Integrity, established by the president to study federal election processes enconcluding Voter Registration and information, allegations of fraud and cybersecurity. The president and Vice President opened the meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, the Vice President of the United States. Well, good morning. Please be seated. On behalf of the first family, welcome to the white house. And welcome to the inaugural meeting of the president ial Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. Just over two months ago on may the 11th, President Trump signed an executive order to create a commission to in his words, help to quote, promote fair and honest federal elections. The foundation of our democracy. Election Integrity Matters to i every american. President Calvin Coolidge reminded us in his words, quote, the whole system of American Government rests on the ballot box and president reagan declared, quote, the right to vote is the crown jewel of american liberties. A by establishing this commission, President Trump is taking action to insure that the ballot box remains inviolate and the crown jewel shines brighter than ever before. At the president s direction i will have honor to serve as chairman of this commission, and it is a privilege to convene this first meeting today. President trump knows the integrity of the our electoral system transcends party lines. Im grateful this commission brought together a distinguished group of bipartisan election experts and Public Officials from federal, state and the local level and together this Bipartisan Group will perform a truly nonpartisan service to the American People. I especially like to recognize our vice chairman who you hear more from after the president s remarks, a man whose longg Service Established him as National Leader on Election Integrity, kansas secretary of state kris kobach. I also has point of personal privilege would like to express my appreciation to indianas secretary of state, connie lawson, who joins us as a part of this panel. President trump knows the principle of one person, one vote is foundational to the american system of democracy. This commission has been charged to study the registration and voting processes used in federal elections. The commission will identify law, rules, policies, activities, strategies and practices that will enhance thee American Peoples confidence in the integrity of our electoral system. Dein well also explore the vulnerabilities in our system that could lead to improper Voter Registration and on a improper voting. This commission, let me be clear, this commission has no preconceived notions or preordained results. Were fact finders. In the days ahead we will gather the are havent facts and data and at conclusion of our work we will present the president a report of our findings. Im confident this commission will have healthy and robust debate but the president and i expect nothing less because respectful debate is also a hallmark of our democracy. I know well find many areas of Common Ground as well. Im pleased to report the commission has done its work,ai requesting publicly available date. We are grateful for 30 states providing information pursuant to the laws of their states. Today is percent of several meetings the commission will hold in the several months. Well hear from each of the commissions misdemeanorrers about. Each of you brings unique perspective based on experience and research and we welcome your participation and insights. Would i like to note our commission includes five current and former secretaries of state and secretary coback and i look working with each one of you as chief election officers across america to foster collaborative and respectful relationship with your state voters and our electoral process. As the commission on electoral integrity byes its work i would like to ask the American People to offer Public Comments on our work to the challenges that face our electoral system. We want to hear the voice of the american voter. Thth that is really what this is all about. You know it is greatest privilege of my life to serve as Vice President to a president who cares so deeply about the integrity of americas elections and the right of each and every american to see the sanctity ofe their vote protected. This president knows the success of our democracy depends on the American Peoples confidence in this electoral system. The president and i are both confident that this Bipartisan Commission will make the strongest democracy in thehe history of the world even stronger. D and so with gratitude for his commitment to fair and honestt elections it is my high honor and distinct privilege to introduce to all of you the 45th president of the Unitedf States of america, president donald trump. Thank you very much. Please, be seated. Mr. Vice president , distinguished guests and members of the media, im honored to welcome you here today as the bipartisan president ial Advisory Commission on Election Integrity prepares to conduct its First Official meeting. Very, very important. This commission is tasked withor the sacred duty of upholding the integrity of the ballot box and principle of one citizen, one vote. Every time voter fraud occurs it cancels out the vote of a lawful citizen, and undermines democracy. Cant let that happen. Any form of illegal or fraudulent voting whether by noncitizens or the deceased, any form of Voter Suppression or intimidation must be stopped. Im pleased that more than 30 states already agreed to share the information with they commission and the other states that information will be forthcoming. If any state does not want to share this information, one was to wonder what they are worried about. I asked the Vice President , i asked the commission, what are they worried about . There is something. There always is. This issue is very important to me because throughout the campaign and even after it, people would come up to me and express their concerns about voter inconsistencies andre irregularities which they saw. In some cases having to do with very large numbers of people in certain states. All Public Officials have a profound responsibility to protect the integrity of the vote. We have no choice. We want to make America Great again. Ameri we have to protect the integrity of the vote and our voters. V this is not a democrat or a republican issue. It is an american issue. It is about the concern of so Many Americans that improper voting has taken place and canceling out the votes of lawful american citizens. That is why president Theodore Roosevelt once said, it is the affair of every honest voter wherever born, to see that no fraudulent voting is allowed anywhere. I want to thank Vice President pence for cheering the commission. I also want to thank kansas secretary of state kris kobach for serving as vicechair. It will be a lot of work. They will work very hard over fairly short period of time. I want to thank you both much,r. Chris, mike. There is Bipartisan Panel consisting of both republican and Democratic Leaders and experts on voter integrity. I would like to personally thank each of our Panel Members for serving. Really do appreciate it. In addition to the chair and vicechair, this distinguished Bipartisan Panel includes indiana secretary of state connie lawson. Thank you. New hampshire secretary of state bill gardner. Thank you. Maine secretary of state matthew dunlap. Former ohio secretary of state ken blackwell. Ll, election Assistance Commissioner christie mccormack. Former Arkansas State representative david dunne. Thank you, david. Wood county, west again i cant clerk, mark rhodes. Heritage Foundation Senior legal fellow and manager of the election law reform initiative, a real expert, hanz spakowski. President and general counsel of the Public Interest legal fonddation, great group, j. Christian adams. And jefferson county, alabama, probate judge, alan king. Thank you. Thank you very much. Each of you has been an trusted with a great responsibility of helping to advance the cause of fair, honest, and lawful elections. Your work will help protect our democracy. This will be a very transparent process. It will be very open for everybody to see. You will approach this important task with a very open mind and with noconclusions already drawn. You will fairly and objectively follow the facts wherever they may lead. I look forward to the findings and recommendations your report will produce, and i share your report as soon as i can, and as soon as possible, with the American People so the fullbe truth will be none and exposed if necessary in the light of day. We call on every state to give its full support and total cooperation in this effort. Most of them have really done brilliantly, we appreciate it. Il the rest, all of that information will be forthcoming. Thank you very much, mr. Vice president. Thank you and kris, thank you. Panel, thank you very much. We appreciate it. You do a great job. Thank you. [applause] well, thank you very much, mr. President. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, it is my privilege to call the first meeting of the president ial advisory commissioi on Election Integrity to order. Our first order of business is to recognize each of our members and to make introductions and brief remarks. Id like to, id like to start with a few comments of my own, in ad deck to the remarks that i made from the podium. First and foremost, let me, lets me command each and everyone stepping forward to serve your country in this capacity. As you heard from the president and me earlier, we are truly grateful for your willingness to step forward. This is a Bipartisan Group that will perform a nonpartisan service to the American People. Our goal is the executive order asserts is to help promote free and honest federal elections. Our charge is to study the registration and voting processes used in federal elections, and as i mentioned earlier our charge to explore vulnerabilities in the system that could lead to improper votingregistration and improper voting. Let me reiterate the point i made earlier now that were on the record. We have no preconceived notions and no preconceived results. Our you duty is to go where the facts lead and our finding to strengthen the American Peoples confidence in our electoral system. As you heard the president looks forward to what we accomplish and so do i. And i look very much forward to hearing from each and everyone of you. The president and i have meeting scheduled soon after this, with number of senators. Se my hope i will be able to hear from each and everyone of you before, before excusing myself to hear from members of the night senate on another mattem but, im very grateful that youre here. We like to ask you limit your remarks, opening remarks to five minutes or less. There is a timer in the back but i, i know we can go on the honor system here with each one of you. We appreciate your, we appreciate your sensitivity. I would like to start by recognizing our distinguished vicechair, kansas secretary of state kris kobach. And mr. Secretary, you are now recognized with the gratitude of the president and this administration for your opening remarks. Thank you, mr. Vice president. It is indeed a great honor to serve as vice chairman of this commission. The charge of the commission is a significant one as the president outlined to study the threats to the integrity of our elections, to quantify those threats if possible and if it is the will of the commission to offer recommendations to the president to help ensure the integrity of future elections ir this country. Most importantly share the information after the report is made to the president , share the information to the american public. This is information of highest order. I often thought very foundation of our republic are really two bedrock things, the american constitution and the faith and reality that our elections are conducted fairly. If you take away either of those two things, i believe that our republican not stand for long. So for a long time there has been lingering doubt among Many Americans about the integrity an fairness of elections of the it is not a new issue at all. If you look at polling data, it goes back decades. Public opinion has been consistent on this. There is substantial number of people who wonder our elections are fair. 2014 survey show only 40 of voters thought elections were fair to voters. Indicates 60 did not think so or were undecided. Look at the subject. Through our history, there have been episodes we may have learned of in school or in college of voter fraud. Those may have received a great deal of attention. And individual states from time to time may have investigated specific allegations of voter fraud or have done some specific investigation of voter fraud. For example, in my state of kansas, we are engaged in litigation right now litigating our proof of citizenship. Who registered to vote or attempted to vote but thats just the tip of the iceberg, one expert in the case estimated that it could be excess of 18,000 of voter roles but at least never been nationwide effort to do this analysis scope and scale. This commission will have the ability to find answers to questions that have never been fully answered before and to conduct research that has never been conducted before. And that research will not be buried and respect the voters privacy but we will lay out factual findings and systematic problems that we can identify in our Electoral Systems, those results whatever they are will be made public to the American People so they can draw conclusions from. In 2013 president obama established and among other things to analyze a problem reported in several states in 2012 election and that was longn lines at the polling places. When someone drives to a polling place, sees line two blocks long, they died its not worth for me to vote. If someone lives in a place request vehicle coder fraud has been in the past, theres a chance that he or she vote is not likely to count or a counterbalanced by the fraud and therefore decide not to vote in that case. These are both problems worthy of investigation and worthy of president ial commission. In kansas we have posted thecros interstate cross state system. We compare with each other and find double registrations with the same person registered in more than one state. St with that information they can begin the process of keeping voters up to date. Its a starting point where the state can contact the voters in question and with the voters consent remove in which he no longer resides or else using a process layed out by the Voter Registration ad. After further investigation a prosecution for double voting may be appropriate. This program hosted by kansas and in 30 states how a multistate effort can be in enhancing the integrity of our elections. Im confident that this commission will be equally successful on the national level. Experience and expertise of fellow members of the commission is truly impressive. Thank you all for giving your time and energy to this endeavor, im really looking forward to begin our work together. Thank you. An thank you, mr. Secretary, thank you for your opening remarks and thank you for your leadership on this commission. We look forward very much to working with you. With that i would like to recommend my friend, cony lawson for five minutes. President. It really and truly is an honor for me to join the commission today. I want to thank President Trump for the chance to serve in this capacity. I am connie lawson, the indiana secretary of state. I also serve as president of the bipartisan National Association of secretaries of state. And in that role, i cochair the force. Ns agreed task my background is uniquely situated to the issue of voting processes and Election Administration. I served on the local level to terms as the Hendricks County clare, overseeing, after the 2011, the beginning of a mentor electronic voting and modernization of Voting Machines. I was very involved in the association becoming president well. Gislative chair as following my time in local office, i served 16 years as senator during that time, the entire 16 years, i was a member of the Senate Elections committee. I did become the majority for later in the indiana senate, i think as a result and my respect in that work. In 2012, a vacancy arose in the secretary of state position and i was elected to a full term 2014. It is an honor to b