[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaud Center Fisher i are dealing with votes going on but i called the hearing to order and good afternoon. I would like to thank Ranking Member fisher and her colleagues for joining us. Our witnesses who i will introduce shortly for secr of state issac cramer executive carolina support of Voter Registrations and elections Jimmy Nilsson present director of the Naacp Legal Defense Fund and well hear from her other witnesses because senator fisher will be introducing them including alabama secretary of state wes allen and brian kruse commissioner for the depth county election commission. More americans than ever have cast a ballot in recent elections in large part because of the work of state and local officials in these elections have run smoothly and top Security Officials in both republican and democratic administrations alike have elections including last weeks primaryec elections. 18 states have a ready held primaries this year in fact we have our witnesses secretary bentsen secretary allen and mr. Cramer have overseen primary elections this year already and there are many more to go before the general election in november including three states georgia miss which voters are casting ballots today. With voting already underway we 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 ai can be used to spread disinformation 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 to agree we need to put guardrails emplaced whenes to ai. That is why im leading a bipartisan bill with senators hawley kunz collins and we have been joined by senator with broad support from both sides of the aisle to prohibit fraudulent ai generated deepfakes in our elections. We do this within the framework of the constitution. We are concerned about what we have seen and the ads and videos that attack candidates on both sides of the aisle but they are complete and not the actual candidate. We n also need to in addition to banning deepfakes we need t does haveee disclaimers when you ai is used in you ai is used in other ways. Last week introduced a bipartisan bill with senator lisa murkoki to require transparency and adds substantially generated by ai so whether you are republican or democrat the ads they see are making use of this technology. We have gotten guidance from the hearing we had earlier last year and that we dont want those lae thing when ai is used so we have to find that in a way that i think will pass the muster and make it easier that bill and i cant emphasize how important it is that belief to pass the deepfakes bill. Finally sensei i can make it so much easier to spread disinformation about things like Voter Registration deadlines or polling locationscalled chat gpt or wrote in a question i should say and asked what about this polling place in bloomington . They often have clients or should they vote and it answered in the making up the numbers. 123ounce tree. It even exists. Clearly they have work to do so we have concern about that as well. We must tackle these issues headon. One way is to what senator collins and her do is to allow the guidelines so Election Officials are prepared to meet these challenges. Six states including my state of minnesota and secretary b of michigan have passed new laws to address ai and elections in more than three dozen states have bills pending both red and blue states. We cannot rely on a patchwork of and Congress Must act. Election workers including volunteers continue to face a barrage of threats and intimidation. We have heard testimony from officials from both parties about threats targeting them and their families. Its no surprise that a survey last year found nearly one in three Election Officials said that theyve been abused or harassed or threatened and one in five said they know someone who lostt their job jobs due to safety concerns but but this has a real impact on how elections are run including efforts to recruit poll workers and volunteers. Last november more than a dozen anonymous letters containing fentanyl were sent to offices net leased six states leading to evacuations. That is where senator fischer and i called on the Justice Department to prioritize investigating these incidents and why senator durbin and 26 protect the election workers but its critical that state and local governments have reliable infrastructure with new technology to com Election Security is truly National Security in these investments to be prioritized as the intel agencies continue to warn about foreign adversaries try to influence our elections. Ive heard from officials in red, blue and purple states about the need to get steady funding when it comes to elections. Finally i will note in many states voters continue to face new laws that will make it hard to vote. We had a major hearing on that this morning in the judiciary committee. With senator warnock launching thee hearing to talk about the john lewis Voting Rights bill. We also need basic 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 these bills become the law of the land because they believe we truly need to have federal Voting Rights protection for the citizens of this country. I want to thank our witnesses for being here and i look forward to hearing your testimony about her work yearround to prepare for our elections. I will now turn it over to Ranking Member bishop. After nick thank you chairwomen klobuchar for holding this hearing and thank you to all of our where the search for being here today. W today while three states conduct super tuesday will hear from state and local t Election Officials from across the country about one of the most fundamental aspects ofos our democracy. The administration a free and fair elections. We e look forward to learning about howoo across the country are preparing for the upcoming elections. Election day is not just a day when voter ballots. It is also the culmination of months of preparation by state and local Elections Officials to ensure that every eligible voter can fulfill their civic duty and participate in the democratic process. Nd Election Officials maintain voter rolls identify polling locations, train poll workers and volunteers procure intestate voting equipment, prepare ballots and educatevo the public about the upcoming elections. While every four years they step into a brighter spotlight these hardworking and dedicated individuals address Election Administration challenges for every election regardless of what offices are on the ballot. Pp defending the cybersecurity and physical security of the election infrastructure, Election Officials must recruit and train the next generation ofec poll workers while also retaining experienced poll workers. They also work hard to ensure voter confidence in the electoral process and the ultimatend outcome of the elections. I am 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 of Election Officials and what they face. Whether the existing federal resources are working as intended to ease those challenges. Our Founding Fathers provided administering elections under our constitution. The resulting diversity of election systems is a strength of our democracy. I look forward to a productive discussion and extend my sincere appreciation to our w here today as they are in the midst of preparations for the 2024 elections. Thank you. Thank you very much representativehr fischer. Our first witness is michigan secretary of state Jocelyn Benson and the role she has held since her election in 2018. Previously she served as dean of the state law School Received her bachelors degree from wellesley. Her bachelor from oxford and her law degree at harvard. Our next witness is issac cramer of the board of Voter Registrationrd and elections in South Carolina where he has served for a decade and was appointed executive director in 2021. Hes a graduate of wheaton college. Then we have jenae nelson, welcome again, president and director of the key legal defund. She begann her career as an intern before she was a fulbright scholar in ghana. She returned to lbf and assume the role of president in march of 2022 but she received her patzert degree m from nyu and her law degree from the university of california los angeles. Senator fischer. I thank you madam chair to thank all of our witnesses for being here today. We have put those mr. Brian kruse. Mr. Kruseved as douglas counties election commissioner since 2016. And was recently reappointed for a third term. Ive had the privilege of workingg him to serve nebraskans for many years and im pleased he has come all the way from omaha, nebraska to be with us here today. Thank you. Thank you madam chairman Ranking Member fischer for your continued leadership on this committee. It is a pleasure tors introduce secretary allen today at this hearing. Wes t allen served as alabamas 54 secretary off state secretary of state for he is her states chief election official hired to his Current Office secretary allen nearly a decade in alabama as a probate judge which is the senior electionel official. He was then elected to the Alabama House of representatives where he served as the vice chair of the legislature Constitution Campaign and election committee. I know secretary allen is honored to appear before this committee on his knowledge of matters making it easy to vote in safe and secure elections. Thank you very much. If the witnesses would now please stand and raise their right hand. Do you swear the testimony you swear the testimony you will get before the Committee Shall be the chip, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god . Thank you. Now proceed and we will recognize each for five minutes for your statement starting with secretaryit benson and i will leave to vote some point so thank you. Secretary benson but think it should klobuchar Ranking Member fischer in the committee is an honor to be joined with you today for this important hearing. In the last eight months we defined the future of our country and our democracy. Is michigan chief election officer that reality is clear to me every day. We look forward to to ensuring her elections are safe and secure and our effort to protect every voter in every election official of lives threatsct and tactics that continue to plague our democracy but its been a challenging few years for a cedar democracy is gettingfirst voter turnout is on the rise. In 2020 we had more citizens both a never before in 2022 michigan led the nation inturnout and citizens are engaged and they are voting. Ig directly leads to higher Voter Participation across the political spectrum in every election. It is the chief elections officer of a battleground states, i know the successes do not tell the whole story. We go into this election cycle expecting bad actors to use misinformation turbocharge through ai to divide, deceived, and deter Voter Participation throughout our country. Im not just teeth fixed. Ai will also make m it easier to mislead voters about the voting process or even conditions at a polling place. Imagine a boater receiving a saying there are long lines at a precinct and not to go or another social media post showing a polling location changing because of flooding all these could be false and all could deter participation. The realities underscore theent in our election. Ais level of speed scale and sophistication thats difficult this difficult agencies to handle on our own. Federal funds help us supports bolster our state Cybersecurity Infrastructure and more Voter Education to address this evolving threat. We also need the department of Homeland Security to be more aggressive and identifying and combating threats and in notifying local officials helping us ensure vot defective election practices. The state level in michigan with ente to require disclaimers and disclosure of advertisements generous ai we made it a crime fort anyone to d distribute ai generated defects. But now we need you to do your part you can protect every voter m from the harmful effects of deceptive ai generated content passing protect election act. Finally cannot have a secure democracy if we do not protect the security of the people who protect our democracy. Our job as election administrator increasingly forces us to endure harassment, false and malicious attacks on our character and threats of all because of lies about our work and our integrity. Morning walks out her neighbor detroit city clerk Janice Winfrey was approached by men who told her you are going to pay dearly for your actions in the selection. Most recently threatened he would be hanged for treason. Tina barton received a voicemail saying a 10 million patriots will surround you when you least expect it she deserved a knife to the throat but these are a few examples misinformation increases so to the threats. We all have a duty to protect people who protect democracy and Michigan State to intimidate Election Officials with specific intent with the officials crime. Election officials are professionals we are nonpartisan we put voters first are firmly committed to ensuring every citizen could have brightly placed face in their vote and in their elections it should be your highest priority to ensure we have the funding the resources and that legal and the Legal Protections to make democracy work for everybody because ensuring our security is to ensuring Election Security. I spent my career defending the right to vote of every eligible citizen. It will not waiver now. Im here to ask you all to share that commitment and help ensure we are protected that our democracy continues to thrive this year end every year. Thank you so m. Yes, maam thank you. Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Opportunity to speak to Election Security alabama secretary say i serveserves a chief election official and work closely with the probate judges circuit clerks poll workers boards of boregistrars each of the local counties. I took the oath of office i made and made it a top priority to ensure our fair and secure so every eligible voter with confidence there but will be properly counted. Elections are the bedrock of our Constitutional Republic is our cotu duty and to conduct it with integrity and accuracy. On the maintenance of an election and tied it registered voters can choose to participate in elections in alabama fair and secure solid steps. Active legislation that makes it illegal for any voting tabulated to be connected to the internet. All elections must verify their identity with photo identification at his or her polling place. A voter does not have a photo id for voting purposes my office will send someone to the locationon of a choice, even their home to issue them voter id upon request. Elections just this year with the help of the dedicated team of the oretary of state established the voter database. To crosscheck our voter file at the National Master index i maintained by Social Security administration so it went alabama voter dies and another state we are able to identify and remove that individual from our voter file. Quickly removing not onl confidence maintain a more accurate file every state should be able to do this but excessive federal regulations make it more dculty than it shouldre be to access this important information. I was in a state senate can the obstacles to make this informationem available work of the alabama lawhi enforcement agencies through the drivers license and other States National change of address database maintain voter file register alabama voters. Hoover requested other mail forwarded due to moving to a location outside of the state. For the first time our States History we have entered into agreements with each of our border states allowing us to identify people or are registered to vote in alabama and in a border states. Voters who identified as possibly relocating through any of these methods receive a mailer from the county boards of registrar. Asking them for that relocation or update alabama magistrate or information but to date we have identified 109,7009 alabama voters who have have likely relocated outside of the state. Te but unlike deceased