student documentary competition, this week c-span asked middle and high school students across the country to look forward while considering the past. participants were given the option to look 20 years into the future or 20 years into the past and in response we received inspiring and thought revoking documentaries from over 3200 students across 42 states with a top award of $5000 for grand prize goes to nate coleman and jonah rough line, 10th-graders at weston high school in connecticut. their compelling documentary navigating past and future conflict with iran. >> >> united states must make more policy that puts heavy restrictions on all americans traveling to iran because not only do we see less hostagetaking but the united states will no longer have to participate in such considerable negotiations with iran. >> congratulations to the wrong winners and watch the 2021 documentary on c-span every day this month starting at 6:50

a.m. eastern >> state and local officials including the secretaries of state of michigan and alabama testified before the senate rules committee on preparation and security ahead of the november general election. they talk about election worker protection, cyber security, voting rights and combating misinformation. the hearing is an hour and 45 minutes.

senator fisher and i are dealing with votes going on. there will be a little back and forth. i call the hearing to order. good afternoon. i would like to thank ranking member fisher and our colleagues for joining us. our witnesses who i will introduce shortly are michigan secretary of state, jocelyn benson, isaac kramer, executive director of charleston county south carolina board of elections, jenae nelson, president and director council of the naacp legal defense fund. will also hear from other

witnesses. senator fisher will be introducing them and that includes alabama secretary of state wes alan. and brian crews 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 top security officials in both republican and democratic administrations alike have confirmed the security of recent elections including last week patients primary election. 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 ai can be used to spread disinformation about elections like the fake robo calls using the president's voice telling people not to vote in new hampshire which is now under investigation by the state patients republican attorneys general. we must work across the aisle to protect our elections from these threats and all of the witnesses at our hearing last fall agreed that we need to put guardrails in place when it comes to ai. that is why i'm leading a bipartisan bill with senator

josh hawley, koons and helen's. we are joined by senators bennett and rickett and it has broad support on both sides of the aisle to prohibit fraudulent ai generated deep fakes and our election. we do this within the framework of the constitution which of course allows satire and the like. but we are very concerned about what we have seen in just snippets of ads and videos that have gone out that attack candidates on both sides of the aisle but they are complete deep fakes and the actual candidate and you cannot even tell it is not the candidate. we also need to, in addition to banning deceptive deep fakes, we need disclaimers when ai is used in other ways. last week, i introduced a bipartisan bill with senator lisa murkowski to require transparency and adds 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 get guidance from the hearing we had earlier last year and that we don't want those labels to apply to every single thing when ai is used. we have defined that in a way that i think will have muster and make it easier to pass that bill. i cannot emphasize how important i believe it is to also pass the deep fake bill. >> finally, since ai can make it so much easier to spread disinformation about things like voter registration deadlines or polling locations, i myself called chatgpt or wrote in a question saying, what about this polling place in bloomington, minnesota. they often have lines. where should they vote? and a making of the numbers but it would be like 123 elm street and it didn't even exist. clearly they have work to do. so we are concerned about that

as well. we must tackle these issues head-on. one way is through the work senator collins and i are doing to require the list -- election assistance committee to have guidelines election officials are prepared to meet these challenges. six states including my state of minnesota and secretary benson peck the state of michigan, passed laws to address ai and elections and more than three dozen states have bills pending, both red and blue states. we cannot rely on a patchwork 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 the committee from officials from both parties about threats targeting them and their families. it is no surprise that a survey last year found that nearly one out of three election officials said that they have been

abused, harassed or threatened and one out of five said they know someone who left their job because of safety concerns. this is a real impact and 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 in ballot counting. that is when senator fisher and i called on the justice department to prioritize investigating these incidents and why with senator durbin and 26 cosponsors, we needed to protect election workers from intimidation and threats. in addition, it is critical as ever that the state and local governments have reliable federal funding to maintain election infrastructure and keep pace with new technology and combat cybersecurity threats. election security is truly

national security and these investments must be prioritized as the intel agencies continue to warn about foreign adversaries trying to influence our elections. i have heard from officials and red, blue and purple states about the need to get steady funding when it comes to elections. finally, i will note that in many states, voters continue to face new laws that will make it harder to vote. we had a major hearing on it this morning and the judiciary committee with senator raphael warnock launching the 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 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 your testimony about your work year around to prepare for elections. i will now turn it over to ranking member fischer. >> thank you chairwoman amy klobuchar for holding the hearing and thank you to the witnesses for being here today. today, while three states conduct elections and one week after super tuesday, we will hear from state and local election officials from across the country about one of the most fundamental aspects of our democracy. the administration of free and fair elections. we look forward to learning about how jurisdictions across the country are preparing for the upcoming elections. election day is not just a day when voters cast ballots. it is also the culmination of

months of preparation by state and local election officials to ensure that every eligible voter can fulfill their civic duty and participate in the democratic process. election officials maintain voter rules, identify polling locations, train poll workers and volunteers. pre-care and test voting equipment, prepare ballots and educate the public about the upcoming elections. while every four years, they step into a brighter spotlight, these hard-working and dedicated individuals address election administration challenges for every election, regardless of what offices are on the ballot. on top of defending 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. 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 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 the constitution. the diversity of election systems is the 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 senator fischer. i will introduce you to the witnesses. the first witness is michigan secretary of state jocelyn benson. she has helped with the election in 2018. previously she served as the dean of the state law school and received her bachelor's degree and masters from oxford and law degree from harvard. the next witnesses isaac kramer of the board of voter registration and elections for charleston county, south carolina where he served for a decade and was appointed executive director in 2021. he is a graduate of wheaton college. and then we have jenae nelson. welcome again. president and ceo of the council of the naacp legal defense fund. she began her career as an

extern before she was a fulbright scholar in ghana. she returned as the associate director council and assumed the role of president in march of 2022. she received her bachelor's degree from nyu and her law degree from the university of california los angeles. senator fischer. >> thank you madam chair. and again, i think all the witnesses are being here today. we have with us, mr. brian cruise from the great state of nebraska who serves as election commissioner for douglas county. mr. cruise has served as the douglas county election commissioner sense 2016 and was recently reappointed for a third term. i have the privilege of working with him to serve nebraskans for many years and i am pleased that he has come all the way from omaha, nebraska to be with us today. but we have direct flights.

thank you. >> thank you madam chair and ranking member fischer for your continued leadership on this committee. it is a pleasure to introduce secretary allen today at the hearing. he serves as the 54th secretary of state and alabama and the chief election official. secretary allen spent nearly a decade in the pike county alabama as probate judge which is the senior county election official and one was elected to the alabama house of representatives where he served as the vice chair of the legislature's constitution campaign and election committee. i know that secretary allen is honored to appear before the committee and offer knowledge on matters as he made it his mission to make it easy to vote in safe and secure elections. thank you for being here. >> thank you very much. if the witnesses will please stand and raise their right hand. >> 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 god? >> i do. >> thank you. you may be seated. you can now proceed and we will recognize each for a five- minute statement starting with secretary benson. >> secretary benson. >> thank you chair klobuchar, ranking member fischer and members of the committee. it is an honor to join you today for this important hearing. the next eight months will define the future of the country and our democracy. and as the michigan chief election officer, the reality is clear to me every day both as we work to ensure our elections are safe and secure and and our efforts to protect every voter in every election official through lies, threats or deceptive tactics that plague our democracy. it has 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 will than ever before then to 2022 in michigan led the nation in youth vote turnout. citizens are engaged in their voting. second, the number of ways voters can participate in elections continues to expand. from the right to vote from home to early voting to traditional election day voting places, michigan's experience underscores that the expansion of options to vote directly leads to higher voter participation across the political spectrum in every election. but it is the key election officer of the battleground state to know that these do not tell the whole story. we going to this election cycle expecting bad actors use misinformation, turbocharged through ai to deceive and deter voter participation throughout our country. i'm not just talking about deep fakes. ai will also make it easier to mislead voters about the voting process or conditions at a polling place. imagine a voter receiving a

text warning saying there are long lines at a precinct and not to go or another seeing a social media post showing a polling location changing because of flooding. all of these could be false and they 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 four under resourced state agencies to handle on their own. federal funds help us to support and bolster our state's 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 notifying 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. now we need you to do your part. as u.s. senators, you can protect every voter in this country from the harmful effects of deceptive ai generated content by passing the protect elections and deceptive ai act. finally, we cannot have a secure 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 in our integrity. on a morning walk through a neighborhood, the detroit cindy clerk was approached by men who told her, you are going to pay dearly for your actions in the selection. oakland county elections director was recently

threatened that he would be hanged for treason. former rochester hills clerk tina barton received a voicemail saying 10 million patriots will surround you when you least expect it and that she deserves a knife to the throat. these are just a few examples of what the election administrators and door and if this misinformation increases, so did the threats. we all have a duty to protect the people who protect democracy. in michigan, we have made it a state crime to threaten or intimidate an election official with the specific intent of interfering with the official's duties. this should be a federal crime. election officials are professional. we are nonpartisan. we put voters first and we are firmly committed to ensuring every citizen can have rightly placed fakes and their votes and in our elections. it should be your higher priority to make sure we have the funding, the resources and the legal protections to make democracy work for everyone. because ensuring our security

is critical to securing election security. i have spent my career defending the right to vote of every eligible citizen. that commitment has never wavered and it will not waiver now. i'm here today to ask you all to share that commitment and help us ensure that we are protected and that the democracy continues to thrive this year and every year. thank you. >> thank you so much secretary allen. thank you. 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 chief elections official and work closely with the probate judges, circuit clerk's, absentee election managers, poll workers, registrars, who are own and trickle part of the elections process at the local level in each of the 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, can do so with confidence knowing that their vote will 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 of the foundation of integrity. registered voters can choose to participate in elections in alabama with the confidence that the election process is fair and secure because alabama has taken solid steps to ensure election integrity. we have an active legislation in alabama that makes it illegal for any voting tabulator to be connected to the internet. alabama state law requires the use of paper ballots in all elections. each voter must verify their identity with the photo identification at his or her polling place. if a voter does not have a

valid photo id for voting purposes, my office will send someone to the location of their choice, even their home, to issue them a voter id upon request. proper voter file maintenance is essential in preserving confidence in elections for just this year, with the help of the dedicated team at the office of secretary of state, established the alabama voter integrity database. the first time in our state's history can we been approved to directly crosscheck the voter file with the national master index maintained by the social security administration so when alabama voter dies in another state, we are able to identify and remove that individual from our voter file. quickly removing from the voter file not only instills confidence but also allows us to maintain a more accurate voter file every state should be able to do this but excessive regulations make it more difficult then it should be for states to assess this information. members of the united states senate can remove these

obstacles and make this information immediately available to every secretary of state in the country. and it also enables us to work with the alabama law enforcement agency to receive notifications of alabama license drivers over the age of 18 who have received a driver's license in another state. additionally, by comparing the national change of address database maintained by the united states postal service to our voter file, we identified registered alabama voters who have requested to have their mail forwarded because of moving to a location outside the state. for the first time in our state's history, we have agreements with each of our border states allowing us to identify people who are registered to vote in alabama and in a border state. voters that are identified as possibly relocating through any of these should receive a mailer through the county board registrar asking them to confirm the relocation or update the alabama voter industry -- registration. today, we have identified 109,709 alabama voters that

likely have relocated outside the state. but unlike deceased voters, we cannot quickly remove them from the alabama voter file pick the national voter registration act of 1993, also known as the nvra mandates that we wait four years to make such a removal. if i can make a recommendation to this body to increase confidence in elections, it would be to shorten the four year waiting period mandated by the nvra especially the fact that state to state account for 19.9% according to the u.s. census bureau. the four year waiting period allows an individual to remain in a voter file in a state in which they no longer live for several elections including a presidential election, u.s. senate election, a gubernatorial election, two congressional elections and numerous local elections. four years quite frankly is too long. this federal law requires secretaries of state to knowingly maintain an accurate

voter lists amending the and e.r.a. to shorten the four year waiting period and certainly increase voter confidence, decrease voter files and result in more accurate voter files across the country. again, thank you for your time. it has been an honor and a privilege to appear before you today. >> thank you very much, secretary. mr. kramer. >> chairwoman klobuchar, ranking member fischer and members of the committee, thank you for having me here today. on the executive director of the charleston county board of elections. i have also had the privilege of serving as the vice chair of the election subcommittee for the national association of counties. is a member of the united states election assistance commission board of advisors. i cannot overstate the significance of the county patients perspective on any tubbing involving election administration. we are the front-line workers are responsible for ensuring smooth elections nationwide.

for elections in charleston county, it is a responsibility that i hold with the utmost seriousness. my journey is also very personal to me. it is rooted in my mother's dream of becoming a u.s. citizen when i was a child. witnessing her exercise her right to vote left a permanent mark on my life igniting in me a passion for politics and election administration. i'm here testifying before you because of her hard work and determination as we stand at the threshold of another crucial election cycle, it is important for us as election administrators to draw from the lessons of the past and strengthen the foundation of our democracy for the future. when we reflect on the preparations for the upcoming year, and charleston county, the 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 2020 primaries, our polling places became battlegrounds for these descriptive elements to the democratic process. a local group travels to each polling place on election day. they harassed poll workers and claim we were breaking the law. and at several locations, they called law enforcement to arrest poll workers just to be clear, south carolina law does not allow us to have law enforcement entry polling place unless they have been summoned by the majority of poll workers. one of the leaders on social media posted this. for all of you on the team tomorrow in the polls, good hunting. you know what you are looking for. we have the enemy on their back foot pressing the attack forward. the enemy he is referring to are his neighbors. good people who are just trying to carry out the civic duty of the democratic process. as the lead pool manager returns on that night, many of them expressed to me personally that they felt unsafe.

i believe charleston county can be a model for other election officials across the country trying to see how they can make the polling places safe and voters safe. the office meets monthly with the counterfeit manager and local law enforcement, emergency management and public safety. together, we are enhancing training for active shooters and also had to mitigate any disturbance at the polls and how to communicate and highly stressful situations. we hosted the first ever workshop last year and we created a law enforcement guide that we give to all law enforcement partners so they know what to do if they get a call on election day. charleston county made substantial investments to the election process, through building upgrades, surveillance systems and giving us access to control mechanisms that are imperative to mitigate any potential threats in the election operations. however, i want to say this clear. not every county can make similar investments. numerous counties in south

carolina rural in urban, need an infusion of federal funds to improve the security of election infrastructure and that is vital to the security of our elections. south carolina is one of several states that does not pass grant money to the county level. this needs to change. congress needs to give us the ability to have those funds so we can have a direct access. because we are the ones that run elections day-to-day. this year, we have a huge effort to recruit the next generation of poll workers as many have left because of threats and harassment. to demonstrate that it is possible for counties to apply directly for funding, the eac donated $1 million to support the help america vote program. charleston county applied and received $76,000 for an innovative program recruiting college students to serve as poll workers. in addition, we created a day for democracy program which allows county employees to serve on election day. county employees that

participate also get poll worker pay on top of the administrative leave pay over 15% of poll workers in 2023 or county employees. having trusted public official serving as poll workers, greatly boosts public trust and election process. many poll workers remember a day when elections were simple and they now become more complex. the stakes have never been higher and we need congress' help. you can pass senator fischer's protection act or other proposals that will strengthen election worker safety. and we must impose penalties on anyone that would threaten, pressure election officials. without increased funding an action to protect election workers, counties will continue to see increased resignations of career election officials and struggle to recruit and retain seasonable poll workers. and south carolina, over 70% of election directors have left their posts since 2020 and i am often asked, why are you still

in this profession? it is a simple answer for me. i believe in the united states of america and the freedoms we enjoy. i'm able to serve this great country by providing the mechanism by which our country was founded and the ability to give everyone a voice in shaping the future and direction of our country for voting. election administrators need the support of congress now more than ever to protect and fund our elections. >> very good. thank you mr. kramer. mr. cruise. >> chairwoman klobuchar and ranking member fischer, i appreciate the invitation before the committee this afternoon. my name is brian cruise. and 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 is for early voting or election day voting. the tabulating machines that count ballots are never connected to the internet or to each other and these machines are used only after numerous pre-election tests. following the election and before results are official, a thorough canvass or audit process is conducted as well as a manual audit directed by the nebraska secretary of state's office. there is a paper trail. our office prepares the election cycle by reviewing and updating procedures for each department to ensure that each voter registration, candidate filing, early voting request, ballot or petition the 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 the correct procedures are being followed.

early voting by mail can be secured in an accurate method of voting if administered properly. for polling places, nebraska law requires voters in the majority of counties who choose to vote by mail to request an early vote or absentee ballot prior to each election as ballots cannot automatically be sent. signatures and no voter id requirements are checked at the time of each request as processed. if these requirements are not met, the ballot will not be sent. upon ballots being returned, signatures are checked again. drop boxes in douglas county are secured, under 24/7 surveillance cameras and emptied each week by two individuals of differing parties. 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 election workers pick them up. there are no third parties involved. voters in douglas county across all political spectrums have embraced to the drop boxes. on average, 77% of all ballots are returned via one of the drop boxes. bolstering public confidence in our elections is vital to success to be returned via one of the drop boxes. public confidence is vital to successful elections. local election officials of the trusted source for getting the message out about elections. i am fortunate and grateful that i have a good relationship with the local media. tv, radio and print, as they assist my office and disseminating accurate and timely information.

the big task this election cycle for nebraska is the implementation of voter id and making sure voters know what is needed both for a male early voting and election day voting in order for their ballot to be accepted and their voices to be heard. the media is also a vital partner in reminding voters of deadlines and other helpful guides to make the process successful. for instance, working with our office to create a graphic or flowchart of the voter id options. my chief deputy election commissioner and myself attended many community events as possible to provide election education and answer questions and build relationships. these relationships have forged trust and have been instrumental from my office 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 allows for poll workers to be drafted, similar to jury duty. douglas county was the only county in nebraska that conducted a draft for many years. some advantages to drafting poll workers are increased community awareness of the election process, less difficulty in securing election workers and a younger workforce with an average age in the mid- 50s. while the majority of poll workers nationwide are over 60. in conclusion, it is my privilege to serve the voters of douglas county and an honor to be here representing the 93 county election officials and nebraska who worked 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 senator fisher and thank you to the committee for your time. >> thank you very much. ms.

nelson. >> chair klobuchar, ranking member fischer and committee members, my name is jenae nelson. on the president and director council of ld avenue, formerly 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 court and the urgent need for congressional actions to protect and secure the fundamental freedom to vote. my testimony is informed by the lds's extensive experience, over 80 years protecting advancing voting rights for black americans since our founding by thurgood marshall in 1940. my testimony is also informed by beyond 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 john lewis were brutally beaten in selma, alabama for simply demanding the right to vote. their courage and action led to the passage of the voting rights act of 1955 and the true start of our multiracial democracy. we need congress to follow and the steps of those soldiers with courage and action today. it has been more than a decade since the decision 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 to preclearance 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 or even hours of the shelby decision.

and a wave of voters followed across the country. more recently, the big lie and other myths undermine faith in the elections and have stoked a backlash against voters of color. some states have targeted the precise pathways to the polls that black voters have used in recent years, whether it is eliminating or limiting drop boxes in florida, early voting in georgia or vote by mail in texas. artificial intelligence is being westernized to advance frivolous mass challenges to registered voters in georgia. this is gaining traction through programs like eagle ai is a nationwide strategy to distort the electorate. the increased use of ai also threatens to turbocharge disinformation campaigns historically targeted at black voters. despite decades of progress toward becoming a more inclusive

just and equal democracy, we are swiftly moving in the opposite direction. and alabama, black and white voter turnout was nearly equal in 2012 but a decade after shelby -- black voter turnout adds nearly eight percentage points behind white turnout. georgia had the largest racial disparity turnout in 2022 than at any point in the last decade. and the 2020 redistricting cycle was rife with discrimination. of the nine states previously subject to preclearance, two thirds have faced lawsuits challenging their maps for racial discrimination. federal courts have already found in three of our recent cases, alabama, south carolina and louisiana, that the states created racially discriminatory districting maps, congressional maps. let's be clear. while lds is fighting in the courts along with the other civil rights sisters and brothers, we cannot litigate

our way out of this problem. but congress can legislate. black americans are heading into november with a shredded shield as a result of the shelby county and berkowitz versus dnc decisions, the voting rights act is a shadow of its former self, precisely when we need strong voting right protections in the state of rising authoritarianism, destructive court decisions combined with an action by congress have stripped them away. the state of voting rights for black americans is tenuous. and that is in urgent crisis for our democracy and our congress. the president issued a powerful call to action and last week's state of the union address and he named the specific solutions that were reintroduced in both chambers. the john r lewis act and the freedom to vote act. both of which we call on congress to pass.

the right to vote preserves every right that we hold dear. it is an effective, nonviolent means of expressing our will. protecting the right to vote should not be a matter of partisan politics. it is the duty of all elected officials to honor and protect the sacred act that has enabled them to serve. thank you and i look forward to your questions. >> thank you very much ms. nelson. senator warner will take my spot because he has to leave and is chair of the intel committee. he has some interest in protecting our elections and we will turn it over to sit secure.

we all use paper ballots.secure.

to protect every vote and enshereef eligible votes. where they will affect our for ballots and have audits and security in place to protect every voice and ensure every eligible vote and only eligible votes are counted. where misinformation and foreign threats will affect the elections there ai and multiscale attempts to fool voters about the rights in an effort to cause confusion and chaos and instill fear and deceive voters and divide us as americans and to deter us from believing in our voice and our votes. in that effort to combat that effort, we must invest in efforts to educate our citizens, boost trusted messengers from all sectors and all parties and collaborate more then we ever have before to ensure that we are marching forward, arms locked, to protect every citizen pay close voice in the selection from efforts to fool them about their voice and

about their vote. the federal government must be a partner in that effort and it must be a collaborative partner working with all of us to ensure that we are recognizing what aligns election system is not really left or right but it is this foreign interference that could cause every citizen in this country to stop believing, not just in their institution, the government, but in their own voice. and we can all fight proudly and be successful if we do it together. >> thank you senator warner. >> as a member of the armed services committee, i'm well aware of the malign activities that we see from our foreign adversaries. i know that election officials also still worry about infrastructure and about the increase that we see from

cybersecurity threats and whether it is threats to the infrastructure itself or government websites or voter registration databases or the poll books. secretary alan, could you tell us about how alabama has worked to mitigate potential cybersecurity threats and whether you have encountered any unique challenges in this process and whether you see some of those changing over time as well? >> yes, ma'am. thank you. we work very closely with the office of informational technology that oversees the statewide agencies and the backbone of the it department. we have an in-house it department as well and we collaborate with these agencies and with the fbi and with the dhs quite frequently, especially over the last several months getting prepared for the primary we had last

week and obviously getting prepared for the runoff coming up in certain parts of alabama in april. and to the general election in november. we have many conversations on cyber. that is one thing. we take it very seriously. on election night, we have someone there from the office of information technology, the statewide office and someone from our own it department and our office as unofficial returns come in in the evening, to make sure that if there is ever anything that pops up on the radar, we are able to answer them very quickly and mitigate any kind of potential threats that are out there with us. or maybe targeting alabama. we work across the many platforms to make sure we are ready to fend off any type of cyber attack and alabama. >> thank you. what are some of the unique challenges that local election officials face in mitigating those cybersecurity threats?

if you can turn your microphone on. >> the big one i think obviously would be the disinformation. if somebody were to hack a website of ours and try to change information or results or something of that nature and also the it -- of ai impersonating myself. perhaps polling place changes or deadline changes. things of that nature. we were fortunate and the fact that in douglas county, we have a group called the douglas omaha technology commission. it is a joint venture. they really are the experts on technology, cybersecurity and things of that nature. and so they have provided all of that. i also have two gentlemen in-

house and election system in the technology department. they created our website and they maintain our website. if something were to happen, we hopefully could fix it in-house quickly. we don't contract with a third party for that. we can also change things on it instantly using them to get messages out. i think from the local election official perspective, we hear all the time that voters trust their local election officials and we hear a lot that we believe maybe there was fraud or misinformation or something someplace else but not our jurisdiction. and so having the trust with your community and voters and media outlets, so when issues do occur, you can contact them and get the correct information out. >> you talked about in your

opening statement, about the information that you provide to voters in douglas county and your good relationship with the media. you also mentioned the postelection audit process and could you talk a little bit about the benefits of what these audits provide to the voters in your jurisdiction? >> absolutely. it is administered by the secretary of state's office. so the morning after the election, the secretary of state's 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 in the statewide general. and last time, we had the three races in the precincts. the races were congressional race, governors race and the sheriff's race. and so we had 2325 votes cast

among the three races and precincts. we get the balance out and we sit down and we literally hand tally them and make sure they match up with what the machine count had been, which they did. we were perfect last time. and then that instills confidence in the voters. it is another level of checks and balances. another level of proof to show that the machines are counting the ballots correctly to not just the voters but the workers who are great ambassadors for the office. >> 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

month's primary. can you share more information about how you work with local officials on these and other reforms that expand access to voting and why these efforts are important? >> i'm happy to. thank you senator and chairwoman. i'm proud in michigan that in both 2018, and 2022, voters themselves amended the state constitution to implement automatic voter registration, election day registration, enhance audit protections as well as enhance opportunities for military and overseas citizens to vote and they gave every citizen the right to have a dropbox. one for a 15,000 voters in the state to secure and monitor and be checked daily. and nine days of early voting in every statewide election. our presidential primary held last month was the first statewide election in which we held early voting and we found it to be a game changer and how citizens have access to cast their ballot, not just on election day but in person

voting for two saturdays or two sundaes or a full week before election day which can dramatically increase voter engagement and turnout and address the fact that when we look at who is not voting, according to various surveys and data, it is because of inconvenience. it is because they cannot get to the polls in a certain time or certain day. this has dramatically given more citizens opportunities to participate and has given more democracy partners and opportunities to engage citizens in becoming fully educated and informed voters. >> we mentioned ai and we already have misinformation out there. ms. nelson, can you speak briefly about how this information targets voters to suppress the vote number one? and how ai would make it even easier for this information to go viral. >> this information is something not new to the

election system unfortunately. black voters in particular have been targeted throughout the times they have enjoyed the right to vote with information that would mislead them as to where to cast a ballot or where there -- whether they were eligible. in many barriers based on false information. with ai, we see those efforts multiply and exacerbate an extremely dangerous ways. for example, we look at the current practices of adopting. that goes back to when the black people would vote during the jim crow era and have their name and information broadcast to the community so that they might suffer violent repercussions for exercising the right to vote. simply today, we see information being spread. but now at warp speed, across the country into the dark web and

permeating some of the most dangerous spaces because of technology and we also see images being used where you have manipulated images of voters and communities that misrepresents their choices are. it is quite dangerous and hard to detect and you certainly need legislation to improve that. it is important to have protection for the right to vote and enable voters to cast the ballot that will be counted. >> along the same lines briefly , mr. kramer, senator collins and i called on the eac to take action regarding the fake robo calls in new hampshire and voted unanimously to allow state and local officials to use federal funds to combat ai generated disinformation. and chocolate efforts from local officials to take this on? >> yes, thank you. i think the first thing is using that example in new

hampshire, we were next in line with republican primary door sorry, the democratic being the first in the nation. i was confusing new hampshire there. >> go ahead. >> at the end of the day, the first thing is election officials we do is plan and make sure that our local partners is one thing i'm thankful for is that we have a counter threat manager and charleston county monitoring all the threats coming in across the nation and using that information to then inform our decision-making process. and you have to get everybody on board with this. we rely on so many different processes, countywide, municipality wide, statewide. there is so much overlap that communication is so important. when we have something going on at the local level, we can push that information to the center which goes to the national level. when it comes to ai in funding, 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 threats that we would encounter. >> mr. alan, can you talk about how we work hard to get some federal funding for elections. can you dress the way your state has been able to put federal functions to use? >> >> we use mapping software. it can be used in the port of registrar offices. when they are implementing new county commission lines, congressional lines for the voters, they make sure they're putting in the correct precincts and districts. we are utilizing that right now.

we are pleased with how that is going so far. >> thank you so much brett >> my colleagues are here, recruiting poll workers and the like. let's turn it over to chairman britt. >> we have heard testimony before regarding nationwide challenges with recruiting and retaining poll workers. he launched the heroes to the polls to help recruit workers in our state. can you explain more about what that initiative is and how it is being implemented and how it is going at this point? >> thank you, senator. who better than veterans to protect our elections? you know, they have rejected our constitutional right to vote with their service in the military. we wanted to launch this program to help recruit poll workers. i can tell you, as a former probate judge who stayed on the

phone recruiting poll workers, that is something we wanted to make available to help our local officials run our elections. that is really important that we make that available to them. we want to give another tool to the probate judges, circuit clerks, and trips, so when they are appointing election officials, and when i am speaking, one thing i always try to encourage groups to do is, i say, raise your hands if you have ever served as a poll worker. sometimes you have some, and sometimes you don't. i encourage them getting involved. that's how they can help their local communities. with our heroes at the polls program, that is importance. -- important. we want to recruit attorneys to work on voting day. we want to make that tool available to them, as well. we are taking steps to help these local officials to recruit poll workers.

>> additionally, as you know, federal law bans noncitizens from voting in federal elections. that being the case, it is important that states are given the tools they need to make sure that noncitizens are not able to register or vote in our elections. last year, i introduced the citizen ballot protection act here in the senate. i appreciate all of my republican colleagues joining me in that effort. gary palmer of alabama introduced to the house version of that bill. it was voted out of house committee on administration in november. i hope to see both chambers pass this and it become law. the bill is simple. it amends the national voter registration act to allow states to put in place a proof of citizenship requirement for both the federal mail voter registration form and any state mail voter registration form they might need for it

secretary alan, can you explain what resources secretaries of state have around the country at their disposal to provide their state or local election officials the ability to verify citizenship when individuals attempt to register to vote. >> thank you for the question. the simple answer is we don't have anything at our disposal to verify citizenship. really, when a man or woman goes into register to vote and they signed their name, they are attesting that they are a citizen of the country. back in december, we asked the united states citizenship and immigration services for a list of noncitizens so we can crosscheck our voter file in alabama. we were denied that list from the federal government. they told us to use the save program, which is the systematic alien verification entitlement program database. but, the thing is, the s.a.v.e.

program database doesn't allow us to verify citizenship through that database. that is all we really have. we tried. federal courts have blocked previous efforts by states to verify citizenship. i think it is important, now, more than ever, especially given what is happening at the southern order. >> are there other barriers that hinder it that you can think of? it sounds like there are significant challenges. >> there are significant challenges to verifying citizenship. we tried making telephone calls and so forth britt >> i only have 30 seconds left. quickly, you mentioned this in your opening testimony. you talked about if an alabama voter needs identification, you will go to their home free of charge. can you explain to the

committee here, the efforts we make in this state to make that available to everyone? >> we require photo identification to vote. we'll give anyone who needs photo identification to vote that free of charge. we will go to their house to make sure they have photo identification. we want to make sure every eligible citizen is able to vote. >> thank you. senator markley. >> thank you very much, madam chair. an election director was threatened to be hanged for treason. there was a voicemail saying that 10 million patriots will

surround you when you least expect it. another in detroit said you are going to pay dearly. this is all across the country. this is an example of the threats that were put forward in oregon being written on the parking lot . as you can see, it was basically done right after the election. vote, don't work. translated, elections don't work. next time, bullets. i must say, i have been hearing from clerks all over my stated that they are having difficulty recruiting poll workers is of these threats that have been inspired by trump's argument that the election was stolen but is this happening all over the country? >> yes. and it has, since the 2020

election cycle come in terms of the threats and the challenges. my colleagues on this panel have talked about some of the solutions, the anti-doxing resolution. they want to draw a line in the sand in terms of what is and isn't appropriate in terms of threat -- threats to election workers. i want to add clarity that this is not appropriate and it is a crime to threaten an election official. i would say passing a law to make it a crime -- senators have proposed we send a clear message to these individuals that have borne the brunt of the misinformation and malaise, and deception that has plagued our democracy for the last several years. the other thing i will underscore is one thing i'm proud of in michigan where we launched the democracy mvp program in 2020. it partners with vote our vet

and the aba to recruit attorneys. what we have seen as a result also is a new generation of election workers step up to the plate, determined to protect the democracy, despite the threats. >> thank you. i'm trying to get in a couple of other questions here. that was an expansive answer. thank you. >> secretary allen mentioned the importance of making sure that noncitizens don't vote. this is been a point of discussion, as to whether these strategies are to intimidate people and whether this is addressing a real problem. have you seen a significant number of noncitizens attempting to vote in your state? >> no. >> end michigan did some audits to examine that and what did the audits find? >> we take the importance of

making sure that only eligible votes are counted very seriously. we have several layers of protection. when we implemented automatic voter registration in particular, to make sure documentation command make clear to folks that there are legal consequences of lying on these forms. but at the same time, as we have done our work and in our investigations, we have consistently found that are voter rolls are clean and citizens are not voting to the extent that some would allege. >> there are many ways that the process has worked very well. would you affirm that is the case? >> there are noncitizens attempting to vote in any substantial or notable number. >> i hate to see people trying to address a nonproblem and disguise it as a problem when they are really trying to intimidate people from voting. ms. nelson, i want to turn to your testimony. and he mentioned it. several things are done to discourage people from voting. i've heard about these all across the country.

a certain city, a certain port area, a certain native indian reservation, a move and consolidate it. you proceed to open the voting place late. you proceed to understand it so there is a long line. you proceed to put the voting place where there is no parking so people get very frustrated. you proceed to run out of ballots, which is one i had heard about before when you were talking about mississippi. and so, these strategies, how do we tackle these? >> the way we are tackling them as we have 25 poll monitors on the ground in mississippi, addressing those issues that you laid out. i have an email from my team telling me that that is what they are seeing. there are signage issues. there are many ways that are not easily detectable until you're in the middle of an election and voters are being

disenfranchised, where there is a clear targeting and a clear disregard for certain communities when they are attending to cast a ballot. what we need is, in addition to our election protection efforts, we need strong legislation that will prevent some of these changes from happening without their being some clear authority that says, it is okay for you to do this. it will not disproportionately harm certain voters. >> i want to emphasize that enclosing. these sound like legitimate operations, moving the polling location. it can be used in an extremely prejudicial manner. >> thank you. >> senator hegarty. >> i wanted to thank you all for being here. your work to oversee our elections is impotent. the founders test the states with conducting elections to help ensure the system. we have a limited amount of time. i'm going to ask you to keep your answers brief.

are you familiar with president biden's executive order 1409, which directs federal government agencies to engage in voter mobilization, including helping to find third-party organizations to provide services? >> yes sir. >> secretary allen, are you aware of any authority that allows them to engage in this? >> i'm not. >> nor i'm not. >> it seems like this might violate the hatch act. secretary allen, does it seem problematic for tax funded agencies to assist applicants in completing foot by mail ballot forms and bringing

outside organizations to do that? >> yes sir. it is problematic. >> this order says any outside organizations to help with voter mobilization must be, quote, nonpartisan. let's look at who is helping them with this order. last year, and agency within the department of health and human services acknowledged that it is working with groups like the aclu to implement this executive order. they describe their mission as pioneering bold, progressive ideas. it requested that -- if they are using openly left-wing groups, it sounds like the federal government is being used as an arm of the biden campaign, doesn't it? >> yes her. >> this is like a republican administration hiring the heritage foundation to engage in nonpartisan voter mobilization activities. a couple weeks ago, vice president harris said they were paying college students for

nonperson poll workers. they provided the example of the nonpartisan poll workers they were talking about. the person she gave as an example previous they worked for the aclu and the alliance for justice, which is a person group. secretary allen, does this inspire confidence that this activity is nonpartisan? >> it doesn't sound like it, sir. >> no. it doesn't. one way the biden administration could alleviate some of this concern is by revealing what they are using taxpayer dollars to do. the biden admission required each agency to come up with a plan and submit that plan to the white house, yet, the biden administration refuses to disclose these plans.

that is despite congressional inquiries, that is despite four year requests to do so. coming back to your experience here, secretary allen, is it normal for a president or governor, for that matter, to require government agencies to engage in voter mobilization and develop secure plans to do that and keep that a secret from the public? >> i don't think that's normal. >> i certainly don't come either. i think it is understandable that many americans are concerned about these voter mobilization plans and the biden administration needs to release these plans. thank you. i yield back my time. >> thank you. before i get to my questions, let me chair -- share with witnesses in front of us just one of many examples, the exchange i just witnessed fails to point to any partisan language in the directives that were referenced. if anything, i will call your attention to the national voter registration act which was passed on an overwhelming person basis in 1983 before we get to the substance of the act

-- under section 2, findings and purposes, again, on a bipartisan basis, congress finds that the rights of citizens in the united states the votes is a fundamental right. number two, it is the duty of the federal, state, and local governments to promote the exercise of that right. and it goes on from there. so i'm looking for where we might find the opening for the federal government on a nonpartisan basis to encourage -- to accept a role and responsibility in encouraging citizens of the united states to exercise their right to vote. here is one example. moving on, we should have longer conversations about modernizing elections and how we can protect the integrity of the bedrock of our democracy. i know that threats to election workers and full workers has been covered in this hearing. but recognizing deep into the

primary season of 2024, let's talk about some practical here and now things that can and should be done. two examples from my home state. santa clara county. they host a media day. it's to help inform voters, the press, and the public of the voting process. that is to maintain faith and confidence in the process. it takes a while in california because of the high levels of participation. statewide in california, they have implement it a ballot tracking system where people can sign up for text messages, email messages in multiple languages, on the status on their ballot, on the way back to the county -- when it is being counted. question for mr. kramer. what systems are in place for

state and local officials to learn -- federal resources or university resources -- that are available to them -- and maybe share information on these best practices. >> thank you for the question, senator. the great honor we have entrusted county is election sharing with our state partners. we hold a state conference every year. one thing i'm proud of is we are launching the voter ambassador program in the county. we are the trusted election information source. we empower other organizations within charleston county to be our ambassadors under strict guidelines. it helps gives -- give that official information. when we do a program like that, we have to be able to share that with other counties and states. the ac has a clearinghouse program that we can tap into. that is resource sharing. we can ask, what are you doing to be effective? i applaud them for doing that. >> wonderful. thank you.

a very specific topic -- recently, the department of education clarified rules around the federal work study program. they made it clear that, yes, it is legal for students to work in election offices. i encouraged the department to make this clarification last october because somehow it was a question for some. i'm glad it happened. i think it is a terrific way to bring dedicated younger americans into the office to see their democracy up close and personal. imagine being inspired to pursue a career in that area. in the short-term, possibly help alleviate some staffing concerns. question for mr. cramer. he previously had high school and college aged poll workers, correct? how have they performed? >> they are amazing. they bring a fresh breath of

air to the polling places. we love when we see high school and college students participating. one thing we see is they continue serving after they have done it once. that is the remarkable thing about bringing kids into the process. in south carolina, you can serve as young as 16. they are able to do teambuilding. this is a great resume builder. i'm looking forward to working with the college of charleston. we have grant money that we are going to introduce to the program for that. >> is this something you can adopt or expand on? >> senator padilla, you know we are already doing this. >> it's called a softball. >> i'm grateful for our partnerships. it is a team sport. we welcome people of all backgrounds, left, right, and in the middle. it is a great way to see how secure our system is. >> thank you, madam chair.

>> thank you very much. >> thank you, madam chair. thank you, senator butler. thank you to the panel. secretary benson, former president called georgia secretary of state and this is in the immediate aftermath of the 2020 election. he said, quote, i just want to find hundred 7000 votes. that is more than we have. have you ever gotten a call asking you to find the number of votes they need to win the election? >> no. i have never gotten a call from any candidate for making such an inappropriate request. >> how about you, secretary? >> i have not received a telephone call. >> does it strike you as proper? >> no.

listen. i can only take care of what we have in alabama. >> does it strike you as proper for the president of the united states to call a secretary and asked them to find the votes needed? >> i don't know what he meant by finding those votes. i wasn't secretary at the time. >> does it strike you as proper for the president of the united states to call a state secretary of state and asked them to find the number of votes they need to win? yes or no? >> as secretary in alabama, i'm going to follow the law that the alabama legislature has laid out for me to follow. >> you fear answering that question. let me ask you, secretary benson, about the intimidation of election workers. you noted legislation that i'm introducing this week. the election worker and polling place protection act. it would create criminal penalties for threats of violence to intimidate voters or election officials. i appreciate you expressing support for legislation.

what affects do threats have on election administration? >> not only does it cause us to fear going to work, even though we do important work and do it with pride that somehow there are people that wish to harm us, our staff, and our families for doing our patriotic duty, but in addition to that, it makes it harder for us to do our duty. it takes away from the actual work of administering elections whenever we have to think about our own safety. i can say, speaking with our election workers, having a very clear statement in law that it is not okay -- it is a crime to threaten us at our workplace for doing the job of making elections work for everyone. it is long overdue to see that federal legislation passed.

it goes a long way to send the message that type of behavior is not approved or appropriate in our state. >> mr. cramer, what you think? what is the impact on election admission when there are threats and intimidation of election workers which, as we saw in 2020 and we saw in georgia -- in fact, i would know, madam chair, the republican election officials in georgia were baking -- begging in public -- that the former president ceased spending -- spreading conspiracy theories about the election. >> it is keeping the good people still running elections for this country. in south carolina, we are losing a wealth of knowledge. hard-working men and women who served this country by performing this duty. they are leaving. that wealth of knowledge leaving is a bad thing for the united states. these are people who swear to

uphold the constitution of the state -- of the united states. no. it is a bad thing. it is one thing that -- what keeps me up at night? it is the protection of these workers. when they wake up in the morning and they get a threat to their safety, that concerns me. it should concern everyone. >> thank you, mr. cramer point --. he was hired by the trump campaign to find fraud in georgia. he wrote an editorial about it. on the basis of those, they passed a law that, for example, cuts the available time for runoff elections and have, driving up wait times in runoff elections. what is the impact of that kind of policy on ensuring access to the ballot for all eligible voters? >> georgia passed a very harmful on the bus's voter

suppression law. it exacerbates the shoes that black voters face. we know that georgia has a very horrible reputation for disproportionate lines that black voters face. part of the law a dented to prevent people from providing sustenance for people that have to wait on long lines like water and snacks. we were fortunate enough to beat back part of that law and other aspects of that law that we -- would have disenfranchised many black voters. a good portion of that law still exists. we know that we have to redouble our efforts to have a fair shot at casting a ballot in the upcoming elections. >> i believe the research is six times longer waiting in line for black voters in georgia. thank you all for your testimony. >> thank you, senator ossoff.

>> it works in all kinds of ways. i appreciate you all for your testimony and for being here. ms. nelson, if you wouldn't mind, i'd love to start with you. you submitted in your written testimony the challenges that the ldf is facing , working in hind county, mississippi. in particular, i think there was some specific data that you shared in that written testimony saying that hinds county is approximately 70% black. they expensed ballot shortages during the 2023 mississippi election. this was one of the first times in my recent memory as a mississippian, that there was a

competitive governor's race. there wasn't an opportunity for mississippi to elect their first democratic governor in a very long time. your written testimony also noted that there were up to nine point locations in hinds county that ran out of ballots. multiple times during election day. some of them, before 12:00 noon. now, i know that ldf was involved in investigative work to find out in hinds county went wrong, and efforts to offer those learnings to others in advocacy organizations across the state and country. can you just share with the committee really quickly what you learned from the investigation -- your

investigation of what happened in hinds county. >> some of it is still ongoing. i mentioned the elections of mississippi today. unfortunately, we did not get an answer before today's election as to whether there was any threat of ballots running out again based on what we learned in the previous election. we are investigating that peer? have people on the ground. that is why we are documenting all of the different incursions on the right to vote that we are finding, so that there is a record that can support the federal legislation that we are here to demand congress pass. the suggestion that there are no modern conditions that should give rise to federal intervention is just patently false. the work we do, along with her civil-rights colleagues, every election on the ground, establishes that record to support federal legislation like the freedom to vote act. >> thank you, miss nelson. mr. allen, i had the pleasure

of being down in alabama just a week ago. being on the campus of alabama state university, as a member of this body, conducting a field hearing, in alabama, talking to voters about just that point, the modern discrimination that alabamians are experiencing, and that we are seeing experience -- have been across the country -- i would like to -- actually, instead of landing there, he said something in your testimony just a few minutes ago in response to an earlier question that i would love to press on just a little bit to understand more. you made mention of some funds. he said that your office uses it to get mapping software for counties and municipalities. am i capturing that accurately? >> for the county board of registrars. >> that is really helpful because i noted that earlier

this month, there's 6000 voters in alabama's newly drawn second congressional district that received election postcards listing incorrect better information. i appreciate that your office has said before that you were not involved in sending out those postcards. can you talk a little bit about the intersection -- the challenge of alabama voters not getting the correct information -- the tools that your office provides, and why you think that your office had nothing to do with voters in alabama getting the incorrect information for their polling location? >> sure. it is the port of registrars in every county -- they make sure that voters are placed in the correct district. it is not the secretary's role to conduct any of the voter

assignments. that is left up to the county. all the southern poverty law center had to do is place a phone call to us. we can make sure we got on the telephone with the county in question to make sure that we got it right. instead, what they chose to do was to send out a press release and monday afternoon, before the primary, which introduced confusion and chaos right before the primary election. it was something that wasn't appreciated by my office, you know, open communication i think would've been best. it was on montgomery county and that part of registrars to make sure that they had the voters in the correct district and make sure everyone was in the correct precinct. everyone that voted on election day got the correct ballot. they got the correct ballot to vote in congressional district 2. >> thank you, secretary allen.

i find it interesting -- and i know there are others waiting. i find it interesting, the response goes to what and advocacy group was doing or not doing in alabama in sv1. those advocacy groups are prohibited from helping people get information that they need. i found that an interesting contradiction, but thank you. you'll do my time, president. >> thank you, madam chair. thank you for holding this hearing. thank you for your willingness to be here today to testify. secretary benson, i had a couple of questions for you, if that's okay. we heard yesterday on the intelligence committee from leaders of the intelligence community the not surprising news about the continuing threat that social media platforms pose to our democracy

. every single one of these platforms, i think, virtually, has been used to spread education related disinformation. not just here, but all around the world, sometimes too violent and deadly effect. in the lead up to the 2022 elections, only mentions of voter fraud skyrocketed. in 2020, we saw our fellow citizens storm the capital, which is well known to save an election that had not been stolen. their rage, amplified by algorithms that were engineered really for profit to sell advertising, not for the sake of our democracy. certainly, in 2016, it is well- established, this is not a political view that vladimir putin interfered with our election, as he has repeatedly with elections in other countries around the world, here, playing both sides of every single issue, with 10

million tweets. that is not an exaggeration, to quote joe biden. that is the reality of what was happening there. and i think, you know, there's a lot going on on tiktok. i don't want to get distracted by that, except to say that good things are probably not going to happen if one of the sources of major information in terms of our electoral process is coming from a platform that is controlled by the chinese communist party. one can imagine that that is going to end in a bad way for the united states. i think it would be really self- defeating of us to assume that what happened in 2022 and 2020 and 2016 isn't going to happen again this year. you have stated that misinformation is the top concern in 2024, even more than in 2020. can you talk about what

national standards we ought to be able to put in place to help safeguard our elections from online influence campaigns? >> thank you, senator. we have been working with michigan to emphasize that there is greater incentive for them to interfere. with this being the first election in which artificial intelligence is on the rise as an evolving threat, we think that will be one of the more likely tactics that they utilize, in social media and elsewhere. for the senate to pass -- the senator klobuchar bill against deceptive practices with ai will be key to helping every state be prepared. we have six states that pass state legislation to that effect. secondly, i would argue that as

i often say, democracy is a team sport. these statements saying what is okay and what is not, what is illegal and what is not with regards to deception and elections, is one piece, but it is not the whole piece of the puzzle. we have to equip business leaders, community leaders, labor leaders, and many others, which we are doing in our state, and i think we need to do nationwide, and i think every senator could be a trusted voice, to equip them with truthful information about our elections. help us get that out ahead of the misinformation. >> i've got one minute left. can ask another question real quick, madam chair? thank you. next week, as you know, and the supreme court is going to hear the case of murphy against missouri, which addresses the district court decision preventing the federal government from communicating with social media companies

about the content on their sites. this decision, the lower court decision, has had a disastrous effect on our ability to come back and protect the integrity of our elections. it affects the governments ability to coordinate with the platforms on public health information. it threatens to undermine the efforts undertaken under -- across multiple presidential demonstrations to hold platforms accountable -- to have their own sets of policies. the washington post reported that the federal government has basically stopped morning some platforms about foreign disinformation campaigns altogether, as a result of that. legal experts have called the injunction strikingly broad. they have pointed to flaws in its logic, it's confused legal arguments, and the alarming conclusion it draws. i wondered how you are navigating these challenges in this changing legal environment when it comes to communicating with platforms and the clear and present danger to

michigan's elections. >> it is difficult. the court ruling makes it a lot more challenging to collaborate with social media companies that have an important role to play in protecting their users from deceptive tactics and misinformation. will be awaiting the outcome of that case, but in the interim, working with sissons to help them become critical consumers of information they receive, helping them to understand the way this information causes chaos and confusion and disruption to our elections has been our focus so we can empower citizens in our state to stop -- spot bad information on social media and not only send it or forward it, but instead, respond with truthful information to help us counter that in every way in our state. >> thank you. thank you, madam chair. thank you to everyone on the panel. >> thank you very much. thank you all, our witnesses, for a very good hearing.

i'm grateful to the election officials here today, and for your work to ensure elections are administered securely and safely. i want to thank miss nelson for her continued work to ensure equal access on the ballot -- and i look forward to continuing our work on this committee to support election officials and protect our free and fair elections. the hearing record will remain open for one week. with that, we are adjourned. thank you.