, we are taking steps to help the local officials become poll workers. Thanks for your. As you know, for the law bans noncitizens from voting in federal elections. That being the case, its important that states be given the tools they use to ensure noncitizens are not able to register a vote in elections. Last year i introduced the citizen ballot protection act here in the senate, and i appreciate all of my republican colleagues on this committee joining me that effort. And the house version, and in the administration in november, past this, it became desperately becomes law, the mens the national Voter Registration act to allow states to put in place, to approve the 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 have at their disposal to provide the state and local Election Officials the ability to verify citizenship when individuals attempt to register to vote . The simple answer is we dont have anything at our disposal to verify citizenship. And when they return to vote and summoning their testing 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 doesnt allow states to verify them through the database. 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 whats 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 mentioned in your opening testimony, the alabama voter, these edification, that 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 we 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 merkley . Thank you very much. Madam chair. Secretary benson, you had testimony of the intimidation of poll workers, and one was the director was threatened to be hanged for treason, and i believe in Rochester Hills a voicemail saying 10 million patriots will surround you and that was directed towards tina barton, and another, in the 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, and it was basically done right after the election. And translated, elections dont work, next time bullets. I must say ive been hearing from clerks all over my state that they are having difficulty recruiting poll workers due to these threats, which ive been inspired by trumps argument 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 my colleague talked about some of the solutions of antidoxing it legislation, and clearly drawing a line in the sand about what is appropriate in terms of threats to election workers. I would 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 duties, and i would say passing a law to clearly make it a crime, senator are soft and 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 in 2020, partnered with vote 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 alan mentioned making sure noncitizens dont 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 im know that the audits to do that, what did they find . Only eligible votes are counted, very seriously, we have several layers of 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, weve done our work and on the investigation, insistently found that the voter rolls are clean. And theyre not issues that somewhat alleged. There programs that work very well, and that is the case . Noncitizens attempting to 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 dont 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 thats right frustrated, you proceed to run out of balance, i heard about before when talking about mississippi, so the strategies, 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 thats what theyre saying and theres also signage issues, many ways that are not easily detectable, until you are in the middle of election and voters are being disenfranchised, 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 without there being some preclearance or some 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 locations and so forth but they can be using the extremely president ial prejudicial manner. Thank you. I want to thank you all for 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 direct my question to you, a limited amount of time, and keep your answers, yes or no, lets get started, are you family with president bidens executive order for tonight, directing federal government a disease to engage in Voter Mobilization, including vote by mail materials and finding Party Organizations to help provide Voter Services on federal property . Yes sir. Are you aware of any authority that allows them to engage in this sort of Voter Technology . I got. Nearby, they may well violate the hatch act and the efficiency act, which prohibits spending funds in a manner not authorized by congress. Secretary alan, does it seem problematic that taxpayer funded federal agencies to quote, assist applicants in completing vote by mail about forms to bring an outside organization quick yes sir, it is problematic this executive order says any outside organization that is brought into help with Voter Mobilization must be quote nonpartisan. Lets take a look at who is helping the by administration with the order, an Agency Within the department of health and Human Services acknowledged it was working with groups like the aclu and devos to implement the order, the letter, describing the mission as quote, pioneering old progressive ideas, and revealed that there working with the department of agriculture. Secretary alan, do they sound like nonpartisan groups to you . No sir. The odyssey arent, theyre obviously partisan. Secretary alan, the biden agencies are using openly 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 assistance. The nasty by administration was paying College Students to reach out to voters and serve as quote nonpartisan poll workers. 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 demonstration can alleviate concern is by reviewing with their using taxpayer dollars to do, under 1401 nine, they require each federal agency to come up with a plan for driving Voter Mobilization and submit the plan to the white house. Yet the Biden Administration refuses to disclose these plans, despite congressional inquiries and foia request to do so. Coming back to your experience, is it normal for president reaven a governor for that matter to require Government Agencies to engage in Voter Mobilization and develop secret plans for doing that, and keep it all secret from the public quick i dont think that is normal. I certainly dont either, i think its understandable, that Many Americans are concerned about secret taxpayerfunded mobilization plans, and the Biden Administration 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 to any partisan language in the 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 that it is the right of citizens to vote is a fundamental right. Number 2, it is the duty of the federal, state and local governments to promote the exercise of that right. And he goes on from there, so looking for where any statute we might find the opening for the federal government, not any partisan basis, but a nonpartisan basis, to encourage, accepting a role and responsibility in encouraging citizens of the United States to exercise their fundamental right to vote, heres one example. Moving on. Items, that we can and should have conversations about modernizing and protecting the integrity and the democracy. And the poll workers, and in this hearing, and recognizing get, primary season of 2024, on the horizon, and lets talk about that, and now, the thing that can be done, just two examples at the state and county level, can occur and one of the larger counties my stay, every election is a media day to help voters and the press and by extension the public, of the voting profit process, 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 Text Messages and messages multiple language and by the way, the status of their ballot to the voters and when it is processed and one has been counted. And the question is for mr. Kramer, what systems are in place for state and local officials to learn what federal and other resources are available to them, and even a sharing of information, for best practices quick thank you for the question, 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. A great steering House Program 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 it clear that yes it is legal for students on workstudy jobs, to work in election offices. And i would encourage the department to make the equivocation last october, some kind for some reason theres a question in the mind of some, i think its a terrific way to bring dedicated younger american into election offices to see the democracy up close and personal. And could imagine being for inspired to pursue a career that area but in the short term help alleviate staffing concerns. A question for mr. Kramer, you previously had those poll workers election workers correct, how did they perform quick they are amazing and they bring a fresh breath of air to the coworkers, love one is the 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, lets 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 can adopt or expand in michigan quick you know we are already doing this in michigan. But yes, im grateful for my calling from South Carolina for his leadership and partnership, its what makes democracy work and it is a team sport, we welcome people of all backgrounds, left, right middle, 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 do is this, 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 ive never gotten a call from any candidate asking for anything, like making appropriate request from 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. Does it strike you as proper . I can only take care of what we have in alabama. 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 the state. I dont know exactly what he meant by fining those votes. I was secretary at the time. Do think it was proper for the president nine states to 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 answer the question does not inspire confidence. Let me ask you, secretary benson, about the intimidation of election workers. You know to legislation that im 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 theyre going to work, its important to work into it with pride, and somehow there are people who wish to harm us or staffer families for doing your patriotic duties. In addition to that it makes it a lot harder for us to do that. Takes us away from the actual work of administering elections, every time we need to issue elections or think about our safety, i can say speaking with our election workers, having a clear statement of the law that its not okay to threaten us at a workplace for simply doing the job of making elections were everyone, is long overdue to get the federal legislation passed. I can say with some legislation 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 election and administration when there are threats and intimidation of election workers, which as we saw in 2020 in georgia, in fact i would note madam chair the republican Election Officials in georgia were begging in public that the former president sees spreading 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 they are based upon baseless conspiracies about the election process quick still want elections for the country, in South Carolina, we are losing a wealth of knowledge, hardworking professional men and women, who served this country by performing this duty, are leaving, and that wealth of knowledge leaving is a bad thing for the United States, these are people who swear to uphold the constitution of the United States, it is a bad thing, and what keeps me up at night, is the protection of the workers, and when they wake up in the morning and they get a threat to their safety, that concerns me and it should concern everyone. Ms. Nelson, in the aftermath, of the 2020 election, i want to note a lengthy oped by guy written by kim block, to find, he said the links were he found the impact, nevertheless on the basis 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 access to 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, is actually providing basic assistance for people who have to wait on disproportionately long lines like water and next. Were 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 voters, but 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. Thank 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. Nelson, if you would mind, i would love to start with you, you submitted in your written testimony the challenges that 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 shortages during the 2023 statewide 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 for them to elect the first democratic governor again, in a very long time. And your written testimony 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 efforts to offer those learnings to others at the organization across the state and country, and can you share with the committee quickly what you learned from the investigation and what happened in the county quick some of this is still ongoing. And i mentioned that today, unfortunately we did not get an answer before todays election as to whether there was any threat of it running again based on what we learned in the previous election. We are still investigating that, lets away have people in the ground and thats we are documenting a new report, the right to vote that we are finding, so that there is a record that can support the federal legislation, that we demand congress passed, the suggestion that there are no modern conditions that should give rise to that is patently false and the work that we do with our colleagues, with every election on the ground, establishes that record the 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 conducting a field hearing in 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 to actually instead of landing there, he said something in testimony in response to an earlier question, that i would love to press on a little bit to understand more, you said that you are often your office uses to get Mapping Software for counties and disabilities and by expressing that accurately quick for the county boards and registrars. So that is helpful, because i noted earlier this month, 6000 voters in alabamas newly drawn section of the district, election postcards with incorrect voter information. And i appreciate your office as said before that you were not 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 information, and what you say your office helps to provide with elections and why your office has nothing to do with voters in alabama getting Incorrect Information for the polling locations . The boards of registrars in every county make sure voters are placed in the correct district. It is not the secretaries offices role to conduct 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, with 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 wasnt appreciated and it wouldve been best and Montgomery County of the boards of registrars, and make sure they are in the correct precinct, everyone 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 those find it 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 madam chair. Thank you for your willingness to be here. A couple of questions for you if thats okay, we heard yesterday, on the committee and 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 were engineered for profit, for the sake of our democracy certainly, 2016 it is wellestablished it is not a clinical view that Vladimir Putin interfered with our election, as he has 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 that. 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 year. And this information, and even 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, weve been working in michigan to emphasize that there is a greater incentive for them to interfere in our elections and the mechanisms through which they will interfere into our borders and particularly with this being the first election 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 dd thats like the practices by ai, to help states be prepared, we are one of six states that past state legislation that affects. Secondly, i would argue that is often say, democracy is a team sport, and the 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 it nationwide and every senator can be in these places to quit them with truthful information about elections and help get it out, with the 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 protect the integrity of elections, and the governments ability to coordinate with the platform, and threats to undermine the efforts across multiple president ial 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 some platforms of disinformation campaigns as a result of that, and legal experts have called the injunction strikingly broad. And it has a confused legal argument and has alarming conclusion about the federal governments 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 is difficult, and makes a much more challenging to collaborate with social Media Companies who have a Important Role to play to protect users from those tactics and 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 ol and Bad Information on social media, and respondents said with truthful information to help counter that in every way in our state. Thank you again to everybody. Thank you very much. And thank you all, all of our witnesses, for a very 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 the ballot. And i look forward to continuing our work on the committee. For Election Officials and protect free and fair elections. The hearing will remain open for one week, and with that we are adjourned. Cspan is your unfiltered view of government, Television Companies and more, including wow. Slicker the world has changed, a fast reliable Internet Connection is something no one can live without, so wow is there for customers, speed, reliability, value and choice, it all starts with great internet. Wow. Support cspan as a Public Service along with these other television providers, giving you a front row seat to democracy. For voices 2024, asking voters across the country, what issue is most important in the election and wind. Most important one, with immigration. With economics. 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