House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries was in Rochester on Wednesday to join Democratic Rep. Joe Morelle for what they called a shadow hearing on voter protection.
Morelle kicked off the unofficial hearing at Rochester City Hall by noting that two of the city's most famous historical residents, Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony, both fought for voting rights.
"It is fitting that we're here today in a vitally important shadow hearing, examining the security of our elections, the threats they face, and the weapons we, as members of Congress, have to fight back against any attempts to subvert this election," Morelle said.
Morelle is leading an effort by congressional Democrats to prepare for the potential that President Donald Trump's administration might take steps to disrupt this year's midterm elections. In their opening remarks, he and Jeffries touched on what they said are efforts by all three branches of the federal government to attack voting rights and undermine public faith in elections.
"It's our collective responsibility," Jeffries said, "not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans, to ensure that we have the largest voter protection effort in the history of the country, that we give everybody an opportunity to have their voice heard, so that it's the American people who can decide who holds the gavels in the next Congress, in the House of Representatives, in the Senate, and who gets to lead in states all across the country, from governors on down."
And several of their questions to the three like-minded experts who participated concerned how to push back against attempts to sow distrust around elections.
One of them was election law expert Bob Bauer, former counsel to President Barack Obama and a professor at NYU's School of Law. He said trusted leaders have a major role to play.
"One project that I've been involved in is really rallying community support for election officials, so that voters hear from those who lead the business community, the veterans community, the faith community, the education community, the healthcare community," Bauer said.
Natalie Sheppard, Monroe County's Democratic deputy elections commissioner, was another participant. In her opening remarks, she said elections are administered with layers of security, transparency, and accountability. She also said they aren't built on "one person or office."
"We have to unapologetically continue to spread that elections are safe and secure," Sheppard said, "because the confidence in our elections isn't built on one person or one office; it's built on thousands of election workers, bipartisan observers, and citizens who all play a role in this process."
The third participant was Omar Noureldin, senior vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause, who touched on some of the legal work the organization does around elections.
Morelle also assailed the SAVE America Act, which would end mail-in voting with some exceptions and would require voters to present a valid ID at polls. He said it would disrupt election administration, keep millions of eligible voters from the polls, and make it more difficult for people to register to vote.
The incumbent House representative is running for reelection and his opponent, Republican Monroe County Legislator Virginia McIntyre, supports a voter ID requirement. During an interview Wednesday morning before the hearing, she pointed to a Siena poll from the end of March that showed 54% of New Yorkers support a voter ID requirement. McIntyre was not at the hearing, which was not publicized.
"I really feel we need to be listening to the people on this," McIntyre said, adding there should be a provision for the government to provide IDs if people are struggling to get them.
