thank you, mr. cramer. mr. kruse? >> chairwoman klobuchar and ranking members, i appreciate the invitation before the committee this afternoon. my name is brian kruse, i'm the douglas county election commissioner. one of the most important aspects of election administration is trust and fairness in conducting and managing elections. in nebraska we have the gold standard for election administration. first and foremost, we use paper ballots. voters receive a paper ballot whether it will be for election day voting. the tabulating machines are never connected to the internet or to each other, and these machines are used only after numerous pre-election tests. following the election and before results are official, a thorough canvas or audit is conducted as well as the manual audit directed by the secretary of state's office and there is a paper trail. our office prepares for election cycle by reviewing and updating procedures for each department to ensure that each voter registration, candidate filing, early voting reques